San Diego CityBeat • July 19, 2017

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july 19, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

We made a top five clickbait Comic-Con listicle. What happened next is shocking

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elcome to San Diego, Comic-Conners (yeah, that doesn’t sound right, but whatever, just go with it)!

In my mind, I’m envisioning some pale, bespectacled cosplayer who saw one of CityBeat’s red stands on the streets of downtown.

They might have picked up an issue thinking it was going to be filled with some kind of fluffy, listicle nonsense such as “Comic-Con 2017: 10 Things to Watch” and “5 ComicCon 2017 secrets from a convention pro” (these inspired attempts at clickbait can all be found at the San Diego Union-Tribune website along with the groundbreaking masterstroke, “Black Eyed Peas to celebrate new graphic novel at Comic-Con”).

A Black Eyed Peas graphic novel?! I smell an Eisner Award!

Sure, there is a great roundup of ComicCon-related events on page 23, but we here at CityBeat are entirely too busy being all and throwing out sick burns like “that’s so 2000 and late” to get around to crafting Comic-Con listicles.

But hey, there’s a first for everything. So without further ado, here it is, our super-sarcastic, Black Eyed Peas-free listicle…

TOP FIVE SUPER-SAFE GUIDE TO COMIC-CON FOR COOL COMIC-CONNERS COMING TO THE CON. 5.) Don’t buy local, think global. Please don’t be tempted by those quaint brunch spots like the delightful Café Chloe or the refreshing takes on Mexican food offered

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

up at La Puerta (yeah, it’s just up the street from the convention center, but look away!).

Stick with what’s familiar. There’s Hard Rock Café! And why bother trying one of our city’s glorious, baby arm-sized California Burritos (carne asada, cheese and French fries). The Del Taco near City College has French fries too! Just get a side of fries and throw them into that Del Beef Burrito™ and call it a day.

4.) Yeah, we have beer, but who cares if it’s craft? Perhaps Comic-Conners have heard rumors about our amazing local beer scene. Sure, Resident Brewing’s Vacation Coconut IPA tastes like Angel kisses (a kiss from Angel on Buffy, duh) and Monkey Paw’s Captain Shaddock’s Forbidden Fruit tastes like what a Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin should taste like, but let’s stick with a name we can trust: Anheuser-Busch. They just opened a sweet spot called 10 Barrel Brewing down the street from the convention center. Just ignore those protestors with their silly “10 Barrel is Not Craft Beer” signs.

And speaking of ignoring…

3.) No, those aren’t homeless people.

They are, uh… extras for a movie? What’s it about? Um, it’s about the crisis level effects of what can happen in a city when local politicians ignore a problem for too long and instead focus on football teams. Really, just ignore them. Look, up in the sky, it’s Superman!

2.) Get an Airbnb… while you still can.

Our City Attorney recently declared that short-term vacation rentals like Airbnb are

illegal in San Diego, but don’t worry about that. The city isn’t cracking down (yet) and while San Diego’s hotel lobbyists are stronger than Supreme Leader Snoke, we’re totally confident the city will come up with a solution soon and Comic-Conners won’t have to take out a second mortgage to afford a hotel room next year.

1.) Just enjoy it while it’s (still) here.

Waiting in line all day to get a peripheral glance at B-list celebrities can be tiring, so

if Comic-Conners need a break, our fine city has plenty to offer (bruh, them pandas doe).

We just got an extension to have Comic-Con here through 2021, and it’s so not a big deal that our request to the city for copies of that extension contract came back so redacted it would make the House Intelligence Committee blush. Don’t worry about that convention center expansion! It’ll happen just as soon as we figure out this pesky soccer team situation.

—Seth Combs

This issue of CityBeat has been saying “eventually we will get something done” for years.

Volume 15 • Issue 49 EDITOR Seth Combs MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos ASSOCIATE EDITOR Torrey Bailey STAFF WRITER Jamie Ballard COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker, Minda Honey, John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza CONTRIBUTORS Christin Bailey, David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Andrew Dyer, Rachel Michelle Fernandes, Tiffany Fox, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr.,

CONTRIBUTORS (CONT’D) Lizz Huerta, Lara McCaffrey, Scott McDonald, Kinsee Morlan, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Amy Wallen, Ian Ward EDITORIAL INTERNS Victoria Davis, Vitta Oliveri PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse DIGITAL ADVERTISING MANAGER Megan Kennedy MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jason Noble ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Beau Odom, Mark Schreiber, Jenny Tormey CONTROLLER Kacie Cobian

ACCOUNTING Sharon Huie, Alysia Chavez, Linda Lam HUMAN RESOURCES Andrea Baker VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE Kacie Sturek VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS David Comden PUBLISHER Kevin Hellman

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UP FRONT | LETTERS

MISSING THE MARK Hi Seth! I am the Executive Director of San Diego County Gun Owners PAC (SDCGO).

Someone sent your article to me about the San Diego City Council’s proclamation making May 6th, 2017 San Diego County Gun Owners Day. I wanted to start by telling you that Dave Maass and I had a similar exchange about gun ownership years ago, but I was a stranger at the time so he didn’t appear as disgusted with me. I reached out to him after hearing him talk about the Second Amendment on a the Mike Slater

LETTERS CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

UP FRONT From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 Spin Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Backwards & In High Heels. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Well, That Was Awkward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

FOOD & DRINK The World Fare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Anatomy of a Cocktail Scene . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Final Draught. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

THINGS TO DO The Short List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15

ARTS & CULTURE

O F

T H E

W E E K

After Dark: About Last Night . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Feature: Comic-Con Week . . . . . . . . . 19-25 Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-28

MUSIC FEATURE: Ho99o9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Notes from the Smoking Patio. . . . . . . . . 30 If I Were U. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Concerts & Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34-36

LAST WORDS Advice Goddess. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

ON THE There are potholes and then there’s just gigantic death holes that may or may not be a portal to the Upside Down. It makes sense to us that such a parallel dimension may exist in the La Presa neighborhood of Spring Valley (after all, it’s Spring Valley). But local Brian Remmen says this port… eh, pothole—located on a side street near Helix Street—has “been this way for over 10 years” despite neighborhood complaints. Perhaps a Demogorgon sighting might help draw more attention to the problem. Perhaps not.

Send your favorite pothole location and pics to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com.

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COVER

This week’s cover art comes courtesy of Tijuana-based painter and graphic novelist Charles Glaubitz (mrglaubitz. com), who is also the subject of Rachel Michelle Fernades’ story on page 19.

The painting on the cover, “Charge,” is part of Glaubitz’s new series, DARKSTAR, which is also the subject of a new exhibition opening July 21 at the Athenaeum Art Center in Logan Heights.

And just as Glaubitz has evolved as an artist, the DARKSTAