San Diego CityBeat • June 18, 2014

k n i r D The

Issue

Boozin’ it up with seven local VIPs • P. 25

2 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

The psychos are back Hey, look! Some our favorite villains from the Iraq war are back! There’s Paul Wolfowitz. And Bill Kristol. And Doug Feith. And Paul Bremer. Aw, and they’re talking about Iraq again—so nostalgic.

Iraq exploded back into the news last week. It seems a group called ISIS—or ISIL, depending on the news source—a band of determined folks who want to join Iraq and Syria together under radical Sunni Islamist rule, have done a bang-up job of wresting control of much of Iraq from the current, Shiite-centric government. Baghdad’s in danger. It’s a gigantic humanitarian crisis in the making, and it threatens to spread beyond Iraq’s borders and engulf the broader region. It’s a colossal shit-storm.

And guess what: Our old friends Wolfowitz, Kristol, Feith and Bremer, among others, are blaming President Obama because he followed through with a plan hatched during the Bush administration to end the U.S. war in Iraq in 2011.

That’s so rich.

The blame for this mess lands in the laps of Wolfowitz, Kristol, Feith, Bremer, Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, Richard Perle, Robert Kagan, Donald Rumsfeld, Stephen Hadley, Elliot Abrams, Condoleeza Rice, George Tenet and George W. Bush—the architects of the invasion of Iraq.

Let’s review: By early 2003, the players mentioned above had fooled the American public into thinking that Saddam Hussein played a key role in the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, and had plans to attack again with nuclear or chemical weapons. Despite plenty of reasons for skepticism at the time about claims of weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration got Congress to go along with an invasion. ThenArmy Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki told Congress that “something in the order of several hundred thousand soldiers” would be needed to do the job right. Nah, the architects said. Cheney said we’d be greeted as liberators, and Rumsfeld said the war would last six days or six weeks, but he doubted six months.

When the invasion forced Hussein from power, Bremer famously and foolishly disbanded the Iraqi army and removed all members of Hussein’s Ba’ath

Party from government jobs and banned them from future public-sector work. These moves alienated countless people who could have been useful for security and stabilization and have been widely credited for playing an immense role in the years and years of sectarian bloodshed that followed.

The architects were so zealous about regime change that they disregarded the region’s cultures and history. Iraq’s borders were haphazardly and nonsensically drawn 100 years ago by the British, and the place was held together as a secular country with an iron dictatorial fist by Hussein—much like how Marshal Tito held Yugoslavia together before he died in 1980 and that country disintegrated amid unspeakable violence.

Obama did the right thing when he pulled the U.S. out of Iraq. It was doomed to disaster from the start. There was never any strategy for longterm success in Iraq other than mere hope that it would work itself out peacefully. It didn’t work itself out, other than violently. It cost the American treasury trillions of dollars that it didn’t have and resulted in the deaths of nearly 4,500 U.S. service members, hundreds of service members from other countries and countless Iraqi citizens. It also changed forever the lives of many thousands upon thousands of gravely injured military men and women—the Department of Veterans Affairs stopped reporting the number of vets from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq who sought medical treatment after it reached 900,000.

Now these idiots—these liars, these psychopaths, these war criminals—are saying we should go back in and fight. The public has no appetite for a never-ending occupation of Iraq, we can’t afford it anyway and not one more American should be killed, injured or psychologically scarred in a war that should never have started in the first place.

No, leaving Iraq on its own isn’t ideal. But sending Americans back in en masse isn’t an option, so the only hope is to work on a solution with the United Nations (good luck), Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and, yes, Iran. Diplomacy is the only way.

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

This issue of CityBeat can be distilled into a decent prison-grade cabernet.

Volume 12 • Issue 45

Cover design by Lindsey Voltoline

Arts Editor Kinsee Morlan

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

Staff Writer Joshua Emerson Smith

Intern Natalie Eisen

Web Editor Ryan Bradford

Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse

Art director Lindsey Voltoline

Production artist Rees Withrow

Columnists Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza

Vice President of Operations David Comden

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Publisher Kevin Hellman

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San Diego CityBeat is published and distributed every Wednesday by Southland Publishing Inc., free of charge but limited to one per reader. Reproduction of any material in this or any other issue is prohibited without written permission from the publisher and the author. Contents copyright 2014.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

Fixing the VA Regarding the shortage of VA primary-care doctors [“Editorial,” May 21], how about promoting nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants as primary-care providers? I was shocked when Russia did this decardes ago, but I think this is the trend of the future.

Also, let’s remind everyone of tax cuts and how they can kill. Thank you!

Valerie Sanfilippo, Linda Vista

Politicians and the VA Regarding your May 21 editorial, “Deep problems at Veterans Affairs”: Perhaps the most important point alluded to is that Congress shouldn’t be let off the hook.

Politicians are the root of most evil within government—and not just in the VA. Politicians are behind things such as unfunded mandates, unqualified crony appointments, pork-barrel spending, extreme partisan politics, quickfix mindset, etc. Bureaucracy and pressure for quick fixes likely was behind flawed bonus incentives that led to “the need to cook the books” mentioned in the editorial.

We’ve seen this movie before; it’s reminiscent of things like No Child Left Behind incentives that resulted in teach-to-test instead of real learning. And this is not unique to government; it happens in the private sector, as well.

And as the editorial stated, “the mess has fallen into the lap of Eric Shinseki” and “what appears to

be happening around the country is a symptom.”

Sure, the VA is a large entrenched bureaucracy, but that notwithstanding, the VA has been given a nearimpossible task by the politicians who, as usual, blame all but themselves through scapegoating, stunts and theater, playing fast and loose with the facts and figures, etc.

A case in point: Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, on one of the Sunday-morning shows, stated that VA funding increased 60 percent over five years, so funding is not a problem. First of all, the BS detector should go off whenever someone starts the clock running at the start of the Obama administration.

Secondly, Thune implied that funding increases all went to healthcare when the reality is that VA spending also covers other programs like homeless vets and education. In addition, VA healthcare is inherently more costly because of things like illness related to Agent Orange, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and reconstructive surgery—things the private sector doesn’t have to contend with to the same degree.

Gen. Shinseki was faced with a monumental task not of his own making, and calling for his resignation made no sense. In addition, a replacement more up to the task—if one exists—will be difficult to find. Shinseki seemingly has more integrity in the tip of his pinky than any of those who were calling for his head.

Now, if we could only get a Congress that’s up to the task.

Dan Jacobs, Mira Mesa

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Plumbing for justice Judge Gary Kreep overcharged a client thousands of dollars and hasn’t paid it back

by Joshua Emerson Smith When plumber Robert Thompson took a Officially retained by Thompson in job testing for hazardous backflow at the July 2011, Kreep filed a petition seeking to law offices of then-private attorney Gary overturn a $500 fine and collect more than Kreep, he could never have guessed the $64,000 in out-of-pocket damages allegamount of crap it would eventually lead to. edly resulting from the county’s failure to After years of legal wrangling and court issue a building permit, according to court fees, Thompson filed in March a civil law- documents. The petition also sought attorsuit against Kreep in a last-ditch attempt to ney fees and court costs. collect thousands of dollars that Thompson After almost a year, the county respondclaims he was shorted. ed by conceding that the fine had been “If I was not in a financial situation to improperly issued, but it denied the claim follow up on this, I would have had to give for damages. The court notified Kreep that up,” Thompson said. “He would have just the case would be dismissed unless further ran me out of money.” action was taken, and on July 31, 2012, the A victim of the 2007 Witch Creek wild- case was dismissed without prejudice. fire, Thompson, after the blaze, stored the “He failed to appear,” Thompson said. remnants of his home in a sea-cargo con- “He failed to stay in contact with the court. tainer on his 20-acre property in Ramona. Basically, that’s what happened.”

However, because he didn’t have a permit To the tune of about $20,000 in legal fees, for the structure, the county fined him sev- Kreep got the county to drop a $500 fine. eral hundred dollars.

“I felt like I had been flimflammed,” At the same time, Thompson was hav- Thompson said. “I had been paying money, ing trouble getting the permits from the and not only not getting anything for it, but county needed to remove the container he was not doing anything for it.” and rebuild his house, according to court Despite several attempts by CityBeat to documents. Caught in something of a bu- contact Kreep, via calls to his courtroom and reaucratic quagmire, he racked up $800 in his former law office and through his profescounty fines. sional and personal email addresses, he could Believing the county had wronged him, not be reached for comment by press time.

Thompson reached out in 2010 to the lawShortly after Thompson’s case with the yers at the building where he’d recently county was closed, he filed a complaint done plumbing work—the Law Office of against Kreep with the San Diego County Gary G. Kreep.

Bar Association. As a result, a fee-arbitraNow a sitting San Diego Superior Court tion committee found last November that Judge, Kreep has become something of a Kreep had significantly overbilled for his notorious character. Most recently, he services and called the former private atwas forced to spend three months work- torney’s legal strategy “troubling.” ing in traffic court after prosecutors com“Attorney Kreep acknowledges substanplained about his temper and conduct tial problems with the likelihood of success and threatened to boycott his courtroom. of that strategy in view of statutes of limitaIt was an unusual assignment for a judge tion applicable….” the arbitration commitwho makes roughly $180,000 a year. He’s tee wrote in its findings. since been reassigned to handle landlordWhen the court asked for billing records, tenant disputes.

Kreep claimed that his Elected in 2012 on a computer had malfuncslim margin of victory, tioned and wiped out “I felt like I had been most of the informaKreep’s best known as a flimflammed.” tion, according to court vocal right-wing activist —Robert Thompson documents. Kreep then and “birther,” publicly produced a billing statequestioning whether ment from July 2012, President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Since 1979, which the arbitration committee found to he helped found and was a leading mem- “suffer from vaguery,” describing one entry ber of the United States Justice Founda- as “inexplicable.”

“The evidence supports the conclusion tion, a conservative nonprofit that views itself as a counterweight to the American that [the] client’s claims are, in large part, well-founded,” the arbitration commitCivil Liberties Union.

Attorney Kreep was “enthusiastic” tee wrote. “Attorney Kreep was unable to about taking the case, Thompson said. “He present an accounting of the services and told me he was an expert in dealing with charges applicable to the client’s matter….”

After subtracting an estimated amount of government agencies. He promised me that I would get all of my money back and pos- fees and costs that could have been reasonsibly get a judgment against the county be- ably charged, the bar association directed Kreep to reimburse Thompson $14,914.65. cause they had violated the law.”

6 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

Judge Gary Kreep was directed by the Bar Association to reimburse a former client.

However, despite the ruling, Thompson has yet to get paid.

In recent months, Kreep has sent his former client a series of problematic checks, Thompson said. The first check was issued by “Law Office of Gary G. Kreep Attorney / Client Trust Account,” which after receiving, Thompson said, he was asked not to cash by one of Kreep’s assistants.

Then Kreep sent three more checks for the entire sum that were made out to an old business of Thompson’s that he hadn’t used since before he met Kreep, Thompson said.

The plumber expressed concern that cashing the checks would mean paying taxes on the money as income and has requested payments to be made directly to his personal account.

“He sent me three additional checks but they’re made out to Robert Thompson Company, an old business I had eight years ago,” he said. “I can’t even deposit them in a savings account.”

Thompson said he’s been unable to reach Kreep.

In such cases, the San Diego County Bar Association would normally have discretion to place the offending attorney on inactive status until the debt’s repaid. However, be-

cause Kreep is now a judge, he’s avoided such a repercussion.

In response to a letter that Thompson sent directly to the San Diego Superior Court, Presiding Judge David Danielsen wrote to encourage Thompson to obtain legal advice and “act promptly” in order to collect on “what appears to be a straightforward judgment.”

Now, Thompson, who’s representing himself in court, has filed a civil lawsuit to try to get his money back, plus court fees.

Under the law, a judge from outside the county jurisdiction will likely have to preside over the trial if it moves forward.

While the court battle continues to play out, Thompson said he’s losing faith in the justice system and isn’t confident he’ll ever be reimbursed.

“Can you imagine all the things Kreep’s done, and he’s sitting in judgment on your behavior?” Thompson said. “It’s almost crazy that he’s signing judgments to make other people pay when he won’t pay his own. Something’s got to be wrong that he can do this.”

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

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

john r.

spin cycle

John R. Lamb

lamb Minimum assuage “No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.”

—Franklin D. Roosevelt The pitches being tossed around in San Diego’s debate over a higher minimum wage for this sprawling city would have had the late, great Tony Gwynn seeing double. Spin Cycle spent some time digging into the subject and has come to the useless conclusion that it’s one confusing mofo. It doesn’t help that the numbers and players keep changing as frequently as Lady Gaga’s wardrobe.

Monday’s pitch from Council President Todd Gloria, however, may have finally brought the conversation out of the ivory towers. Slicing $1.59 an hour from his originally proposed $13.09 minimum wage by 2017 certainly pricked up many ears, save for those attached to the usual naysayers among Chamber of Commerce allies whose lexicon these days appears devoid of the word “compromise.”

Erik Bruvold, the puckish president of the National University Institute on Policy Research, jokingly suggested that he’d have to turn in his

8 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

T.J. Zane is elusive about why he’s backing Blanca Lopez Brown’s minimum-wage proposal. “right-wing nut card” when he told Spin that the new $11.50-an-hour proposal was “more doable than thinking about” a hike to $13.09.

That’s not to say that Bruvold, an economics researcher by trade, doesn’t still worry about the consequences for smaller businesses that provide character to communities. “I worry about how it affects my favorite genre bookstore here in San Diego, Mysterious Galaxy, because they already have to compete with Amazon,” he said.

He also wonders how people might shift their shopping habits should they live or work close to a community with a lower minimum wage. “Moving it to $11.50 might make it less of an issue, but we’ve found that nearly a quarter-million San Diegans and

about 50,000 jobs are located within a mile of a San Diego border,” Bruvold said.

“Out on El Cajon Boulevard and the 94, you’ve got this weird situation where one wage would be paid on one side of the block, and retail businesses on the other side of the block would be paying lower,” he said. “There’s nothing separating them. It’s not like San Diego and Del Mar, where you’ve got a lagoon.”

It is the fate of these kinds of small, independently owned businesses that worry Blanca Lopez Brown the most. A Democrat who twice ran unsuccessfully for the San Diego City Council District 4 seat now occupied by Myrtle Cole, Brown said that while on the campaign trail, she heard from many small business owners—barber shops, nail boutiques, family-owned restaurants and markets—who may operate with only two or three employees and would have to cut staff or raise prices.

“They were very blunt about it, pointing at things in the store and saying, ‘That’s going to go up in price by this much’ and ‘See that person over there? Now one will do the job of two,’” Brown told Spin. “That’s the reality, and I don’t think the council took the time to go talk to small business owners.”

Spin talked to Brown prior to Gloria announcing his revised number Monday and could not reach her afterwards. Brown has taken some arrows from progressive ranks for initiating a petition drive in April that could lead to a competing ballot measure in November that would eventually raise the city minimum wage to $12 an hour, but Gloria has blasted that proposal because he claims it would exempt 93 percent of local businesses.

Brown laughed at that figure but could not provide a counter number. She’s heard the jabs— that she’s the front for more nefarious political players in town hell-bent on confusing voters come November with competing minimum-wage measures.

But Brown said her aim is true.

“When I heard what was initially proposed, I said, ‘No, let’s put something out there and hope that maybe the council will come to the table. Let’s bring business owners in District 4 and 8—the people who will be hardest hit with this—into the negotiations.’”

A couple of signature gatherers Spin spoke to recently said Brown’s petition—requiring nearly 68,000 verified signatures— had been pulled from circulation.

Brown disputed that, saying only that certain locations were removed from canvassing. “Oh, it’s very much alive,” she said.

She also said others have taken up the cause, as well, most notably the San Diego County Prosperity Institute, which on its website is described as a “nonpartisan, non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the public on the issues.”

The institute’s chairman is Thomas J. “TJ” Zane, who until recently headed up the conservative Lincoln Club of San Diego

County, purveyors of some of the more controversial campaign mailers in recent elections.

Organizing papers filed with the state show that at one time the institute was operated by Zane (chairman), former City Councilmember and current congressional candidate Carl DeMaio (president) and Felipe Monroig (treasurer), former DeMaio chief of staff and current deputy chief of staff to Mayor Kevin Faulconer.

Zane, in an email, said that DeMaio and Monroig resigned from the organization in May 2013

when DeMaio jumped into the race against Rep. Scott Peters and Monroig took over the reins at the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.

Zane said his institute “doesn’t really have a formal role with the petition drive, per se.” He acknowledged “some understandable confusion” because he set up an independent committee in his other role as a political consultant to help finance the drive.

Brown said “absolutely” the Prosperity Institute is involved, adding, “I don’t have conversa-

tions with them because I’m going about this my way, and if anyone else is interested, you do what you want, thank you.”

Asked if she’s concerned that her motives with the petition—to get folks to the table—might be different than others who have taken on the cause, she laughed, “I wouldn’t be shocked or surprised if that ended up being true.

“Look,” she added, “if the council is open to dialog, I am all for it. Todd Gloria, the sooner you call me, the quicker this one can be put away. ”

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

aaryn

backwards & in high heels

belfer This test is an actual emergency As of this moment, most schools in the San Diego Ruby during the test-of-the-test time, I made plans Unified School District (SDUSD) have let out for to hang out with my girl (word to The Waffle Spot) the summer, and kids all around the city are settling during the three two-hour sessions of state / disinto routines—camps for the haves, video games for trict / school-sanctioned child abuse. the have-nots. Hooray for the level playing field.

Or free labor, as a group of sixth graders at IpsThose of us on the year-round schedule, howevwich Middle School in Massachusetts view it. They er, still have five insufferable weeks left. And let me drafted a petition asking U.S. Education Secretary say here, I’m just as burned out as my friends whose Arne Duncan to pay them for their time spent testkids are frolicking on the beach today. My husband, ing the untested math test (Slate.com writers argue daughter and I are limping—no, we are thrashing they should have sued). Their reason—and I agree our way like partial-limbed, flesh-dripping zomwith them—is that they lost a week of instruction bies—to the finish line of third grade, a less-thantime to validate a product from which at least one fantastic experience for any of us. organization is going to make a lot of money. So, This year was a tough one for many reasons. To why not pay them minimum wage? name just a smattering: Our kid struggled in math, Worthy of mention is that, according to Zillow, and despite repeated requests for help and intervenIpswich Middle is 92 percent white with only 9 pertion, we were brushed off; there’s been one class parcent of students qualifying for free or reduced-price ty and zero field trips—though, due to parent comlunch, and it boasts an enviable student to teacher plaints (?), a trip to a museum has been slipped in at ratio of 14 to 1. These are privileged students of a the last minute; my kid and her classmates were the certain socioeconomic class, the ones for whom beneficiaries of a grand total of six incongruous and these tests are really designed. If only students in uninspiring “art” classes taught by abominable visitschools with far different demographics and class ing educators somehow approved by the district’s pasizes were empowered to protest in this manner. thetic Visual and Performing Arts program; and there Which brings me back to my kid’s school, which was a racial slur directed toward is focused on practicing tests, my child by an SDUSD substitute not on lessons of civic engageteacher, something we are still in ment or social activism.

“Disaster” is the testthe process of addressing.

Like Ipswich Middle, Ruby’s of-the-test descriptor My child, Ruby, who used practice test required practo skip to school every morntice, so instructional time was I heard used by varying ing and bounce home in the ditched in lieu of test prep for teacher sources. afternoons, has become more certain blocks of time each day intimately familiar with gravduring the course of at least one ity, shuffling her feet both ways week. Such teaching to the test now with her head hung and face long. Her innate is something Barack Obama claims to revile, even as enthusiasm has been slowly ground right out of her, it’s central to his dismal education policy. There isn’t and I have watched it happen. any opting out of test practice.

But the year isn’t over; there must be opportuniBeyond this, parents received another notice ties for reigniting her curiosity, no? cheerfully telling us to log on to a website and have As a matter of fact, during the second week of our kids—wait for it!—take practice tests at home.

May, parents received a letter that all third-throughAnd, finally, because you have to have precisely eighth graders would be (drumroll) taking the stillthe right environment for testing, the school went in-development “Smarter Balanced Assessment into what I call “Prison Mode”: For the entire three Field Test” at the end of the month. Such a snappy weeks of practice-test administration, no parent PR name. It just sounds like there should be apples volunteers or visitors were permitted on campus. and crossbows involved somehow.

As my friend Justin would say, “WAYal.” As I The notice reassured parents not to sweat it, that would say (and did) as I swallowed a Xanax with a the test was “not going to count” and “that the school very dirty, very dry martini, “Bottoms up.” won’t receive scores.” It was being done to, you know, “Disaster” is the test-of-the-test descriptor I heard used by varying teacher sources, none of work out the kinks and see how it goes, presented as whom dare go on the record for fear of retribution. an opportunity for kids to take this untested test on Which makes me wonder, if they’re so afraid with laptop computers (cool, right?!?) that the kids haven’t all of their supposedly extravagant union protecused all year. Whether the test counted or not, most tions, what will the environment be like after the third graders don’t have the keyboard skills necesVergara ruling goes into full effect? sary to be successful. Like lots of schools in SDUSD, Things in education are dire, my friends. I’m the kids at Ruby’s school rarely have a computer to throwing up a flare like a firework. Is it summer work on, so while I’m aware that ours certainly isn’t yet? We are all really ready for summer. the worst school in the district, inequities abound.

Of course, we opt out of testing, and this testingWrite to aaryn@sdcitybeat.com to-test-the-test farce was no exception. Since the and editor@sdcitybeat.com. school couldn’t tell me how it intended to occupy

10 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

by michael a. gardiner Michael A. Gardiner

on the Romesco version were a sprinkle of minced herb and a wedge of lemon.

Another great seafood option is the orejas de mar tostada. These “ears of the sea” are close relatives of abalone, called king topshell—essentially a big sea snail—and have all the sweetness of abalone with a tender texture. Romesco serves them with crisp tortillas in a mild chimichurri habanero salsa that enhances the natural sweetness of the mollusk. The message is flavor, and it’s Romesco’s bone marrow and sopes immediately apparent.

Romesco offers a series of tacos that highlight the connection between tapas and Mexican street food. Is a San Sebastian tapeo really so different from a late-night trip down Tijuana’s taco alley? Perhaps the best of these offerings are the beef cheek tacos.

While it’s the fat content and gelatinous connecBajaMed deconstructed tive tissue that makes beef cheeks so delicious, Romesco’s version was earthy and deep beyond Romesco Mexiterranean Bistro (4346 Bonita words, without being even a bit greasy. The taRoad in Bonita, romescomexmed.com) shouldn’t cos de fideo—fried spaghettini tacos spiked with work: a little bit Spanish, a little bit Italian, a tiny Spanish chorizo, drizzled with fresh crema and bit Asian and alotabit Mexican. At first glance, served with a green salsa—is one of Romesco’s chef Javier Plascencia’s attempt to be all things most unusual offerings. Very unusual. to all people had all the marks of a doomed efMy favorite dish is a signature guilty pleafort. First glance, it seems, was wrong. sure: bone marrow. I’d be hard-pressed to idenI’ve written in this space that if Plascencia’s tify a tastier fat. Romesco serves these on top of flagship Tijuana restaurant, Misión 19, “isn’t the sopes—fried masa discs—with some kosher salt best local restaurant, it’s certainly a finalist.” and two sauces (a habanero salsa and a demiRomesco, though, is not Misión 19 North—not glace / red wine reduction). The idea is to lift as cutting edge, elegant or fancy. In the place of the bone—perhaps aided by the conveniently cheffie touches and artsy flourishes is a simplicprovided spoon—encouraging the bone marrow ity of message and a refreshing directness. to run onto the sopes, and then garnish it with a Take, for example, Romesco’s pulpo asado a few grains of kosher salt and sauces. The dish is las brasas—a delicious grilled octopus dish—and sinful, creative and utterly delicious. contrast it with Misión 19’s version with puréed Romesco works despite having every excuse garlic, pistachios and habanero salsa. Instead of not to. It features intensified versions of each of the Tijuana restaurant’s dramatic presentation the components of BajaMed cuisine, offered toand interplay of multiple elements, the Romesco gether under one roof. It is, in essence, BajaMed deconstructed. dish is presented simply with textural contrasts focused on the octopus itself—the supple inteWrite to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com rior juxtaposed with the crunch from the grill’s and editor@sdcitybeat.com. sear. The only garnishes and external flavorings

the world

fare

12 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

By Jen Van Tieghem

bottle

Rocket

Four Cabs enter, one Cab leaves

As I looked at all of the California Cabernet Sauvignons in my cupboard recently, I did what any decent wine lover would do: I decided to share.

I hosted some friends and family for a blind tasting so that no price or pretty label would skew opinions. Using a tasting kit, I cloaked the bottles and numbered the glasses, and we got to drinking.

Our contending Cali Cabs were a 2011 Illaria from Napa Valley ($65 suggested retail price), a 2010 Sequoia Grove from Napa Valley ($39), a 2011 Louis M. Martini from Sonoma County ($18) and a 2011 Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve from Napa Valley ($10).

First, we sipped each wine on its own, then with Cab-friendly cheeses and lastly with grilled steak and salads.

Jotting down notes, I put my choices in two categories—the two heartier, more flavorful wines competed for my first place and the two lighter and more one-dimensional wines competed for third. As the hours passed, the Cabs I liked best evolved in flavor—something to consider when tasting is how open air affects the wine.

After lots of tasting and nibbling, we compared notes to see where we agreed and disagreed. We then unveiled the bottles and tallied up our rankings.

Collectively, our lowest-ranked wine was the Louis M. Martini; however, it’s interesting to note that it was one person’s favorite. People’s palates and preferences vary, making this exercise that much more appealing. Notes of bell pepper and olives started the aroma, which also held light smoke. The guest who liked it best described its flavors as “fig-like” and found it had a smooth finish. He liked it even better when I told him the price was less than $20.

Ranking slightly better in the lineup was the Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve. This one smelled pleasantly herbaceous but had more tang than I like. It went well with cheese—Spanish Manchego and aged Irish cheddar especially, but I found it fell flat with the rich main course. For the low cost, it would work as a pre-dinner bottle for a barbecue before getting to the grilled stuff.

Second place went to the priciest in the bunch, the Illaria. This one was dark in color with an earthy aroma; flavors identified by the group included plum, cherry and pepper. Its aspects changed the most during the course of the night, making it a popular revisit for tasters. For me, it’s steep on the price tag, but if I win my NBA-playoff bets, I’d treat myself again.

The top pick for most of us, including me, was the 2010 Sequoia Grove. The nose began Jen Van Tieghem with light tobacco and developed into a toasted marshmallow scent. Its taste included some of that smokiness along with rich berry essences that mirrored its deep garnet color. At almost $40 a bottle, it’s something I’d buy and save for a great menu to really savor its food-friendly aspects.

With ranging preferences, and budgets, there’s definitely a California Cab out there for every wine-lover, and I highly recommend doing a blind tasting party to find out which one’s for you.

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

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

by jenny montgomery Jenny montgomery

cadia is used to, but the vibe is relaxed and the setting comfortable.

And although I liked everything I ate, there were no culinary showstopping moments.

With hot and cold tapas like traditional tortilla Española, as well as boquerones (white anchovies) and octopus, there’s a Spanish flair to the small-plates portion of the menu (except for the corn nuts— more on those in a sec). I dug the heaping plate of patatas bravas, classic Spanish drinking food featuring creamy-yet-crisp chunks of potato slathered in a crema that, to be truly authentic, needed a bit more heat. Spanish food is almost never spicy, except for patatas braSolterra’s patatas bravas vas, and although I like the dish, I wanted that bit of kick.

Another snack available on Solterra’s tapas menu is a bowl of those corn nuts. In terms of ingredients used and technique applied, these sure are some artisanal corn nuts. But, other than being a bit lighter than the gas-station-market version, I’m not sure they’re worth the five bucks.

Easy, urban winery Stick with the citrus and harissa olives to pair with a nice, jammy red.

When I think of a winery, my first image is of a The artichoke flatbread was a delicious way charming stone farmhouse perched at the crest to fill our tummies, with a tangy Cabrales blue of a golden hill, overlooking vast, rolling hills of cheese and Spanish Manchego working as beaugrape vines. Solterra Winery & Kitchen would tiful accompaniments to the artichokes and sunlike me (and you) to picture a cool outpost elchoke purée. The whole thing was chewy, cheesy bowed right in the middle of the busy Coast and hearty, a word that doesn’t always describe Highway in Leucadia. veggie-only options.

Using grapes from the owner’s father’s vineWe rounded out our meal with a terrific arroz yard in Sonoma, as well as ones from around con leche, a fancy term for rice pudding. I realize Southern California and Mexico’s Valle de Guarice pudding is a somewhat polarizing dessert dalupe, Solterra (934 N. Coast Hwy. 101, solterra (my husband gave me the stink-eye when I orwinery.com) makes its own tasty blends of wine dered it), but what’s not to love about sweet and right there in the vast, trendy space. Towers of creamy with a delightful texture? Solterra’s verwine casks fill the restaurant, sharing real estate sion is light and decadent without being cloying, with dining tables, a large bar area and a narrow drizzled with a rich date and caramel syrup and but cozy patio in the fresh air, perfect for people sprinkled with crunchy, spiced pistachios for a (or train) watching. wonderful textural addition.

I was once a Leucadian, back in my freeSo, maybe I won’t exactly be dreaming about wheeling, pre-stroller-pushing days, and if SoltSolterra’s food. But I know I’ll be back for the erra had been open at the peak of my perceived consistency, the ease and all that wine. coolness, I could easily see myself walking down Write to jennym@sdcitybeat.com the street for some after-work wine and nibbles. and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

It’s a bit more Napa of a feel than laid-back Leu-

north

fork

14 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

[T echnology ] no life

offline

by dave maass

Adventures in infosec It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! And, like the X-ray specs you’d order from the back pages of a magazine, it’s not as phenomenal as I was expecting.

Maybe I should back up and tell you what I’m talking about.

Last summer, at San Diego ComicCon, I was exposed to the preview of a video game called Watch Dogs, an open-world adventure where you play a gray-hat hacker with Chicago’s entire technological infrastructure literally at his fingertips. I was so enamored that I pre-ordered the Playstation 4 and the game, only to have my enthusiasm crushed a few months later when the game company, Ubisoft, announced it was postponing the release to this summer. I didn’t cancel the pre-order, opting instead for another Ubisoft launch title, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, which, by the way, is one of the best pirate adventures in the history of pirate media.

A few weeks ago, Watch Dogs finally shipped.

Now, to be totally fair, I’m only a few hours into a game that its creative director, Jonathan Morin, estimates is between 35 and 100 hours of play, depending on your level of savvy and focus. I haven’t revealed most of the features or storyline, and Ubisoft ignored all my pleas for a preview copy. Jerks.

In Watch Dogs, you play from the point of view of a character named Aidan, who has the ability to hack almost everyone and everything in his surroundings. When you make him open a smartphone app called “The Profiler,” it connects beams of twinkling data to all the security vulnerabilities in his immediate vicinity—other people’s smartphones, forklifts, streetlights, surveillance cameras. With the touch of a button, you can make electrical transformers and sewer pipes explode and spy on people in their living rooms and loot their bank accounts. At this point, I’m not really sure what the point of the game is, but like the Grand Theft Auto series, there are a lot of car-jacking and high-caliber firearms. All of that is pretty cool, but there are a few elements that make me cringe. Allow me to enumerate: 1. Aidan is the bro-iest hacker in infosec.

He wears a stupid fitted baseball cap and a stupid trench coat; I was so embarrassed by the character that as soon as I stole enough from undeserving Chicagoans, I went to the store and bought new outfits. That’s right—I didn’t buy new assault rifles or explosives or faster motorcycles. I bought clothing. In the real world, I put off trips to Ross until my clothes are threadbare.

Also, Aidan is an uncharismatic, humorless dick who’s even less appealing after playing as Ubisoft’s swashbuckling Black Flag Welshman, Capt. Kenway. If Ubisoft had asked me, I’d have told them to ditch the d-bag and model the character after a true badass of the hacker world. Off the top of my head: Morgan Marquis-Boire, the dreadlocked, tattooed infosec expert from New

16 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

In Watch Dogs, your hacker learns a lot of things he didn’t really want to know.

Zealand who tracks down tyrannical government spyware and was recently appointed director of security for Glenn Greenwald’s new enterprise, First Look Media.

2. I have no idea what’s going on. Unlike other open-world titles I’ve fallen in love with— Black Flag, Infamous Second Son—there’s very little at the beginning to help you understand how to play. You’re basically dropped into a botched heist, then forced to shoot a helpless, unarmed dude while he’s lying on the ground. It was totally, unnecessarily dark. Now, there is a benefit to finding your own way through the game: It allows you to develop your own mode of play and all that, but it also means I can’t actually tell you what the object of the game is.

3. In order to play the game, you need to use that “Profiler” function, which makes Aidan get out his phone, hold it at his waist and walk around staring at it. While I know I’m guiltiest of the guilty with this behavior in my daily life, it’s just really, really obnoxious to have a character glued to his device and not watching where he’s going.

The people of Chicago seem to dislike it, too.

Now for the good stuff: Watch Dogs’ Chicago is a beautifully rich and detailed city, filled with secret alleys and shops. As you pass people, your phone recognizes their faces and provides personal information gleaned from a cloud database. It’s fun to steal cars (and even boats) and race through the city, often slamming into other vehicles and smashing into innocent bystanders. The more I play the game, the more secret missions it unveils, including psychedelic trips where you get to bounce around the skyscrapers on giant hippy flowers. Also, there’s something creepily rewarding about spying on people in their homes and learning the sordid details of their home lives.

Of course, since my day job is in the tech policy sector, I feel especially drawn to the debate over privacy. At a time when the NSA is collecting data on millions of Americans, it couldn’t be more relevant.

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

the

SHORTlist

1

SURF’S UP AT THE MINGEI

Local surf historian Richard Kenvin picked up a copy of Yanagi Sōetsu’s The Unknown Craftsman at the Mingei International Museum gift shop in Balboa Park. The book, he says, helped deepen his appreciation of the artistry and beauty found in ordinary utilitarian objects— like a surfboard. Kenvin, who’s been riding waves for more than 40 years, has always thought that surfboards have an especially attractive, functional design; reading the book, he realized that handmade boards are examples of the type of craftsmanship Sōetsu praises.

“Surfboards are the purist form of craft,” says Kenvin, who, by the time he came across Sōetsu’s book, was already deep into a quest to research obscure board designs.

Serendipitously, Kenvin ran into the late Martha Longenecker, founder of the Mingei, at a market in La Jolla. He used the chance encounter to tout the significance of surfboards, describing them as overlooked but important craft objects. Longenecker took an interest.

“We started getting together about this stuff, and I started showing her how surfing and surfboards are this crazy expression of what they were putting in the museum,” Kenvin says. “She really started to get it.”

Those talks eventually resulted in Surf Craft: Design and the Culture of Board Riding, an exhibition that’ll open at the Mingei on Saturday, June 21. The show, curated by Kenvin, is a visual history of surfboards that highlights the contributions of shapers like Bob Simmons and Steve Lis. Visitors will see a heavy, handmade wooden board made in the early 1800s in Hawaii alongside examples of more contemporary, lightweight boards made of various synthetic materials. Surf Craft details the surfboard’s early evolution, brief devolu-

2

SMOKE ON THE ROOFTOP

This week’s issue of CityBeat is all about drinking, from what local famous folks like to drink (and where) to delicious cocktail recipes you can try at home. And with special issues like this, we usually throw a party— because who doesn’t love a party? On Thursday, June 19, head over to the SummerSalt Pool Lounge atop Hotel Palomar (1047 Fifth Ave., Downtown) for Chefs & Shakers Mash-up. The event, kicking off at 6:30 p.m., features nine teams of bartenders and chefs, including folks from spots like Sycamore Den, Carnitas Snack Shack, Seven Grand, Cowboy Star, Cusp, BarCusp bartender rio Star and JSix, who’ll Chris Burkett create a food-and-drink pairing using “smoke” as the theme. Your $25 ticket gets you a taste of all the teams’ delicious creations. cocktailmashup.bpt.me

ART

COORDINATED BY KINSEE MORLAN ANDREW KIDMAN

A Moment in Time at Exclusive Collections Gallery, 568 Fifth Ave., Downtown.

Check out Michael Flohr’s urban impressionism paintings. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 20. ecgallery.com

Loma. Juan Gastelum, Yolanda Romero, Jorge Pina and more will be showcasing interpretations of the sirens of the sea.

The night’s also a fundraiser for We Support U, a nonprofit empowering individuals with cancer. From 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 21. facebook.com/laondaart

Summer Solstice Review: Eight Figurative San Diego Artists at Brokers Building, 402 Market St., Downtown. Five Brokers Building artists and three guest artists show off their work. Artists include Madeline Sherry, Dan Camp and Mollie Kellogg. From 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 20. facebook.com/thebrokersbuildinggallery

Mode Selector at Madison Gallery, 1020 Prospect St., La Jolla. James Verbicky will be displaying his mixed-media paintings.

Also on display will be a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, which features his latest work, “Mode Selector,” painted on the car itself. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 21. madisongalleries.com

HSurroundings at The Kitchen, 8093 Calle Seven, Ste. 10, Tijuana. San Diego artist Michael Ruiz’s new work explores peripheral images and contemporary iconography found within the neighborhood where he lives. From 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 20. facebook.com/TheKitchenTJ

Summer Nocturne at 230 S. Santa Fe Ave., Vista. A juried, group art exhibition by The Backfence Society, a collaboration of local artists who produce interactive group shows. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 21. backfencesociety.com

Manifestations of Sibyl: REDUX at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. See Sibyl Rubottom’s recent artist books, prints and collages that revisit her archetypal imagery of the last 25 years. Opening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, June 20. ljathenaeum.org

From left: Board designs by George Greenough, Bob Simmons and Skip Frye tion (after the turn of the century, many boards were poorly designed and cheaply manufactured) and eventual return to its handcrafted roots.

“Today, surfboard design is being transformed, and there’s a connection to older design techniques,” Kenvin says. “The boards are looking and working better and better.”

Surf Craft will be on view through January 2015.

Every Thursday from July 10 through Aug. 21, the museum will activate the exhibition with a series of surf-related events and extended evening hours. Admission to the exhibition is $8. mingei.org

3

MASTER OF PUPPETS

Sometimes, describing conceptual art can be as painstaking as creating the art in the first place. We were intrigued by Paper Cities, a multimedia puppet-theater performance project that the group Animal Cracker Conspiracy will stage in a free workshop format at La Jolla Playhouse from Thursday, June 19, through Saturday, June 21, but we weren’t sure how to describe it, so we asked Animal Cracker cofounder Iain Gunn for help.

“The show,” he said, “investigates through symbolism, sound and movement the complex relationship we have to our ideals as projected into the dream of the always and ever ‘New’ city and the uncertain relationship those projections have with the primordial wild that exists under everything we have built.” Oh! Wait.

Huh? Well, one thing we’re sure of is that it’ll be interesting. lajollaplayhouse.org/paper-cities

HMostly Charcoal, A Little Fire and Essence of the Moments at San Diego Art Institute-Museum of the Living Artist, Balboa Park. Ellen Dieter showcases new mixed-media works while Gail Rogers will debut new paintings. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 20. $3. sandiego-art.org HGirl Talk at Planet Rooth Design Haus, 3334 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Lee Puffer, Kelly Schnorr and Rachel Shimpock show work focused on pop culture, feminism, food and mass consumption, with humor conveying the themes. Opening from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 20. 619-297-9663 Reinas at TPG2, 1475 University Ave., Hillcrest. See new works by Rod Mojica, who specializes in dreamy nudes and portraits of beautiful women. Also showing is Dream States: The Art of the Subconcious, dream-themed surrealism from artists like Aries Tjhin, Jack Stricker, Linda Halsey and more. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 20. tpg2.net HLa Jolla Festival of the Arts at Warren Field, UCSD, La Jolla. Over 200 artists and craftspeople display their work. There will be live entertainment, wine, craft beer and interactive performance art. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 21-22. $11-$16. 858-534-2230, ljfa.org Artists of North Park Show at Expressive Arts, 3201 Thorn St., North Park. View a selection of works and hear from the North Park artists who created them, including Brandon Hubbard, Sherri Raum, Sharon Tittle, Stephanie Weaver and over a dozen more. From 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 21. expressiveartssandiego.com Grand Opening at Jill Joy Studio, 710 13th St. Suite 201, East Village. San Diego artist Jill Joy opens her new studio above the New School for Architecture, featuring large colorful abstract works. From 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 21. jilljoy.com Amir H. Fallah at San Diego Art InstituteMuseum of the Living Artist, Balboa Park.

The L.A.-based artist will discuss art practice, his career in publishing Beautiful/Decay Magazine, and his design firm Something in the Universe. At noon Saturday, June 21. $2-$3. sandiego-art.org HOutside the Box at Not an Exit Gallery, Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. Allan Morrow will showcase his recent work. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 21.

Mermaid Sightings at La Onda Arte Latino, 2690 Historic Decatur Rd., Point

HSurf Craft: Design and the Culture of Board Riding at Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park. This new exhibition, curated by local surf historian Richard Kenvin, presents 60-80 surfboards, built from the late 1940s to the present day, in their historical context of craft and design. Opens Saturday, June 21. $5$8. 619-239-0003, mingei.org Wilderness Trips at Next Door Gallery, 2963 Beech St., Golden Hill. Amelia Simpson debuts new collages that showcase the complex relationship of human beings to the natural world. Opening from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 21. 619-2336679, studiomaureen.com Artist and Motorcycle at La Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. Voz Alta Project presents a mixedmedia exhibition focusing on man and his favorite machine, featuring work from Mikey Hottman, Sal Gonzalez, Carlos de Baca and more. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 21. facebook.com/la.bodega.1 HStudio Series at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. An informative discussion with artist-in-residence Beverly Penn about her new intricate bronze sculptures. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 24. $10. 760-436-6611, luxartinstitute.org

BOOKS Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The co-authors and creators of the website chicklitisnotdead.com discuss their latest, Your Perfect Life. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 19. warwicks.indiebound.com HLarry Zeiger at Upstart Crow, 835 West Harbor Drive, Seaport Village. The local musician and writer will be signing copies of Nice Legs: A Pairing of Wine & Words, a collection of short stories that revolve around wine. At 7 p.m. Thursday, June 19. 619-232-4855, upstartcrowtrading.com James S. A. Corey at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank, collectively known as James S. A. Corey, will discuss and sign Cibola Burn. At 7 p.m.

Friday, June 20. mystgalaxy.com Sarah Tauber at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Tauber discusses For Dear Life, about a young American couple embarking on a twoyear adventure in Tehran with devastating results. At noon Sunday, June 22. warwicks.indiebound.com HDavid Sedaris at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Sedaris does a special meet-and-greet for his latest, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls. Ticket price

CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

Spamalot spews out the silliness Overheard amid the pre-show mingling at Moonlight Amphitheatre about 20 minutes before curtain time: “I like this show because you don’t have to think about it.” From that comment, we can presume the following: This patron, like many in the audience, had seen Monty Python’s Spamalot before.

Second, this wacky musical-comedy based on the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail isn’t thought to be complex material.

But here this big mouth was wrong: While many of the gags—both verbal and physical—in Spamalot are no-brainers, the show (book and lyrics by Python’s Eric Idle, music by John Du Prez and Idle) is rife with wry and subtle nuggets that require, if not a sophisticated mind, then at least one in tune with the zany Monty Python sensibility.

Spamalot was in town just last year, making its regional debut at the Welk Resorts Theatre (there was a national touring production at the Civic Theatre a couple of years before that), but Moonlight’s production is bigger, more lavish and more Vegas.

In the Act One scene “Camelot,” the setting is sheer Sin City, complete with scantily clad dancers and a giant roulette wheel suspended from the rafters. Moonlight’s Spamalot also benefits from a straight-faced, exasperated King Arthur, beautifully played by Sean

18 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

KEN JACQUES

THEATER

Murray, who’s also artistic director of Cygnet Theatre in Old Town. Returning to Moonlight after a much tamer performance in last year’s production of Young Frankenstein is Larry Raben, who’s three times as funny here in the role of Sir Robin, a Knight of the Round Table.

Most of the scenes, like the show itself, are deliberately ridiculous. There are so many puns and dollops of distinctly British humor that no one could keep track of them all. But even if this is your third or even fourth experience with the craziness, you’re bound to enjoy not only the familiar, nonsensical songs, but also the costumes and set designs of Tim Hatley (provided by Musical Theatre West), the “Laker Girls” who accompany The Lady of the Lake (Christine Hewitt) during her first number and the irreverent spoof of the Great White Way, “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway.” Tossed-in references to Vista and ex-San Diego mayor Bob Filner don’t hurt, either.

Monty Python’s Spamalot runs through June 28 at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. $20-$52. moonlightstage.com

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

Jamie Torcellini (left) and Sean Murray

OPENING The Brothers Lipschitz: Two brothers—one a historian, one a marriage counselor—invite a couple of strange women over to dinner, and things go down.

Presented by Different Stages, it opens June 20 at Swedenborg Hall in University Heights. differentstages.biz Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: In a musical based on a biblical tale, a guy who has an amazing coat is sold into slavery by his 11 jealous brothers but rises to power in Egypt nonetheless. Presented by Broadway San Diego, it runs June 24 through 29 at the Civic Theatre, Downtown. broadwaysd.com Othello: A bitter soldier, Iago, schemes against his general, Othello, and, as usually happens in a Shakespearean tragedy, lots of people die. Opens June 22 at The Old Globe Theatre. oldglobe.org Slaves: A free reading of a play about a Mexican woman brought to the U.S. for marriage but ends up a prostitute. Presented by Amigos del REP, it’ll be staged on June 24 at the Lyceum Theatre at Horton Plaza, Downtown. sdrep.org/amigos.php

For full listings,

please visit “T heater ” at sdcit ybeat.com

includes a copy of the book and admission to the signing. At 7 p.m. Monday, June 23. $20.36. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com R.J. Belle at Upstart Crow, 835 West Harbor Drive, Seaport Village. Belle discusses her thriller, First One Down: A Paul Sutton Novel. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 25. upstartcrowtrading.com

COMEDY HWorld Series of Comedy at Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The fifth anniversary of the nationwide contest to find the best comedian in the U.S. and Canada. At 8 p.m.

Wednesday and Thursday, June 1819, and 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 20-21. $20. 858-5739067, thecomedypalace.com

times. Friday through Sunday, June 2022. $58-$100. sandiegobeerfestival.com

MUSIC Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. This all-star orchestra is made up of concertmasters and principal players from the nation’s top orchestras and ensembles. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, and Saturday, June 21. $24$85. 619-239-0100, mainlymozart.org Green Flash Concert Concerts: Eric Hutchinson & Scars on 45 at Birch Aquarium, 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla.

Enjoy great food and drinks and sunset views from the aquarium’s Tide-Pool Plaza while listening to singer-songwriter Eric Hutchinson and English rock band Scars

on 45. From 5:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 18. $36. aquarium.ucsd.edu Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. The 25th anniversary Jazz at the Athenaeum series continues with the local debut of this Chilean-born tenor saxophonist playing with bassist Pablo Menares and esteemed Cuban drummer Francisco Mela. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 18. $27. ljathenaeum.org HTwilight in the Park Summer Concerts at Spreckels Organ Pavilion, Balboa Park. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, summertime music and dance returns to Balboa Park. From 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, Thursday, June 19, and Tuesday, June 24. balboapark.org Sunset Poolside Jazz Series at West-

gate Hotel, 1055 Second Ave., Downtown.

Every Thursday, jazz enthusiasts are invited to sway and groove to the sounds of Southern California’s finest jazz talents at the Westgate Hotel’s eclectic poolside jazz festival. This week: Trio Gadjo. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, June 19. $20.

619-238-1818, westgatehotel.com Los Hermanos Arango at City Heights Performance Annex, 2745 Fairmount Ave., City Heights. An ensemble from Guanabacoa, Cuba, this talented family of virtuosic musicians combine Afro-Cuban sacred music with Afro-Cuban jazz, funky rhythms and improvisation. At 7 p.m. Friday, June 20. 619-641-6103, sandiego.gov Poncho Sanchez at Jacobs Community Center, 404 Euclid Ave., Valencia Park.

The legend brings his fiery blend of jazz, gritty soul music, and infectious melodies

and rhythms from a variety of Latin sources to this intimate venue. Free salsa lessons at 7 p.m. At 8 p.m. Friday, June 20. $25-$62.50. facebook.com/JacobsCenter HSherman Heights Music Festival at Sherman Heights Joint-Use Sports Field, Island Avenue, between 22nd and 24th streets. The family-friendly annual festival features live music, dance, food, art, vendors and activities for all ages. Music featured will include cumbia, Latin funk, Afrobeat, ranchera, mariachi, reggae, rock en español and salsa. From noon to 6 p.m.

Saturday, June 21. 619-232-5181, facebook.com/shermanheightsmusicfest HEvviva L’Opera! at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 655 C Ave., Coronado. Comprised of members of San Diego Opera

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

HComedy For Caroline at Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St., La Jolla. See some of the best in local comedy including Zoltan Kanzas, Mal Hall, Steven Garza and more, with proceeds benefiting Caroline Wrathall in her battle against cancer. At 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, June 19. $25. 858-454-9176, lajolla.thecomedystore.com HMike Epps at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. He’s had toprated HBO specials and was the host of Def Comedy Jam, but most people will remember him as Ice Cube’s cousin Day-Day from the Friday films. At 8 p.m. Saturday, June 21. $39.50-$48.50. sandiegotheatres.org

DANCE HSalon Dances 4 at Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive, Encinitas. The Patricia Rincon Dance Collective premieres three works including Rincon’s “Other,” which explores simultaneous existence on multiple planes of reality. At 2 p.m. Sunday, June 22. $10 suggested donation. rincondance.org

FOOD & DRINK Hopfest at the Museum at San Diego Museum of Man, Balboa Park. Tour the Museum of Man’s exhibit, BEERology while enjoying craft beer samples and food tastings. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 19. $20-$30. 619-239-2001, museumofman.org/beer Food Truck Fierceness! at The Center, 3909 Centre St., Hillcrest. Kick off the 25th anniversary of AIDS Walk & Run by tasting food some of San Diego’s hottest food trucks including Calexico Creamery, Crabcakes911, New York On Rye and more. From 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 19. 619-692-2077, thecentersd.org HWine, Cheese and Chocolate Festival at NTC Promenade in Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma.

Help the Women’s Museum of California raise funds at this annual wine, cheese and chocolate event. Sue Palmer sings boogie-woogie classics. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, June 20. $35-$100.

619-573-9260, womensmuseumca.org HBetty Fussell at New Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. The James Beard award-winning author, chef and food historian joins the Culinary Historians of San Diego for a discussion of our culture’s attitudes towards food called “From Postum to Food Porn: The Dynamic of Purity vs Pleasure.” From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 21. CHSanDiego.com San Diego International Beer Festival at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Sample more than 400 varieties of ale, cider, porter, stout, mead and more from more than 15 countries. See website for full schedule and

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

Chorus, Musica Vitale is celebrating San Diego Opera’s incredible story of victory and continuum with an evening of music

by Puccini, Mozart, Rachmaninov and more. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 21. $15. 619-435-3167, musicvitale.com HCarlsbad Music Festival Village Walk at Carlsbad Village, Carlsbad. In celebration of the International Day of Music, enjoy an evening of over 40 performances of music of all kinds at indoor and outdoor venues around Carlsbad Village.

Highlights include Trouble in the Wind, The Red Fox Tails and Wu Man playing alongside Son de San Diego. From 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 21. 760-8095501, carlsbadmusicfestival.org Pacific Camerata at St. Andrews by the Sea, 1050 Thomas Ave., Pacific Beach. The early music vocal ensemble celebrates 20 years of making music in San Diego with a festive concert of Italian music from the late Renaissance into the early Baroque. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 21. $10-$15. PacificCamerata.org Otis Taylor at Museum of Making Music, 5790 Armada Drive, Carlsbad. The bluest artist performs his raw, austere “trance blues.” At 7 p.m. Saturday, June 21. $22-$28. 760-438-5996, museumofmakingmusic.org HJulian Blues Bash at Menghini Winery, 1150 Julian Orchards Drive, Julian.

This 16th annual fest features food, beer, wine, dancing and, of course, blues. From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 21. $20-$35. 760-765-2072, robb-bowerpre sents.com #HackingImprov: A Generative Song Cycle at Space 4 Art, 325 15th St., East Village. Composer and performer Blair Robert Nelson explores over a century of audio technology alongside violinist Kristopher Apple. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 25. $10. 619-269-7230, sdspace4art.org

PERFORMANCE HPaper Cities at La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla. Iain Gunn, co-founder of the alternative puppet theatre troupe Animal Cracker Conspiracy, performs this hybrid mixed-media/puppet performance about global urban development. At 8 p.m. Thursday, June 19, through Saturday, June 21. 858-5501010, lajollaplayhouse.org/paper-cities Blacklight & Vaudeville at Victory Theater, 2558 Imperial St., Logan Heights.

Technomania Circus presents this allages variety performance featuring circus arts, blacklight illusion, puppetry, magic, comedy and music. Rockabilly from Johnny Deadly Trio after the show. At 8 p.m. Saturday, June 21. $15-$20. 619236-1971, technomaniacircus.com HBlind: Deaf I at Media Arts Center San Diego, 2921 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. Stay Strange presents the first installation of its new experimental video/ live score series featuring collaborations between video and sound artists, including !ZeuqsaV! with Jamie Shadowlight, Lily Sheng with Esteban Flores and Asha Sheshadri with Michael Trigilio. At 6 p.m.

Saturday, June 21. $5. staystrange.com Encore Vocal Ensemble at La Jolla Jewish Community Center, 4126 Executive Dr., La Jolla. In their newest show, “Out of Time,” Encore takes musical highlights from various genres and ages and wraps them up in a time travel-themed production. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 21, and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 22. $15$20. lfjcc.org HNoir at the Bar at La Jolla Brewing Company, 7536 Fay Ave., La Jolla. Join mystery authors Don Winslow, Jeri Westerson, Cameron Pierce Hughes, Ken

20 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

“Pasithea” by Jacki Geary is on view in Dreamstates: Art of the Subconscious, a group exhibition opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 20, at TPG2 (1475 University Ave., Hillcrest).

Kuhlken, Debra Ginsberg, Matt Coyle and Lisa Brackmann for an evening of noir-ish readings and fictional mayhem. From 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday, June 22. 858-246-6759, facebook.com/noiratthebarsd HOpera in the Street at Tijuana Cultural Center, Paseo de los Heroes No. 9350, Tijuana. Two weeks of opera south of the border that includes a family-friendly festival, opera workshops and, of course, presentations of operas. See website for full schedule. Various times Sunday, June 22, through July 5. operadetijuana.org North County Celebrity Sonnets at Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium, 1775 Dove Lane, Carlsbad. Celebrate the Bard’s 450th birthday at this evening of guest actors, musicians and others paying tribute to Shakespeare. At 7 p.m.

Monday, June 23. carlsbadca.gov/arts w00tstock 6.0: A Night of Geeks Music at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Adam Savage (MythBusters), Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and music-comedy duo Paul and Storm celebrate geekdom with music acts, readings, comedy, demons, short films and more. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 24. $40. 619-570-1100, w00tstock.net

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HRadvocate Reading Show at Polish American Association, 1934 30th St., South Park. To celebrate its 12th issue, Radvocate is holding a reading in partnership with So Say We All, featuring contributors including Ryan Bradford, Hanna Tawater, Ken Leek and Anthony Muni Jr. From 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 20. $5 suggested donation. theradvocateisamagazine.com

SPECIAL EVENTS Adventures in Fandom at New Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village.

A behind-the-scenes look at the original Star Trek series featuring a talk by Marc Cushman, author of the series These are the Voyages, as well as actors from the original shows. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 19. sandiegolibrary.org HMOPA Remix Nights at Museum of Photographic Arts, Balboa Park. Each Thursday (with a few exceptions), MOPA will stay open late and feature a mix of entertainment. This week, they’ll have the MOPA Store summer sale kick-off, plus toy camera demos. From 5 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, June 19. $6-$8. mopa.org San Diego International Boat Show at Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, 1380 Harbor Island Drive, Downtown. Shop the newest boats and marine accessories. From noon to 7 p.m.

Thursday and Friday, June 19-20, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and

Sunday, June 21-22. $12. sandiegoin ternationalboatshow.com International Surfing Day at Ocean Beach, Newport Avenue and Abbott Street. Surfrider Foundation’s annual event offers free surf lessons, an outdoor screening of The Endless Summer and more. From 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 20. sandiego.surfrider.org Summer Solstice Bike Ride at Green Flash Brewing Co., 6550 Mira Mesa Blvd., Mira Mesa. Join the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition’s annual ride and party.

Meet at Green Flash for a half-hour leisurely bike ride before heading back to the tasting room for beers. At 6 p.m. Friday, June 20. $15. 858-622-0085, sdcbc.org LGBT Wedding Expo at The Center, 3909 Centre St., Hillcrest. An intimate boutique-style wedding expo. There will be dancing, tastings and wedding experts. From 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 20. $10-$15. lgbtlifeweddingexpo.com HOld House Fair at 30th and Beech streets, South Park. Explore historic homes, enjoy a street festival with music, food, Vintage Row and learn more about preserving San Diego’s historic architecture. Festival and walking tour is free, with tickets available for the Historic Home Tour ($25) and guided Trolley Tours ($5-$10).

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 21. 619-233-6679, theoldhousefair.com Summer Solstice at W Hotel, 421 West B St., Downtown. Enjoy drink special, music by Jackson Breit and a pop-up shop

by Solo Eyewear, which helps fund eye care for people in need. From 5 to 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 21. soloeyewear.com San Diego World Refugee Day at House of Pacific Relations International, 2191 West Pan American Road, Balboa Park. The fourth annual event will highlight the contributions of refugees through cultural performances, panel discussions, activities and refugee-owned-business vendors. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 21. refugeedayevent.org Enviro Fair and Locally-Grown Fest at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Learn about a healthier version of Fair Food at this annual celebration of organic farming and sustainable living. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday, June 21. $8-$14. sdfair.com HFOUND! Pop-Up Shop at 5225 Riley St., Bay Park. Stop by this pop-up shop selling rare and exotic objects, miscellaneous whatchamacallits and just plain stuff. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, and Sunday, June 21-22. 619-291-2900.

For full listings,

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

Kinsee Morlan

Seen Local Vista’s cool cred “I freakin’ love Vista,” says Sarah Spinks, an artist who was born and raised in the North County town and doesn’t plan to ever leave it. “I don’t know what to do about problems in Afghanistan or homelessness, but this is something I can do.”

Spinks is standing in a dilapidated, city-owned building at 230 S. Santa Fe Ave. The space is just south of Vista’s Main Street and has been vacant so long that Spinks can’t remember it ever being functional.

She and the rest of the core members of the arts collective The Backfence Society are in the midst of cleaning up and activating the building. Summer Nocturne, their pop-up art exhibition featuring more than 30 artists, will open inside the space from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 21.

Vista’s downtown, Spinks says, is quickly becoming hipper than it’s ever been. The Backfence Society’s show, which was made possible with help from the city of Vista and the Vista Art Foundation, is another example of how the perceived sleepy bedroom community is upping its cool cred by embracing young entrepreneurs and supporting the arts.

“The city, they’re open to the idea of us making this space look fun,” Spinks says. “Downtown, there’s been a lot more activity going on. Vista has been more open to things.... We’re getting a second brewery downtown and there’s a winery—there’s just more life happening down here.”

Kinsee Morlan

Hugo Heredia Barrera

Cultivating Barrio Logan

Sarah Spinks Spinks, a busy tattoo artist in Bonsall by day, started The Backfence Society with a pop-up show in the now-disbanded Vista Art Foundation’s Gallery 204 in 2011. From there, the group of mostly young North County artists staged a few other shows in breweries, boutiques and empty warehouses. Spinks takes a small commission from artwork sales to help fund more ventures. For Summer Nocturne, the collective’s small budget will be used for things like insurance and the creation of dozens of cockroach sculptures that’ll be mounted to look like they’re crawling out of a hole in the wall near the front entrance. They’re also painting murals on cloth canvases to hang over boarded-up windows.

“We’re just looking to make a very imaginative, interactive evening,” Spinks says, finishing up one of the murals. “It’ll be a night most people wouldn’t associate with Vista—a little more youthful and edgy, maybe, but hopefully not offensive to anyone.”

—Kinsee Morlan own work—high-end contemporary sculptures often made of found metal and glass—but he was inspired to do more when art galleries like La Bodega and Chicano Art Gallery began opening on his block.

“I started seeing how the community was coming up and changing,” Heredia Barrera says.

He wanted to be part of that change by filling a niche and showing more experimental, contemporary work. Last Saturday, his new gallery, HB Punto Experimental, opened with a show featuring art by Josué Castro (aka La Tentación) and Jimmi Toro.

Heredia Barrera also had live models wearing pieces of his handmade sculptural jewelry in what he describes as more performance art than fashion show.

The new gallery is the latest instance of artistic activity in Barrio Logan. Benjamin Nicholls, executive director of the new Barrio Art Association (BAA), says the 2-month-old organization exists to help “connect the dots of creativity” popping up in the neighborhood. The BAA is financed by an area business owner, Nicholls says, and will help with funding and promotion while assisting artists and arts organizations with existing efforts. He says that one way BAA can help is by getting arts groups organized in order to anticipate and combat the negative effects of gentrification.

“It’s almost like you can stand at one end of the neighborhood and see all the condos coming,” Nicholls says. “People are nervous that the rising land values will push out the artists…. We don’t want that to play out here.”

Hugo Heredia Barrera is the kind of artist who sees potential in everything. While the front of his Barrio Logan live / work studio at 2151 Logan Ave. is drab and cordoned off with black bars, once he leads the way through the alley entrance, signs of the building’s former status as a beat-up, abandoned space disappear.

Educated in architecture, engineering and welding, the sculptor has transformed the old storefront into a sleek one-bedroom apartment. He built almost everything in his living quarters by hand—the eyecatching metal tables, the contemporary sculptures, even the walls and floors in his bedroom and kitchen.

In the last few months, the artist decided to use his —Kinsee Morlan skills to carve out a new gallery in a section of the remaining 5,000 square feet he leases. Originally, he used Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com the entire space to make, photograph and store his and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Spartan Hunting for purpose in David Michôd’s post-apocalyptic hell

by Glenn Heath Jr. When the apocalypse hits, how will we survive? Disaster films try to answer this question by confirming the power of makeshift families, solidified groups of desperate individuals who find safety in numbers. Sure, there might be a Guy Pearce (left) and Robert Pattinson, in conflict bad egg or two, as witnessed in 28 Days Later and often on TV’s The Walking Dead, but with- ing the film’s bleak outlook. Together, they challenge out solidarity, nothing resembling humanity would The Rover’s primordial view of human interaction, remain. The Rover envisions a much more cynical and, over time, we begin to see a flicker of withered endgame. Making no such claims for harmonious ac- respect born from necessity. Pearce’s performance cord between humans post-collapse, David Michôd’s hinges almost entirely on the way his eyes communidusty and violent road film paints a devastating por- cate intent, while Pattinson’s gutsy turn forces us to trait of isolationism out of the barest essentials. see beyond his character’s bumbling façade.

Set in the never-ending Australian outback 10 Tone also plays an important role in The Rover— years after civilization went kaput, The Rover equates which opens Friday, June 20, at Hillcrest Cinemas. loneliness to godliness through the character of Eric Crucified bodies mark the roads like biblical bill(Guy Pearce), a bearded nomad with nothing more boards. Flies circle around every living (and dying) than a car to his name. But as The Road Warrior thing. Deafening, high-pitched music notes make up taught us, working transportation is all you need the score, and Michôd and cinematographer Natasha when the chips are down. Michôd’s strikingly lean Braier use slow camera movements to apprehend a plot kicks into gear the moment creeping, looming quality in the three criminals steal Eric’s vehicle imagery. This approach slows the after crashing their own during world down to nearly a crawl, The Rover a robbery gone south. Our silent letting the rotting surroundings Directed by David Michôd cipher pursues relentlessly, and make a profound impact on the Starring Guy Pearce, Robert spur-of-the-moment decisions viewer. Cages and bars are readily Pattinson, Scoot McNairy lead to equally rushed reactions, apparent, but the biggest prison of and David Field giving the film a stressful and unall seems to be Earth itself. StandRated R predictable quality. offs that might be stretched out in Early scenes reveal how physiother action films are over within cal movement transcends dialogue seconds, a bullet finding its mark in The Rover, leaving the viewer to grapple with a vol- more quickly than expected. atile and Spartan worldview. The barren landscapes The pervasive menace might suggest that numband haggard roadways frame Eric’s single-minded ness has taken over for good. But if the harrowing fijourney, leading him into a series of brutal confronta- nal moments prove anything, it’s that Eric and Rey are tions with people who’ve already established warped far more complex than originally thought. Michôd’s groups themselves. After securing a gun in the most desire to paint the fall of western capitalism in such heinous way possible, he captures the wounded gritty strokes makes The Rover an unflinching film. It fourth member of the thieving gang, a simpleton puts the blame not on individuals but the groupings named Rey (Robert Pattinson) who’s attempting to they create in the midst of chaos. reunite with his brother Henry (Scoot McNairy) after “All roads are bad,” says Eric, but he might as well being left for dead on the side of the road. be talking about the destructive qualities of the postFor this new pair, small tasks take on heightened apocalyptic family, and how its formation only creimportance, like securing petrol, bullets, food and, ul- ates an illusion of solace. timately, Eric’s car. Money holds no value, so exchanges are often dealt with in bloodier ways. The two men Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com eventually form a family unit of their own, complicat- and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Funny people

Obivious Child

22 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

Jenny Slate owns every frame of Gillian Robesperre’s Obvious Child. As fledgling stand-up comic Donna Stern, a spitfire wordsmith who realizes she’s pregnant after a one-night stand with a stranger, the comedienneturned-actor instills a charming conviction and humanity to a character fraught with anxiety.

Hers is a nuanced balancing act that informs themes of family, expression and, eventually, the hot button issue of abortion.

Comedy allows Donna to explore the extremes of her own experience without really grappling with the consequences.

In the wonderfully laid-back opening sequence, she verbally skewers relationships while her boyfriend numbly listens from

the background. When he breaks up with her moments later, after the show, confessing to an affair with a close friend, Donna descends into a booze-filled bender.

Depression and drunkenness lead her into the arms (and, later, the bed) of a charming stranger named Max (Jake Lacy).

The rest of Obvious Child considers the ramifications of their one-night tryst, not just on Donna but also on Max. Both characters fumble around with their emotions, retreating to comedic banter to hide the hurt and frustration always simmering near the surface. Slate infuses this young woman with the vitality of a strong spirit feeling the kind of pressure that would overwhelm anyone facing such a life-changing decision. Lacy is equally impressive, conveying an intelligence and sincerity rarely found in the hipster romantic comedy.

Obvious Child—which opens Friday, June 20, at Hillcrest Cinemas—never claims authority when it comes to the prickly war over abortion. Rather than using these characters to make an overt political statement, it says a great deal about its ideology through their actions. Togetherness and understanding, freedom and nonjudgment are all key. It also helps to laugh at how insanely sad life can become, and how great it can be if we just keep going.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

Opening Before You Know It: Vivacious LGBT seniors, from bar-hoppers to bold activists, are the subjects of this rowdy documentary that sets out to destroy conventional wisdom about old age. Screens through June 25 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Dance of Reality: Alejandro Jodorowsky returns to feature filmmaking after 23 years with this highly personal and deeply political coming-of-age film set in his hometown of Tocopilla, Chile.

Jersey Boys: Clint Eastwood adapts the popular Broadway play about the rise of musical group The Four Seasons.

Obvious Child: A sassy stand-up comedienne gets dumped by her loser boyfriend, then has a one-night stand with a stranger, which results in an unwanted pregnancy. See our review on Page 22.

The Rover: Ten years after society collapses, a determined nomad (Guy Pearce) hunts down the three men who stole his car. It co-stars Robert Pattinson (Twilight).

See our review on Page 22.

Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon: Directed by actor Mike Myers and Beth Aala, this documentary goes inside the crazy life of Hollywood insider Shep Gordon.

Think Like a Man Too: Kevin Hart and Michael Ealy once again star in a mosaic of couples behaving badly, this time set in Las Vegas. It’s a sequel to the 2012 com-

in East Village.

City Island: Dysfunction doesn’t get messier than it does with the Rizzo Family, a group of squabbling adults who can’t find common ground on anything in this 2009 drama. Screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, at the Point Loma / Hervey Branch Library.

The Avengers: The ultimate Marvel Universe film finds a cast of heroes battling space invaders in order to save the world.

Screens at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, at Arclight La Jolla.

Think Like a Man Too edy Think Like a Man. Who is Dayani Cristal?: Part narrative, part documentary, this film starring Gael Garcia Bernal tackles the complex issues surrounding the California / Mexico border by clashing genres together. Screens through June 26 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

One Time Only Gilda: Classic film noir by Charles Vidor about a sinister South American casino boss who discovers that his best employee already knows his sexy new wife, played by the alluring Rita Hayworth.

Screens at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, at the La Jolla Community Center.

You Will Be My Son: The owner of a vineyard in Italy tries to reconcile the problematic relationship with his son and only heir to the family business. Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, at the Scripps Ranch Library.

Viewer’s Choice: Come enjoy a festive summer film to be selected by you, the viewer. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

L’arrivo di Wang (The Arrival of Wang): Mixing sci-fi and horror, the film concerns a Chinese interpreter who’s offered a large sum of money by a mysterious Italian to translate an interview with a secret man named “Wang.” Screens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 19, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Out of the Past: The past comes back to haunt a reclusive ex-private investigator (Robert Mitchum) running a gas station in the California mountains. Screens at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, June 19 and 20, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Elsa and Fred: Two senior citizens dealing with various life transitions meet cute and develop a fondness for each other in this romantic comedy. Screens at 1:30 p.m. Friday, June 20, at the La Jolla Community Center.

From Russia With Love: British superagent James Bond (Sean Connery) gets embroiled in an assassination plot involving a Russian beauty and a Soviet encryption device. Screens at 8:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Get crazy with Dr. Frank ‘n’ Furter (Tim Curry) while he tortures a newlywed couple whose car has broken down outside his creepy mansion. Screens at midnight on Saturday, June 21, at the Ken Cinema.

American Revolutionary: Explores the life of Grace Lee Boggs, a 98-year-old Chinese-American philosopher who’s been rooted in the labor- and civil-rights movement for more than 70 years decades. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 23, at the San Diego Public Library

The Sandlot: A group of wily gradeschoolers gets together to play baseball every day for an entire summer and form a lifelong bond in the process. Screens at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens in Liberty Station.

Raging Bull: The epic tragedy of boxer Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) is filtered through the prismatic cinematic lens of director Martin Scorsese. Screens at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at the La Jolla Community Center.

Grand Piano: Elijah Wood stars as a concert pianist who suffers from stage fright. Immediately before his comeback performance, he finds a mysterious note that sends him down a dark rabbit hole.

Screens at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at the Mission Valley Public Library.

The Internet’s Own Boy: Aaron Swartz was a programming prodigy and information activist who committed suicide after being tormented by the federal government for years. This documentary examines the story behind the tragedy.

Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at the Carlsbad Village Theater.

Magic Mike: Ladies, beware of bulging biceps and extreme sweaty thrusts. Fainting has been known to occur. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Now Playing 22 Jump Street: Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill return for more violent shenanigans as undercover cops trying to expose a drug ring at a local college.

Chinese Puzzle: French comedy starring Romain Duris and Audrey Tautou about a middle-aged man who moves to New York City to be closer to his children.

The Grand Seduction: Residents of a small harbor town try to woo a hot-shot young doctor with hopes of convincing him to relocate to their rural haven.

Heli: Amat Escalante’s violent art film explores the ramifications of one very bad decision by a police cadet that reverberates outward to affect the family of his young girlfriend. Ends June 19 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

How to Train Your Dragon 2: Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon Toothless encounter new challenges while trying to bring their species together in harmony.

The Signal: A group of young friends is lured into an isolated area by a computer genius, only to find out they’re trapped in a waking nightmare.

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

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

24 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

k n i Dr The

Issue

Boozin’ it up with seven local VIPs

W

e journalists are lucky. Because we buy ink by the barrel, as the old saying goes, interesting or well-known people agree to hang out with us. Can you imagine inviting TV weather anchor Dagmar Midcap or San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer out for drinks and them actually saying yes?

No, right? It would never happen. You’d probably just get put on some kind of watch list. They say yes to us only because we happen to have the means to reach an audience of some size, and we do our best to make good use of that strange privilege and share the results with you.

For our annual Drink Issue, we contacted seven San Diegans whom we find intriguing for some reason or another and asked them to go out drinking: Faulconer, Midcap, trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, newsman Mark Sauer, restaurateur Tracy Borkum, magazine writer Mike Sager and bicycling booster Sam Ollinger. How did all that turn out? Find out on Pages 26 through 34.

What about Page 36, you ask?

Well! We raised the excitement factor to dizzying heights by having seven local mixologists create special, one-of-a kind cocktails based on each of our drinking buddies. How much fun is that?!

So, craft yourself a cocktail, uncork a bottle of wine, pour a pint of microbrew and join us for some scintillating barroom conversation.

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

the

Drink

issue

M i k e Sag e r

Kinsee Morlan

pauses for a drink m lis na ur jo y ar er lit A legend of n

by Ki ns ee Mo rla

Alone, but not for long, Mike Sager sits hunched over a table at a corner booth at Beaumont’s in Bird Rock. The place is clean and contemporary. And as long as it’s not the weekend—when lipstick-wearing divorcées show up in droves and singer / songwriter-type guitar music rattles the water glasses—it’s quiet and cozy.

People know Sager here. Within minutes, he’s holding court with the restaurant’s owner, returning the hello waves of young women and discussing his drink of choice with his server.

“I switched to Manhattans,” he says, his hands wrapped tightly around the ryewhiskey cocktail garnished with three brandy-soaked cherries. “I was in Brooklyn one night, and they said, ‘What do you want?’ and I said, ‘I’ll have a Manhattan,’ and I’ve been drinking them ever since.”

“But in that particular style—up, no rocks, in a bulb glass, right?” the server asks.

“Yeah, because a Manhattan is traditionally served, if you’re like an Esquire man, in a really weird glass—it looks like a pudding thing—and some people put it in a martini thing, both of which I spill,” Sager says. “Even in a Mexican restaurant, I don’t

26 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

want my margarita in a fucking weird glass.

No, just give me a bucket.”

The irony is that Sager is an Esquire man—a writer-at-large for the magazine for more than 15 years. He’s the kind of hardworking, no-bullshit kind of Esquire man who enjoys an expensive cocktail in an upscale place like Beaumont’s, just not in a fancy glass.

Next to Sager is a gift bag stuffed with a magazine and books—fiction and nonfiction books both penned by him and a few published by his company, The Sager Group, which also supports and promotes music, film and other pursuits deemed worthwhile by Sager himself. He’s a man with a gaping soft spot for young, artsy types who need help.

Mark Wahlberg’s face is peeking out over the top of the bag. Sager profiled the actor for the latest Esquire, flawlessly employing his literary approach to nonfiction that gives readers a detail-laden, insider view of the man who once rocked the pseudonym Marky Mark.

“He pulled down his pants in front of me and I was so shocked that I didn’t notice if they were Calvins,” Sager says. (Wahlberg appeared in Calvin Klein underwear ads in

the ’90s.) “I really fucked up, but I think it actually ended up better because of it…. I just ruined the punch line to my story.”

Sager’s work as a journalist isn’t always as glamorous as watching A-list actors drop their drawers. The former Washington Post staffer and Rolling Stone contributing editor has lived with crack gangs, rubbed elbows with Aryan hate groups and penetrated the porn world. “The Devil and John Holmes,” Sager’s Rolling Stone story that eventually became the basis for Boogie Nights, might be his best-known piece.

When Sager tries to conjure up drinking stories, he mostly thinks of bar bathrooms, white powder and long, blurry nights.

His best stories, those that spill out after a drink or two, are mostly about his intense

experiences with story subjects he shadowed for months. Those folks have taught him some important shit. Like the 92-yearold writer Sager profiled—the old guy forgot about winning a presidential award for his work but remembered perfectly the feeling of his grandson’s warm sticky hand in his.

“Every time I go do a story, I have these weird realizations,” Sager says, two Manhattans in, before leaping to his next story about a story—this one decidedly less touching.

“I spent two to three months in Palestine during the Intifada,” he says. “One of the reasons I didn’t want to leave is because we had this huge brick of hash I didn’t want to leave behind…. I ended up having to roll over it with my car to make a piece flat enough to take home.”

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

the

Drink

issue Ryan Bradford

p a c d i M r a m g a D ther anchor NBC San Diego’s wea es sipping Moscow mul le hi w s ht ig nf gu lks ta

by Ryan Br ad fo rd

Unless you don’t have a TV or eyeballs, you know who Dagmar Midcap is. As NBC San Diego’s weather anchor, she provides a calming nightly presence amid the city’s traditionally jokey television news. Even with a forecast that ranges from pretty nice to very nice, Midcap exudes an authority that’s earned her a cult following that spans from Vancouver—her birthplace and the location of her first job in front of the camera—to Atlanta.

“I’m not a very good drinker,” Midcap says. “I’m actually a lightweight. The majority of the drinking that I do is at my home by myself.” She laughs. “Which is really sad.”

Nah. Drinking alone? In the comfort of your own home? Now you’re speaking a print journalist’s language!

We sit on the patio of Eddie V’s in La Jolla—one of the few establishments Midcap frequents when she does go out—and marvel at the view of the cove. Jazz floats out from inside; a couple sways to the music. A man—red and drunken—simultaneously flirts and argues politics with a woman at the bar.

“I like just getting in the corner, having a good sip of something and watching [people],” she says. “That sounds creepy.

I guess the voyeur in me comes out when I’m up here.”

We sip Moscow mules—she later insists on paying for them—which are stiff, basic and delicious: Russian Standard vodka, ginger beer and lime. Midcap substitutes Chopin, a potato vodka, in lieu of Russian Standard—the result of recent blood work that revealed a sensitivity to grains. Since then, she’s indulged in researching grainless and nonstandard alcohol, including mezcal and Demeter-certified wines.

It’d be an understatement to say that Midcap has a storied past, and even though she admits that she didn’t drink until age 30, her ability to captivate makes her an ideal drink-

28 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

ing buddy. Hell, when a story involving an upscale gang shoot-out is your only printable bar story, you’re doing something right.

“I dated this bartender, a shady character,” she says. “He was the head bartender at a place called Bar None. It was in Vancouver. It was the hot new place. At the time, I was working hosting a national show in Canada—I was test-driving cars and motorcycles, which I love [DTV for all you Midcapophiles], and my boss wanted to celebrate.

We had wrapped a whole season or something; we were doing well, so we wanted to celebrate. So, he said, ‘Where we gonna go?’

I said, ‘Let’s go to Bar None!’”

It seemed that the exclusivity of Bar None also attracted a bunch of high-class gangster and mafia types, who frequented the bar on the reg.

“It was a Friday night,” Midcap says. “It was jam-packed. The only way we could get in was because I knew the head bartender. I took my boss there, and I was trying to make a good impression.

“Just at closing time, shots began to fire around the bar. I grabbed my boss and said, ‘Go, go, go!’ I knew that place inside and out for reasons that shall remain unspoken of. I grabbed him and ran out of the side doors.

I remember, somewhere in the crowd I lost him, and the shots were still being fired.

“And the stupid thought that goes through [my] head: It wasn’t, Was he hit?

Was I hit? It was, Oh my God, what is my boss going to think of me? Do I still have a job?

“It was this old area of Vancouver that had been renovated; the streets were all cobblestone, so women were tripping all over the place because they were drunk and in high heels. You’re mixing cobblestone streets and their faces. Women were falling, and it was just mayhem.” Midcap laughs, shaking her head. “All I could think of was, Do I still have a job? I wasn’t even concerned whether any of us had been shot.”

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

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r e n o c l u a F n i v Ke

David Rolland

eral id to drink with a lib New mayor isn’t afra

by Da vid Ro lla nd

Once he agreed to meet me for drinks, Mayor Kevin Faulconer didn’t take long to choose a bar. He picked Sessions Public, the craft-beer-focused Point Loma Heights eatery owned by Abel Kaase, a friend with whom Faulconer used to ride bikes. It’s sunny and bright throughout the place at 5 p.m. on a Wednesday before the dinner crowd arrives. We take a seat at a table in the back, warmed by intense beams of light coming through a window.

San Diego’s new mayor says he likes Sessions’ always-changing tap list and the rib-eye fries, a dish he dares not order tonight because it’ll wreak havoc on dinner plans later at home—he munches on a regular side of fries instead. Faulconer heads to the bar and returns with a Gunslinger Golden Ale, a low-alcohol brew from Temecula-based Ironfire Brewing, which is run by a former Ballast Point brewer.

“I said, ‘Give me something that’s kind of midrange, that’s tasty,’ and this is what he poured,” Faulconer says.

No longer a beer guy, I start with a Gold Rush—bourbon, lemon juice and honey, on the rocks. I worried it would be too sweet for me, and it sweet it was, but it’s refresh-

30 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

ing on a late-spring afternoon.

In former Mayor Jerry Sanders, Faulconer has a tough act to follow, at least when it comes to beer consumption. “I’ve had many a craft beer with Sanders,” he says. “That man could put ’em away. I say that with all enthusiasm—and all respect.

Sanders is probably the guy who’s responsible for my acquired taste in smoked porter. That’s one of his favorites.”

Faulconer claims not to be intimidated

by Sanders’ craft-beer gusto, but I get the feeling he’s really trying to up his game.

After all, Faulconer says he’s traditionally been a gin-and-tonic guy.

“Obviously, in the last couple years, it’s been astounding to see the growth [in San Diego’s beer industry]. As mayor, I realize this is an economic driver. We have a competitive edge in the craft-brew industry here in the city. There are people coming for craft-beer tours, so there is such a thing as craft-beer tourism. It is growing, and we are on the map.

“The question that keeps coming up is: Are we saturated in San Diego? And the answer so far is no.”

Faulconer finishes his beer, heads back

to the bar and returns this time with something a touch more potent, a Kalamazoo Stout from Michigan-based Bell’s Brewery.

“Rich and colorful,” he concludes, declining to discuss what flavor notes he detects.

My second cocktail is what I always drink, an Old Fashioned (bourbon, sugar and bitters, on the rocks). The mayor, who paid for my first two drinks while I wasn’t looking, is done after two, but not me. I end with a Sazerac, which is basically an Old Fashioned but with an absinthe rinse and no ice. Delicious.

Asked for crazy bar stories, perhaps

from his time at SDSU, Faulconer’s at a loss. No bar brawls.

No alcohol-fueled romances (he emphatically claims). I tsk-tsk him for being boring, and he asks me for my own story. Not ready for the question, I struggle to think of something and come up only with a vague tale involving a San Francisco bar, an unknown number of sedatives, a girl and a complete inability to remember a thing that happened that night.

The mayor doesn’t have much to say about all that, and things get slightly uncomfortable. So, anyway.

“We should just talk politics,” I say.

“How would we not talk politics?” he replies.

So, that’s what we did for the next 38 minutes, chatting amiably about homelessness and arguing about the minimum wage, the recent ballot measure concerning Barrio Logan’s community plan, the affordable-housing “linkage” fee and the managed-competition program for city services.

Wouldn’t you know it: I changed his mind on all of it. He now thinks the minimum wage should be $15, regrets his positions on Barrio Logan and the linkage fee and plans to end managed competition.

Yeah, and Jerry Sanders is gonna switch to appletinis.

Alex Zaragoza

r e g n i l l O m Sa oster at a bar, Don’t bug this bike bo t people unless you bed stree

by Alex Za rag oz a

Sam Ollinger has her “Don’t bother me” face down pat. It’s a look that lots of people have in their arsenal to intimidate any potential chatterbox that seems hell-bent on ruining a perfectly lovely evening drinking alone at a bar. Ollinger’s is especially good—a furrow of the brow, a delicate pierce from the eyes, a slight raise of the chin.

“That’s exactly the look I want to convey at a bar,” she says with a wry smile as we sit on stools at City Heights’ Black Cat Bar, one of her favorite neighborhood haunts. “It says, ‘Go bother all the other ladies in town.’”

Why is Ollinger, a bicycle advocate whose work for the group BikeSD leads her to speak to countless people to promote bike-use, so intent on keeping windbags at bay?

“I actually really enjoy drinking by myself. It’s my favorite thing to do. No one bothers you because you’re the weirdo at the bar reading,” the beer lover explains as she takes a sip from her pint of AleSmith Nut Brown Ale, a dark, rich beer with a touch of malty, chocolatey goodness.

“I don’t have the most sophisticated palate when it comes to beer,” she admits. To that, I clink my can of Tecate to her pint glass.

Ollinger wasn’t armed with her frequent bar companion, Games Primates Play

by Dario Maestripieri, a book about how human behavior—even the weird, random stuff we do—can be explained by studying primate behavior.

“I read highly boring books where everyone groans when I tell them what I’m reading,” she jokes.

Still, the combination of a fascinating read and a pint of dark beer—preferably with top notes of vanilla, chocolate or coffee—that she sips slowly over the course of an hour in blissful silence is something she

calls “one of my great pleasures in life.”

Even when she’s tucked in a booth or sitting quietly on a stool with a book, however, Ollinger will remove the “Do not disturb” sign that her body language hangs if someone brings an interesting story to the table. She recalls one in particular that led her to close her book and forget all about it. She was sitting at the bar of North Park’s Waypoint Public when an elderly man came up and sat right next to her.

“I was kind of annoyed because there were other stools open away from me,” she says, voicing a pet peeve held by bar flies the world over.

The man began telling her about his life, particularly about his penchant for picking up homeless men off the streets and taking them home for sex. He claimed that one of his pick-ups lived with him for months.

“He was willing to admit this to someone he has never met before,” she marvels.

Makes you wonder if primates are sitting under a tree somewhere, sharing TMI stories with each other over bamboo shoots.

Being a bike advocate, Ollinger is a huge proponent of the local neighborhood bar.

She walks or rides to her favorite watering holes regularly, and encourages others to do the same. That’s a reason why Black Cat is one of her go-to drinking spots.

“It just oozes class to me,” she says, pointing out the gorgeous vintage chandeliers and gold crown molding. “It’s a neighborhood bar, and so you get a steady stream of people. Most of the people that show up are from the area, and it’s not always crowded. I like the fact that it’s here and I can walk or bike to it.”

Ollinger truly believes that the best way to explore a city and its friendly neighborhood bars is by bike. If you bring along a book, even better.

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

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r e u a S k r a M

Joshua Emerson Smith

lls his biggest scoop Local news vet reca Sm ith

by Jo sh ua Em ers on

“Yeah, bourbon will kick your ass if you stay with it too long,” Mark Sauer told me, sitting at a table at K’nB Wine Cellars in Del Cerro. “It can be a cruel mistress.

That’s why it’s nice with the small-batch, because it’s sipping whiskey.”

As I listened to KPBS’s senior news editor, I couldn’t help but stare behind him at an immense wall of bottled booze, complete with a ladder and stretching to the ceiling.

“This place is something,” I remarked, as the liquor store-turned-restaurant hummed with patrons nibbling on gourmet sandwiches and quaffing fancy beers, of which there are 31 on tap.

Being close to the public radio station, Sauer explained, he and his staff occasionally stop by the establishment, which recently starting serving spirits.

After some deliberation, Sauer ordered a Blanton’s on the rocks, an award-winning single-barrel bourbon whiskey well known among connoisseurs.

“Oh, that’s nice,” he said, chuckling with genuine satisfaction. “This is very smooth.

Bourbon can be too sweet sometimes, but this is just a hint. You could drink this neat.

I prefer ice.”

32 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

I ordered El Mayor Tequila backed with a Ballast Point Sculpin IPA. The beer was spicy and strong, completely washing down the ultra-smooth cactus juice that boasted a brown-sugar note.

After a few sips, I asked Sauer if he had any good barroom yarns, and he rattled off a few good barroom-brawl anecdotes. However, his eyes lit up when we started chatting about his time at the San Diego Union-Tribune, where he worked for 27 years before it was taken over by the current ownership.

“The other case that we exposed as a complete hoax was the Stephanie Crowe murder case,” he said with the rapid-fire cadence of a passionate reporter. “That was in January of 1998. A family wakes up at 7 o’clock in the morning on a school day and finds their 12-year-old girl stabbed to death in a pool of blood on her bedroom floor.”

At the time, Escondido police decided to interrogate the murdered girl’s then-14-yearold brother for more than a dozen hours, which resulted in the boy’s confession.

“I had happened to be working on a book project with an expert on false confessions, and this case was absolutely laid down as a false confession,” Sauer said. “So

we raised all these questions, even though all these other reporters at the paper were buying the prosecutor and cops’ line— hook, line and sinker.”

After writing a series of stories exploring the case and the coerced confession, Sauer received a call from his writing partner, John Wilkens, on the eve of the trial.

“I was right over here across the street,” he remembered. “My daughter was in fast-pitch softball. We used to come down at night and practice her pitching. And my beeper goes off. This was before cell phones.”

According to a tip, the defense attorney had just received DNA evidence that the victim’s blood was found on the clothes of a transient seen at the scene of the crime

the night of the murder. Racing to the office, Sauer got on the horn with the attorney and confirmed the tip.

“Next day, banner headline: ‘Bombshell evidence in Crowe case,’” he said, the excitement palpable in his voice. “And they had to drop the case—that was it.”

For a moment, he paused, sipping his topshelf bourbon and wincing at his beloved Detroit Tigers on the screen behind me.

“It was one of the most exciting moments in my journalistic career,” he said.

“It was an old-fashioned newspaper scoop.

We were just trembling typing the story.

We just couldn’t believe it. It was one of those days where literally you took the paper off the press to read the headline.”

m u k r o B y c a Tr

Michael A. Gardiner

ves ongst strangers evol am n tio sa er nv co A Tractor Room ine r

by Mi ch ae l A. Ga rd

Drinks with Tracy Borkum at The Tractor Room in Hillcrest was less about the drinks we ordered and more about what we were not drinking.

“When Stephanie first told me that you wanted me to pick a bar and a drink,” Borkum said, “I told her I should have you over for wine on my patio.

“I’m so British, I put ice in my wine,” she laughed. Her accent was detectable, if only barely. I must’ve looked puzzled. “To make it last longer,” she added.

Borkum, who was born in London and lived there until high school, is the biggest name on the San Diego restaurant scene that nearly nobody knows. Her Urban Kitchen Group owns Cucina Urbana and Fish Public (and their predecessors, Laurel and Kensington Grill), as well as two Cucina Enotecas, with a third to come. She’s not a celebrity chef, though everything food-related goes through her. She’s not the face of the organization and doesn’t think it needs one. She is, in short, the anti-Brian Malarkey: She gets it done without plastering her name and face all over the media.

As we walked into the dimly lit comfort of

The Tractor Room, Borkum’s eye went to a quiet corner of the bar, only to see that it had been taken. “Inside?” she asked. “Outside?”

She chose the latter, an inviting patio space with filtered light. She ordered a Negroni, the classic Italian cocktail of gin, Campari and red (semi-sweet) vermouth with an orange-peel garnish. I ordered a Sazerac, New Orleans’ take on a whiskey cocktail with rye, Peychaud’s bitters, a sugar cube and absinthe served over large ice cubes. Our conversation turned to wine and travel.

It may have been my imagination, but it seemed she was more comfortable talking about these things than she was with the question she knew I’d ask next. “Tell me your best barroom story,” I said, “and then I’ll tell you my best wine-in-Spain story.”

“No,” she said. “You first.”

And so first I went. My story centered on La Batalla de Vino in Haro at the heart of Spain’s most famous wine country. It was a whole town of people in lilywhite outfits and red scarves all stained purple from a battle fought with bota bags of the local product. It involved a drunken march to a bullring, revelry in the ring with baby

bulls and a severely overweight and overinebriated Spaniard in a stained toga who did not quite manage to make it over the wall until “helped” by the bull.

My tale segued into hers of the final night of service at Chive, Borkum’s shuttered Gaslamp restaurant. Aside from a menu that was ahead of its time, Chive featured a sparkling-white, industrialmodern design. The bar was no exception.

After the close of service on this final night, every one of the female employees climbed atop that pristine white bar and danced.

And danced. And, fueled by Chive’s remaining stock, danced. It never could have happened before and never would again.

Hours after our drinks, Borkum contacted me with a different response: “There is nothing better than drinking with strangers, finding a place off the beaten path pop-

ulated by locals you do not know.” She told me about an evening in the bar of Florence’s Hotel Brunelieschi with a diverse group of 20—a California farmer, some catering people from Atlanta, a Frenchman, a Venetian woman and more than a few locals.

“Fabulous,” she said. “It was all about how the conversation evolved with a group of people you would never otherwise be with.” And it was about how the alcohol encouraged people to open up. “It was a series of snippets of ‘In the life of...’” She laughed. “A hangover? Yes. But you get something in return.”

We both would’ve preferred to be drinking wine, maybe in Haro or Florence, but we were there in circumstance not unlike those she’d described: strangers who’d hit it off in the moment, enjoying the connections and insights they—and the drinks—revealed.

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

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G i l b e rt Castellanos

D.A. Kolodenko

a phony piano— Under the weather, Diego’s jazz king no problem for San

by D.A . Ko lod en ko

They took the real piano out of the Turf Club and replaced it with a cheesy Yamaha keyboard.

“Yeah, but that piano was a dog,” says Gilbert Castellanos, San Diego’s brilliant jazz trumpeter, winner of the San Diego Music Awards’ 2013 Artist of the Year, who’s been instrumental in helping keep San Diego’s underdog jazz scene alive for the past couple decades.

We’re tucked into one of those immutable vinyl booths under the ancient, faded, horse-track-motif wallpaper, inside the legendary Golden Hill dive founded in 1950, where everyone goes to cook their own dinner at the grill island and add some chatter to the eternally gregarious atmosphere.

Castellanos’ talented singer-and-guitarist wife, Lorraine Castellanos, is crooning a laid-back version of a Kansas Joe McCoy blues, accompanied by the solid Ed Kornhauser, who’s, unfortunately, playing the piano-ish device that’s bugging me. Cas-

34 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

tellanos chose the Turf Club because: Lorraine. I get it, but isn’t this a bar for straight booze and wifelessness, not mixed drinks and making googly eyes?

Well, it’s a drink issue, so what the hell— we order a couple Manhattans, a reasonable gauge of any bar’s mettle. This one’s thrown together with cheap vermouth from the well and not from a trough of ice. (Vermouth is wine, folks! Chill it for freshness!) But the amiable bartender has no problem using Beam Rye in our drinks, and he does a good job of stirring thoroughly, until they’re cold enough to mellow the vinegary vermouth.

I ask him to skip the neon cherries, as fake as the piano. You can’t blame a bartender for the bar program unless you know how much power he’s got to elevate it.

“This is good,” Castellanos says. He’s a little bit sick with a cold. Alcohol is bad for you when you’re under the weather. It dehydrates you, but it also makes you not mind being sick as much.

I wouldn’t say the Manhattan is good, exactly, but it’s good enough—boozy, icy and cheap.

Most people are talking loud and aren’t listening. You can barely here Lorraine. But it’s not a listening bar. She’s there to provide atmosphere, and she and Kornhauser are obviously having fun.

After the song, I ask Castellanos: “You play some high-concentration music in bars—how do you deal with the noise?”

“I like playing the Westgate. Everyone’s there to listen. A few weeks ago, this drunk jerk was talking super-loud to his friends during a tune, and I finally couldn’t take

it. In the middle of the song, I went, ‘SSSSSHHHHHH,’ and he says, ‘This is a bar; I can talk!’

And then everyone in the room turned around and said, ‘No. Actually, you can’t.’ And they drove him out of there.”

“What’s some of the craziest shit you’ve seen go down in a bar?” I ask.

“One night after a gig at this one place,” he says, “after the place is closed and everyone’s gone and I’m packing up, these two cocktail waitresses start having sex in the middle of the restaurant right in front of me.”

“You didn’t join in?”

“They wouldn’t let me.”

Here’s the thing about the Turf Club: I don’t know if Castellanos would’ve told me this story in another bar. There’s something about the timeless insouciance of the joint that makes you feel at home. It’s nearly impossible to have a bad time here, even if you’re sick, or the piano isn’t real, or you’re not the award-winner with the gorgeous songbird wife, or the Manhattan isn’t the best one you ever had in your life.

“If I’m feeling better, let’s do this again Tuesday, only this time you pick the bar,” Castellanos says.

I’m thinking Turf Club.

Only this time it’ll be tequila. Straight, no chaser.

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 35

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k n i r d a m Make ’e

Alex Zalicki

ven drinking buddies se r ou ch at m to s Seven recipe

I

f you were a cocktail, what kind of cocktail would you be? Mull over that deep question while your peruse these recipes inspired by our seven Drink Issue drinking buddies and created by some of our favorite San Diego cocktail makers.

—Kelly Davis

Madrid Session Created by Leigh Lacap, Ironside Fish & Oyster Inspired by Gilbert Castellanos 1 1/2 ounces Cuban white rum 3/4 ounce Campari 1/2 ounce orange cordial 3/4 ounce lime 8-10 mint leaves Put all ingredients in a double rocks glass and firmly press down on the mint with a muddler. Top with crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig.

The Spokes Woman Created by Ryan Andrews, Coin-Op Inspired by Sam Ollinger 1 ounce white rum 1/2 ounce orgeat (almond syrup) Two dashes Rx sarsaparilla bitters Coffee stout Give all ingredients (except the stout) a quick shake. Strain over ice into a tall glass and top with coffee stout.

The John Jacob Harvey Created by YM Gordon, Solace Restaurants Inspired by the ’70s cocktail fave, the Harvey Wallbanger, in honor of Boogie Nights-era stories told by Mike Sager Galliano 1 1/2 ounces John Jacob rye whiskey 1/2 ounce Fidencio Tobala mezcal 1 ounce OJ 1/2 key lime, squeezed Combine in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain neat into a footed highball glass rinsed with Galliano.

36 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

The Sauer Sour Created by Brett Winfield, Seven Grand Inspired by Mark Sauer 1 ounce Four Roses OBSO (any good bourbon will do) 1 ounce Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy 3/4 ounce apple syrup (one part sugar dissolved in one part fresh-pressed apple juice) 3/4 ounce lemon juice 1 egg white Combine all ingredients and shake without ice to emulsify the egg white (roughly 20 seconds). Add ice and shake for another 20 seconds. Strain and serve neat.

The Mayor Created by Vanh Kittikoune, Sessions Public Inspired by Kevin Faulconer 1 1/2 ounces mezcal 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice 1/2 ounce simple syrup 1/2 ounce Aperol 2-3 ounces Ballast Point Sculpin IPA Combine all ingredients (except beer) in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Add IPA, stir and strain into a Collins glass with fresh ice. Garnish with grapefruit zest.

The Dagmar

The Gin Tracy

Created by Nate Howell, JSix Inspired by Dagmar Midcap

Created by Eric Johnson, Sycamore Den Inspired by Tracy Borkum

2 ounces gluten-free Glacier Vodka 3/4 ounce ginger syrup 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice 1 egg white Peychaud’s bitters Mint

1 ounce gin 1 ounce Pimm’s 1/2 ounce ginger syrup 3/4 ounce lemon juice Sliced cucumber Soda water Rose-flower water

Combine ingredients and dry shake (no ice). Add ice and shake again, then double strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a smile, five drops of bitters and a sprig of mint.

Put gin, Pimm’s, ginger syrup, lemon and some cucumber slices in a shaker and shake with ice. Strain and top with soda. Mist the top with rose-flower water and add a cucumber garnish.

alex

there she goz

zaragoza How Krav Maga helped me fight violence and misogyny I stood there with my eyes closed, but I could feel Self-Defense. Through Krav Maga, they dramatize his menacing presence. Suddenly, the violent force life-threatening situations and teach people how came at me. to make it out alive. At my first session, I learned “Hey bitch,” he growled and then hit me across to throw a proper punch (fingers clenched tightly the face. My eyes shot open and I spotted the knife into a ball with the thumb lying over the index fincoming down toward my chest. My left arm blocked ger, you snap your fist into its target at a 45-degree the blow before it was able to sink into my heart, angle and pull back immediately) and how to land a and I punched my attacker in the face and neck good kick (always to the balls). with every ounce of strength in me. He fell back, Krav Maga is intense, and because the inand I swung a hard kick right to his dick. structors aim to make it as real as possible, it can My attacker looked up and had a big smile on be pretty nerve-wracking. In one training exerhis face. “That was really good! You’ve got a strong cise, I stood against a fellow classmate and pracpunch. Let’s try that again.” ticed throwing punches in his weak zones (the I’m lucky, because that frightening assault neck, throat, chin and chest). He loomed over didn’t happen in a dark alley or an empty parking my 5-foot-4 frame with an intimidating look and garage. It was at Impact Self Defense, a Krav Maga pulled out a large rubber knife and attempted to studio in North Park. Krav Maga is a form of consink it into me. I blocked the knife and punched at tact combat training created by martial artist Imi his throat. Just when I thought I was safe, I heard, Lichtenfeld to help Jewish civilians in Czechoslo“Hey!” right behind me. Another classmate came vakia protect themselves from anti-Semitic attacks after me with a knife, and I had to use the skills I’d in the days before World War II. It was later adacquired to fight him off. Pretty brutal stuff, but as opted by the Israeli army, special forces in various I was told, “You’re not safe until you’re back home countries and now ordinary men and women lookwatching TV on your couch.” ing to protect themselves.

During a private session with I often find myself in situGabarra and Sigal, they explain ations where I don’t feel safe, He loomed over my that Krav Maga is based on innot because I have a penchant stinctual behavior. You learn to 5-foot-4 frame with for hanging out in sketchy fight from a rest pose in order an intimidating look and neighborhoods, but because fend off an attack when you’re that’s the world women live in. least expecting it. pulled out a large rubber That’s not paranoia. Despite That’s how I ended up fightknife and attempted how many men tell you that ing off a knife-wielding at#notallmen are violent misogytacker. Drenched in sweat, my to sink it into me. nists, the fact of the matter is, eyes closed, I could sense Sigal women are in a vulnerable pocircling me. Suddenly, I’d get sition most of the time. smacked in the stomach or face, or roughly pushed The Isla Vista shootings prove that a vicious anat the shoulder, and he’d call me a bitch or say, “Hey, ti-woman mentality still persists in our society and I’m just trying to talk to you.” Then I’d open my eyes that there are men out there seeking to punish us. to see him coming at me, and I’d deliver a fury of There’s not a single woman I know who’s not expepunches and kicks in a way that would do the most rienced misogyny. Many of them, me included, have damage. Even though I knew it was a controlled enexperienced it violently. vironment, I couldn’t help but panic. My heart would Do I think every man in the world is a womanrace and I’d fumble my punches, until I didn’t. hating murderer or rapist? Of course not. If that “Shit like this happens in the street,” Gabarra were the case, I’d board up my windows, buy a laments. “Krav Maga, it’s not just physical training shitload of frozen pizza and settle into a lifetime of but also psychological. Many people come here beHBOgo, because I’d never leave my apartment. I’d cause something happened to them, and it’s not bejust be hanging in a ratty wedding dress pretendcause they didn’t fight back. It’s because they didn’t ing that a bottle of wine wearing a onesie is a baby. know what to do. We teach them the solution.”

“Mommy loves you, Winey Jr.” With every blow I landed on Sigal’s face, I felt If this feeling of vulnerability is prevalent and tougher and more empowered. My fists connected harder and more direct each time. I’m no shrinkbased in harsh reality, what does that mean for woming violet, but there’s always the fear of “What if?“ en? Do we hide? Do we feel sorry for ourselves? Do What if someone attacks me? Could I survive? we accept deplorable behavior because it’s easier Hopefully, I’ll never be tested. But after leavthan fighting back? Do we stay silent when men call ing the studio sore, bruised and sweat-soaked, I us sluts, whores, bitches or cunts out of fear that a felt more confident than ever before. “If you’re not response might lead to a vicious attack? dead, you don’t stop fighting,” Gabarra tells me.

No, I don’t believe we should. But women do Damn-fucking-right. need to be prepared for what could happen when we do respond. That’s why I chose to get my ass Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com kicked doing Krav Maga. and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Veronica Gabarra and Yury Sigal run Impact

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 37

@/#JWNY

The of

sonic redemption

Prayers

Cross-border duo combines contrasting subcultures with ‘cholo-goth’ music • by Dita Quiñones

I

n Sherman Heights, where Prayers frontman Rafael they ended up writing eight complete songs—in the proReyes grew up, summers were far from picturesque. cess giving rise to a new, long-term partnership and their Low-income households are the norm, air condition- first album, SD Killwave. It also marked the end of Reyes’ ing is scarce and taking days off at the beach generally isn’t former band, Vampire. an option for the neighborhood’s working-class families.

Parley, who was born and raised in Tijuana, describes This environment serves as the backdrop for “Gothic Prayers as “soul brothers.” He started drumming at age 15 Summer,” the lead single off of Prayers’ upcoming EP of and has played drums for various punk bands. He lives his the same name. It’s a window into the life and history of its life free of drugs and alcohol. songwriter, breaking the narrative of typical, fun-in-the“Straight-edge to me is about living a healthy life,” he sun Southern California summer jam. The song is a real- says. “I live drug- and poisonous-people free. Being punk life tale of brotherhood, survival amid gang violence and is the freedom of doing whatever I want with my life.” incarceration during the summer of 1992. And while the Reyes, 38, echoes Parley’s individual-freedom perlyrics are dark (“hunted by the living and haunted by the spective with his own unconventional life path. He’s dead / this life we signed up for the day we got jumped in”), had his share of run-ins with the law and has two strikes the song is given brighter contrast by its vibrant chorus, against him, but despite his rap sheet—and an admitsung by Reyes’ nephews and nieces. ted tendency to be an adrenaline junkie—he ended up For Reyes, the oldest son among six siblings, summers headed in a much different direction than his rough past meant protecting his home and reputation by “putting in might have suggested. He’s a self-starter with keen busiwork” with the Sherman Grant Hill Park gang. ness acumen; Reyes is the original owner of Pokez, the “Our neighborhood was hot with cops and rival gangs,” Downtown Mexican eatery, which he sold in 2006 to his says Reyes, who was born in Michoacán, Mexico. “Every younger brother. Using the money he made from the sale, summer was, like, who was going to get shot. Who’s go- Reyes made some real-estate investments and even wrote ing to get stabbed? Who’s going to jail? Or who’s getting an autobiography, Living Dangerously, providing himself released? I couldn’t wait for school to start.” with a decent living.

Prayers is the collaboration between two rebels from Yet, despite all the musicians his restaurant supported two different generations on both sides and fed, many of them shrugged their of la frontera: Reyes, a former Sherman shoulders at his request for some simple Grant Hill Park gangster, and Dave Parmusic-industry advice. In the past two Prayers ley, a skateboarding, straight-edge punk years, Reyes admits to feeling shunned rocker from Tijuana. They’ve dubbed by local musicians and record labels.

Saturday, June 28 their new wave and ’80s gothic-rock-in“They think I should just be selling Soda Bar spired sound “cholo-goth,” a term coined burritos and not making music,” he says.

by Reyes. Parley is the Rick Rubin of the Prayers have been together for only duo, crafting the beats and soundscapes seven months, yet have been moving on an MPC 5000 sampler, while vocalist Reyes, a tattooed particularly fast for a local band. They’ve received radio thug poet with a voice reminiscent of The Cure’s Robert airplay on FM 94/9, and critical praise in the music bloSmith, presides over their dark ceremonies. gosphere with co-signs from The Cult’s Ian Astbury and The duo formed in 2013 when Parley traveled north former Three Mile Pilot and Black Heart Procession frontfrom Tijuana to collaborate with Reyes. In just two days, man Pall Jenkins. And this spring, they went on tour as the

38 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

Prayers is the collaboration between Tijuana’s Dave Parley (left) and San Diego’s Rafael Reyes. opening act for The Cult.

That they’re able to share the stage with U.K. goth-rock legends speaks to Prayers’ unique approach. As transborder musicians, Prayers are bridging the gap between a number of different subcultures: Latino gangs, straightedge punk and goth. Reyes says he gets emails from Los Angeles gang members, thanking him for making chologoth a reality, because they identify with it so strongly. The truth is that hard-living Latino gangbangers don’t listen only to rap or Art Laboe radio classics—there are perhaps millions who also identify with music by The Cure, Depeche Mode and, in ironic contrast to the machismo of the gangster lifestyle, Morrissey.

“Being a gangster means doing whatever the fuck you want,” Reyes says. “And if that means painting your nails, wearing lipstick, then that’s what it means. I had to fight to dress the way I dress. Maybe it’ll inspire some gangsters to say, ‘I don’t have to live my stereotype.’

“Prayers is about not living stereotypes and representing Chicanos.”

Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

notes from the smoking patio Locals Only The Che Café’s future is being cut even shorter after UCSD served the venue with a 30-day eviction notice on Monday morning.

“After being called in for a meeting with no agenda, we were informed that our lease was being terminated, Che volunteer Davide Carpano posted on Facebook.

Carpano’s statement also says that UCSD Vice Chancellor Alan Houston cited a “lack of student support” in the university’s decision to end the Che’s 35-year run in its current home.

The university’s action comes amid a prolonged conflict with the all-ages campus venue, which ended with the studentSan Diego band Trashaxis will play at the Che on July 12. run University Centers Advisory Board (UCAB) cutting off funding for repairs. Because the after that date, including Greys on July 15, Wolves Che was unable to finance repairs to bring the facil- in the Throne Room on July 19, and Cult Leader ity into compliance with fire code, UCSD wouldn’t al- and Oathbreaker on Aug. 5, will have to be moved. low it to continue to operate. At the time of the UCAB And options are limited for rebooking these events at decision, the planned closure date was at the begin- comparably sized all-ages venues in San Diego. ning of September. Now, it appears that date has been The Che has urged supporters to contact Vice moved up to mid-July.

Chancellor Houston, Associated Students and the Because of the impending closure, all shows Graduate Students Association and voice their scheduled for after July 13 will have to be rebooked support for the venue. However, as the Che suffers at new venues. Dan Faughnder, singer / songwriter continuous setbacks, its future looks grim. for Sledding with Tigers and the show booker at Monday afternoon, another statement was posted the Che, confirmed that all of the shows scheduled CONTINUED ON PAGE 40 through July 13 will still happen. However, shows

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 39

on the Che’s Facebook page that reads, “We’re heart broken. We’re frustrated. We’re not ready to call it quits. We’re not done fighting. #savetheche”

at two nearby Spring Valley locations—The Bancroft (9143 Campo Road) and Spring Valley Inn (9034 Campo Road). The free event will feature eight doomcentric bands, including Zsa Zsa Gabor, Deep Sea Thunder Beast, Monochromacy and Bhorelorde.

On June 28, Stay Strange will present June Gloom

—Jeff Terich

•••

Gregory Page, Irish citizen Singer / songwriter Gregory Page is getting ready to put out a new album, One Way Journey Home, and with its release just over the horizon, he’s also redefining “home.”

As of mid-June, Page now holds dual citizenship in the United States and Ireland. He has no plans to leave San Diego, but because he tours Europe so frequently—he’s currently on a European promotional tour—he said it made more sense to apply for citizenship than to continue renewing a work visa.

“I’ve never been to Nashville, but I’ve probably seen every town in the Netherlands,” he says in a phone interview. “I realized how important it is to be part of the European community. This makes it so much easier for me to tour in Europe.”

Page was able to apply for citizenship in Ireland because his mother was born in Dublin. Page, himself, is a native of the United Kingdom, though he

40 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

made the trek to the United States when he was a teenager in the 1970s.

“I was 14 when we came to San Diego,” he says.

“When we came [to the U.S.], I had to give up my U.K. citizenship.”

Page (gregorypage.com) describes One Way Journey Home, due out in September, as an “Irish-sounding” album. He says that a lot of the lyrics on the album—the result of a long period of recording with Jason Mraz— explore the meaning of home.

“Jason Mraz and I have been working on it for a year together,” he says. “A lot of it is about that feeling of where home is.

After Page’s European tour is done, he’ll play a homecoming show on Saturday, July 19, at Lestat’s in Normal Heights.

Gregory Page

—Jeff Terich

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

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 41

if i were u

Boy, is releasing a new EP, Basic Instincts, her new album, Make My Head Sing, is mostand he’s headlining a show at Soda Bar for ly self-produced—and her best yet. Mayfield the release party. If dreamy, synth-based finds the sweet spot where ethereal pop jams are up your alley, then there’s no better and rootsy, sweaty rock ’n’ roll meet, and it way to spend your Thursday night. PLAN sounds incredible. PLAN B: “Bujwah BoBY Jeff Terich B: Uh Huh Her, DJ Kim Anh @ Belly Up nanza” w/ The Abigails, Stalins of Sound, Tavern. You’d think a band named after a Amerikan Bear and more @ Til-Two Club.

PJ Harvey album would be a lot louder and Any music festival that takes place inside a Wednesday, June 18 rock a lot harder than Uh Huh Her. But this dive bar is my kind of festival. “Bujwah BoPLAN A: Owl John, Withered Hand @ isn’t necessarily a problem; their electronic- nanza” is just such a shindig, with some of The Casbah. I first confused Owl John pop gems remind me of Eurythmics or Ber- the best bands in town playing all day. Pace with California MC Pigeon John, but the lin, and I’m more than OK with that. yourself, though—it happens again on Sunband is actually a group featuring members day. BACKUP PLAN: Souls of of Frightened Rabbit. They’ve got a bit of a Mischief, Zoolay, Plainsight, darker, bluesier sound, and it’s a welcome Friday, June 20 Tribelife, Future Heroes @ alternative to all the bands mangling Amer- PLAN A: Russ Rankin, KarPorter’s Pub. icana and American roots music. Maybe it ina Toriz, Blue in the Face, helps that they’re Scottish. PLAN B: Gil- Drew Smith @ Soda Bar. This Sunday, June 22 bert Castellanos Jazz Jam with Roxy thing’s been happening a lot, PLAN A: The Menzingers, Jones @ Seven Grand. As reported a cou- where ’90s punk-rock frontLemuria, PUP, Cayetana @ ple weeks back in “Notes from the Smoking men have been moving in more The Irenic. Punk rockers The Patio,” Gilbert Castellanos has been work- of a rootsy singer / songwriter Menzingers rock pretty hard, ing on a live-music collaboration with Roxy direction, and I’m pretty down but I’m even more stoked Jones, and we finally get to hear the result. with it. Russ Rankin helmed about Canadian group PUP. Jazz and indie rock tend to exist in com- Good Riddance, but his new pletely different worlds, so it should be fun album, Farewell Catalonia, is Jessica Lea Mayfield Sort of like a hybrid between Fucked Up and Weezer, they to hear this experiment play out on stage. closer to Springsteen or Billy BACKUP PLAN: Tomorrows Tulips, The Bragg. It’s the sound of punk all grown up. pummel you with hook after hook. Hardcore punk never felt so joyous. PLAN B: Memories, Telling Lies @ Soda Bar. PLAN B: “Bujwah Bonanza” w/ Wild Saturday, June 21 Wild Wets, Barbarian, Kids in Heat and Thursday, June 19 PLAN A: Jessica Lea Mayfield, Israel more @ Til-Two Club. Day 2 of “Bujwah PLAN A: Island Boy, Witness 9, LA Rams, Nash, The Midnight Pine @ The Casbah. Bonanza” promises even more trippy, hardLabs @ Soda Bar. Local electronic-pop mu- Jessica Lea Mayfield has worked with The rocking good times. If the first day didn’t sician Richard Hunter-Rivera, aka Island Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach in the past, but wear you out too much, make a weekend of

42 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

it. BACKUP PLAN: Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires, Oh Spirit @ Soda Bar.

Monday, June 23 PLAN A: Spanish Gold, Clear Plastic Masks, The Everymen @ Soda Bar. Spanish Gold’s “Out on the Street” is a guaranteed summer jam. Borrowing a melody from Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me,” it’s like early-’80s R&B performed by a grooveheavy psych-rock band. They’ve got chops, but, clearly, they’re having fun. And if you go to this show, you will be, too. PLAN B: Nightmares on Wax, Cumbia Machin @ House of Blues. The EDM-by-numbers game has gotten so tiring that sometimes it’s refreshing to hear a producer who stays reverent to ’90s downtempo sounds. Nightmares on Wax is as chill as ever and still making great tunes. If you’re waiting for the drop, you’re going to be waiting for a long time.

Tuesday, June 24 PLAN A: Tweak Bird, Gloomsday, The Gods of Science @ Soda Bar. Los Angeles’ Tweak Bird is like a two-man Black Sabbath, handing out massive helpings of doommetal riffs, fantastic vocal harmonies and catchy tunes galore. It seems only fitting that Gloomsday, another hard-rocking twoperson operation, are opening the show. It’s a lean, no-frills rock-stravaganza! BACKUP PLAN B: Ceci Bastida @ The Casbah.

HOT! NEW! FRESH! Goatwhore (Soda Bar, 7/15), Au Revoir Simone (Casbah, 7/28), Grouplove (Open Air Theatre, 8/17), Quilt (Casbah, 8/19), Nik Turner’s Hawkwind (Casbah, 8/28), Whirr (Soda Bar, 9/1), Joey Cape (Soda Bar, 9/5), Gardens and Villa (Casbah, 9/18), Drake, Lil Wayne (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/20), Kaiser Chiefs (HOB, 9/21), Allen Stone (HOB, 9/23), The Gaslight Anthem (HOB, 9/30), DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist (HOB, 10/1), Sondre Lerche (HOB, 10/5), ABC (BUT, 10/6), Wayne Hancock (Soda Bar, 10/15), Rubblebucket (Casbah, 10/1718), Asia (BUT, 10/20), Bernhoft (BUT, 10/30), Bastille (Viejas Arena, 11/19), Mike Birbiglia (Balboa Theatre, 12/5).

GET YER TICKETS Ronnie Spector “Behind the Beehive” (North Park Theatre, 7/3), Wye Oak (BUT, 7/9), La Roux (HOB, 7/12), The Antlers (BUT, 7/16), Chris Rock (Civic Theatre, 7/19), Doug Benson (HOB, 7/23), The Hold Steady (BUT, 7/31), Arcade Fire (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/5), The Head and the Heart (North Park Theatre, 8/11), The Zombies (HOB, 8/20), Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/21), John Legend (Open Air Theatre, 8/23), Marc Anthony (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/29), David Gray (Open Air Theatre, 8/31), Owen Pallett (Casbah, 9/14), Andrew Bird (Humphreys, 9/19), Big Mountain (BUT, 9/19), Lykke Li (North Park Theatre, 9/22), Temples (BUT, 9/27), Demi Lovato (Viejas Arena, 9/28), Joyce Manor (The Irenic, 10/2), The Horrors (BUT, 10/13), The

New Pornographers (BUT, 10/18), Erasure (Humphreys, 10/22), The Afghan Whigs (BUT, 10/24), Alt-J (SOMA, 10/24), Bonobo (HOB, 10/26), The Black Keys (Viejas Arena, 11/9), The Misfits (HOB, 11/16), Ira Glass (Balboa Theatre, 11/22), John Waters (North Park Theatre, 12/1), Fleetwood Mac (Viejas Arena, 12/2).

Thursday, June 26

Wednesday, July 2

A-Trak at Fluxx. Sly and Robbie at Belly Up Tavern. Patrick Park at The Casbah.

Thursday, July 3 Ronnie Spector “Behind the Beehive” at The North Park Theatre. Wild Cub at House of Blues.

June

Friday, July 4

Thursday, June 19

Nipsey Hussle at House of Blues. Ringo Deathstarr at Soda Bar.

Island Boy at Soda Bar.

Friday, June 20

Saturday, July 5

Russ Rankin at Soda Bar. Ray J at Porter’s Pub.

Saturday, June 21 Jessica Lea Mayfield at The Casbah.

Souls of Mischief at Porter’s Pub. Dr. Know at Soda Bar. Toni Braxton at Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Sunday, June 22 Milk Carton Kids at Belly Up Tavern.

The Menzingers at The Irenic. Federico Aubele at The Casbah. Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires at Soda Bar.

Monday, June 23 Paula Cole at Belly Up Tavern. Nightmares on Wax at House of Blues.

Tuesday, June 24 Jackie Greene at Belly Up Tavern.

Tweak Bird at Soda Bar.

Wednesday, June 25 Pure X at The Hideout.

Peter Murphy at Belly Up Tavern. Reigning Sound at Soda Bar.

Yuna Friday, June 27 Yuna at Belly Up Tavern.

Saturday, June 28

The Creepy Creeps at The Casbah.

Amen Dunes at Soda Bar.

Sunday, July 6 Venetian Snares at The Casbah. Kiss, Def Leppard at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

March Violets at Soda Bar.

Sunday, June 29 Sarah McLachlan at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay. World Party at Belly Up Tavern.

Monday, June 30 Ash Borer at Che Café. Lee Fields and the Expressions at The Casbah. Devo at Belly Up Tavern. The King Khan and The Shrines at Soda Bar.

July Tuesday, July 1 Asher Roth at The Irenic. Deafheaven at The Casbah.

Tuesday, July 8 Kenny Loggins at Belly Up Tavern.

Wednesday, July 9 Silver Snakes at Soda Bar. Wye Oak at Belly Up Tavern. S. Carey at The Casbah.

Thursday, July 10 The Fray at The Open Air Theatre. Braid Paisley at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

Quiet Riot at House of Blues. Jefferson Starship at Belly Up Tavern.

Friday, July 11 Cloud Nothings at Soda Bar. Cher at Valley View Casino Center. Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band at Humphreys.

The Reverend Horton Heat at Belly Up Tavern.

Saturday, July 12 Behexen at Til-Two Club. La Roux at House of Blues.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic, open jam. Thu: Live band karaoke. Fri: Ryan Hiller (5 p.m.); Counterpoint Culture, Kayla Hope (9 p.m.). Sat: Timothy H and The Soul Shine Band, Sando, The Irie Vibrations. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Battle of the bands.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Fri: ‘Tribute to Little Richard’ w/ Whitney Shay and Robin Henkel. Sat: ‘Tribute to John Coltrane’ w/ Gilbert Castellanos. Sun: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

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

Wed: DJs Devon Hodgen, Stuntman, Boy Blunted, Hello Mikey, Primetime, Chris Regalado, Zae. Thu: DJs ALA, Mikeytown. Fri: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk. Sat: Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Undercurrent’.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco. com. Wed: Cameron Esposito. Thu-Sun: Brent Morin. Tue: Open mic.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St, Downtown. facebook.com/BangBangSanDiego.

Fri: Kissy Sell Out, Erick Diaz. Sat: Casino Gold.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 43

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Wed: Stevie and the HiStaxx. Thu: Killola, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts. Fri: ‘Turn It Loose’. Sat: ‘Neon Beat’. Sun: Rat Sabbath, DJ Ratty. Mon: Tori Roze and the Hot Mess. Tue: ‘Tiki Tuesday’ w/ Old Man Johnson.

Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave, Downtown. bassmntsd.com. Thu: Feenixpawl. Fri: Herobust. Sat: Joachim Garraud.

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

Wed & Sun: Kayla Hope. Thu: Adam Block Duo. Fri: Dave Booda Band. Sat: Jones Revival.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Anuhea, Saritah. Thu: Uh Huh Her, DJ Kim Anh. Fri: Cultura Profetica, McKlopedia, DJ Rashi (sold out). Sat: Paul Cannon Band, Luke Williams, Matt Jennings. Sun: The Milk Carton Kids, Tom Brosseau (sold out). Tue: Jackie Greene, Cereus Bright.

Bluefoot Bar & Lounge, 3404 30th St, North Park. bluefootsd.com. Wed: VJ JK. Thu: ‘Good Music for Good People’ w/ DJ Habitat. Fri: ‘The Hangtight’ w/ Profile, Uncle Junie. Sat: ‘Over Easy’ w/ Virusss.

Sun: ‘Records with Roger’. Tue: ‘Bruin Jams’.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave, Carlsbad. boarcrossn.net. Thu: DJ Abilities. Fri: ‘Club Musae’. Sat: Jet West, Upfull Rising.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Wed: All My Rowdy Friends. Fri: Plastic Cup Boyz. Sat: Which One’s Pink?, Madman. Mon: Nightmares on Wax, Cumbia Machin.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave, Kensington. 619-284-2848. Fri: Boychick, The Maul Shoppe, Electro City, Foreign Suns.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: Goodal Boys. Thu: Northstar. Fri: Midlife Crisis.

Sat: The Upshots. Sun: Joey Harris. Tue: Jason.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. numberssd.com. Thu: ‘Varsity’. Fri: ‘Uncut’.

Sat: ‘Eye Candy’. Sun: ‘Joe’s Gamenite’.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: The Fuzzy Rankins Band. Thu: Len Rainey’s Midnight Players. Fri: Bill Magee Blues Band. Sat: Mystique Element of Soul. Sun: Johnny Vernazza. Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Walter’s Chicken Jam. Porter’s Pub, 9500 Gilman Dr., UCSD campus, La Jolla. porterspub.net. Sat: Souls of Mischief.

Reds Saloon, 4190 Mission Blvd, Pacific Beach. facebook.com/RedsSaloon. Wed: Baron Vaughn.

Bourbon Street, 4612 Park Blvd, University Heights. bourbonstreetsd.com. Wed: VJ K Swift. Thu: ‘Wet’. Fri: Two to Mango.

Sun: ‘Soiree’. Tue: Karaoke.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Thu: Von Kiss. Fri: DJs Drew G, Qoolee Kid. Sun: DJ Hektik.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Thu: ‘Muscle’. Fri: ‘Rivalry’. Sat: DJs XP, KA. Sun: DJ Daisy Salinas. Mon: DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP.

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

Wed: Westside Inflection. Thu: Psychic Vacuum. Fri: Chess Wars. Sat: Tornado Magnet. Tue: Karaoke.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Wed: Aro Di Santi. Thu: Malamana. Fri: DJ Rhubino. Sat: Oscar Aragon.

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

Wed: ‘Gilbert Castellanos Jazz Jam’ w/ Roxy Jones. Thu: ‘Tones’ w/ Spero, Mike Wojniak. Fri: Bangladesh, Arms Away.

Sat: Agua Dulce.

Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St, La Jolla. lajolla.thecomedystore.com.

Fri-Sat: Nick Youssef.

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

Wed: Evan McColm. Thu: Gilbert Castellanos and The Park West Ensemble. Fri: Allison Adams Tucker Quartet. Sat: Patrick Berrogain. Sun: Fuzzy.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. dirksniteclub.com. Fri-Sat: FX5.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. dizzyssandiego.com. Fri: Charles Owens. Sun: Nathan Collins trio.

Epicentre, 8450 Mira Mesa Blvd, Mira Mesa. epicentreconcerts.org. Fri: ‘Pop Punk BBQ’ w/ Give and Take, Safe to Say, Mariner, Short Stories, I am the conqueror, Split decisions, Scarlett avenue. Sat: meWithoutYou, The World is a Beautiful Place I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, Dark Rooms. Sun: Until we are ghosts, Solomon, Sail the seven, Echoes, Of hope and heresy, Given the day, Here lies the hero.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown, Downtown. f6ixsd.com. Fri: DJ Artistic. Sat: DJ Craig Smoove. Sun: DJ Brett Bodley.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: ‘IDGAF’ w/ Sick Individuals.

Sat: Green Lantern.

Hard Rock Hotel, 207 Fifth Ave, Downtown. hardrockhotelsd.com. Thu: The Burning of Rome, Boy King, Mursic. Fri: DJs Fingaz, Chrysocolla. Sun: Afrojack.

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

44 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

Yodah. Mon: ‘Kinetic Soul’. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

Shakedown Bar, 3048 Midway Drive, Point Loma. theshakedownsd.com. Wed: Elemental Roots, The Colour Monday, Soul Ablaze. Thu: ‘Darkwave Garden’.

Sat: Heathen Apostles.

Side Bar, 536 Market St, Downtown. sidebarsd.com. Wed: ‘Clash of the Nightlife Titans’. Thu: ‘Divino Thursday’. Fri: Tony Martinez. Sat: Kyle Flesch. Sun: DJ Scooter.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: Tomorrows Tulips, The Memories, Telling Lies. Thu: Island Boy, Witness 9, LA Rams, Labs. Fri: Russ Rankin, Karina Toriz, Blue in the Face, Drew Smith. Sat: Dr. Know, Death Eyes, Ghetto Blaster.

Sun: Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires, Oh Spirit. Mon: Spanish Gold, Clear Plastic Masks, The Everymen. Tue: Tweak Bird, Gloomsday, The Gods of Science.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Fri: The Dead Rabbitts, Relapse Symphony, Myka Relocate, Nightmares.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St, Midtown. spinnightclub.com. Fri: ‘Organized Grime’.

Stage Bar & Grill, 762 Fifth Ave, Downtown. stagesaloon.com. Thu: Superbad.

Fri: Disco Pimps, The Shakedown. Sat: Hott Mess, DJ Miss Dust. Sun: Layzie Bone.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego, Normal Heights. sycamoreden. com. Thu: Swingchminey, Mike Montoya, Blue in the Face. Sun: Mockingbird, Recycled Dolphin. Tue: John Dorman, Iamdustinblackwell.

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

Thu: Destroyer of Light, Man vs Man, Cryptic Languages. Sat: Wei Zhongle, Orgasmatron, Ogd_S(11) Translation Has Failed, Nice World. Sun: Frustration.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: Owl John, Withered Hand. Thu: MURS, Mayday!, Mursday!, Brendan B and the Breaks, DJ Gar Gar. Fri: Southern Culture on the Skids, Secret Samurai. Sat: Jessica Lea Mayfield, Israel Nash, The Midnight Pine.

Sun: Federico Aubele, Gallant. Mon: Ki.T. Tue: Ceci Bastida.

The Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. thechecafe.blogspot.com. Wed: Pasadena Crab Sandwich, Grandview, Papertown. Thu: Matt Pless, Days N Daze, I Kill Cameron.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. thehideoutsd.com. Wed: Sublimed. Thu: Leggs McGee, Miss Lady D. The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave, North Park.

Fri: School of Rock: Led Zeppelin Tribute.

Sat: School of Rock: History of Grunge.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. rubyroomsd.com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Cardboard Truckers, Angwish, Privatized Air. Fri: Stones N Roses, Foasis. Sat: Contortion, In My Final Thoughts, Despite the Wolves, Calamitious Intent.

Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Rude, Skelethal, Derogatory, Ghoulgotha. Tue: Cotton the Machine, Charlie Rae, Blue Still.

The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: ‘Dub Dynamite’ w/ Rashi, Eddie Turbo. Thu: DJ Myson King.

Fri: ‘After Hours’. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’.

Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings. Tue: DJ Ramsey.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Fri: Hi-Ho Silver.

Sat: ‘Bujwah Bonanza II’ w/ Stalins of Sound, Amerikan Bear, Shiva Trash. Sun: ‘Bujwah Bonanza II’ w/ Wild Wild Wets, Barbarian, Kids in Heat. Mon: Karaoke.

Tue: Comedy.

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

Wed: Bat Lords, Requiem for the Rockets, Sleeping Ghost. Thu: Sound Lupus, Dead Satellites, Moonpool. Fri: Trashkannon, Catharsus, Blood Dancer. Sat: Grampadrew, Shawn Rohlf, Trailduster.

Mon: ‘Tin Can Country Club’ w/ David Francis. Tue: Cara, Naomi Wachira, Ashley Pond.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Thu: Blue Largo. Fri: Red Elvises. Tue: Joe Fontenot.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Wed: The Widows, Death Eyes, DJ Mikey Ratt. Sun: Bhorelorde, Serpent Crown, Lazy Cobra.

Mon: James Chandler.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Wed: Grizzly Business, Dinosaur Ghost, Love and the Skull. Thu: ‘Thirsty Plursday’. Fri: Kid Wonder. Sat: DJ Qenoe.

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

Wed: DJ Slowhand. Thu: DJ Decon. Fri: Mr Dee Jay. Sat: DJ Stick D. Tue: DJ Clean Cut. Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Thu: ‘Astrojump’ w/ Kill Quanti DJs. Fri: ‘F#ing in the Bushes’ w/ DJs Daniel Sant, Rob Moran. Sat: ‘80s vs. 90s’ w/ DJs Gabe Vega, Saul.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Ancestree, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Psydecar.

Fri: ‘Bassquake’ w/ Chris B. Sat: Electric Waste Band. Sun: Destructo Bunny.

Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: ‘Meeting of the Meyends’.

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 45

Proud sponsor: Pacific Nature Tours

Ink Well Xwords by Ben Tausig

Across 1. Letter-shaped construction pieces 7. Request to a server, perhaps 11. JFK alternative 14. Turkish mountain 15. Candidate who Jon Stewart prayed to god would run in 2016 16. Strong longing 17. Strong longing 18. The first six inches of a foot-long?

20. “Why not give this famous horror film actor a chance?”?

22. Big break for the Catholic church?

23. Reliably red state: Abbr.

24. Former NOW president Eleanor 27. Twice tetra28. House of twigs 30. Belly up to the bar and ask for a pint of disinfectant?

33. West African storyteller 35. Hawaiian island with a Taro Festival 36. “Please, please be a love seat or a recliner or something ...”?

42. Reliably red state: Abbr.

43. Country guitarist’s timbre 45. South Beach parent?

51. Laser target, perhaps 52. Spore sac 53. ___ penis 55. Drivers often hit it 56. Graf with two gold medals in tennis 59. Musical genre with singing parakeets, bass-playing pugs, etc.?

61. Protagonist who does not kill orcs after sundown on the Sabbath?

Last week’s answers

64. “Lord of the Rings” villain whose eye symbol looks like a giant flaming vagina 65. Place to park money, briefly 66. Fundamental matter?

67. Occupation made obsolete by print 68. Mafia boss 69. Mitt Romney’s eldest son 70. Former Disney head Michael

Down 1. Doing a task at the soup kitchen, say 2. “Cannonball” band, with “the” 3. Region with many Shintoists, Confucians, and Buddhists 4. “Well, Adam gave up ___, so mine better be prime” (Kanye) 5. Stallions’ partners 6. Patron of sailors 7. Musicians covered by The Source and XXL 8. Evian, e.g.

9. Pen tips 10. Offensive, perhaps, as a joke 11. Train lines, e.g.?

12. Bugs 13. Muppet drummer 19. “Hi, sailor!”

21. ___ Lingus (Irish carrier) 25. Four-star officer 26. Generally vote 29. Mess (with) 31. Bad thing to be stuck in 32. Tick off 34. Liz portrayer on “30 Rock” 37. President pro ___ 38. “This is kind of ___ deal” 39. Zuccotti Park movement, for short 40. Account for 41. It doesn’t need oxygen 44. Comparatively conscious of the environment 45. Arab house of worship, in Arabic 46. Star: Prefix 47. Ian whose “Atonement” was adapted into a Best Picture nominee 48. Tick off 49. Thing on which to plot points 50. Really, in Latin 54. Keanan of “Step By Step” 57. Brothers together in a house 58. Smidgen 60. Some mangy 62-Downs 62. Common service animal 63. “WTF, I cnot BELIEVE this!!”

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

46 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 47

48 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 49

50 · San Diego CityBeat · June 18, 2014

June 18, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 51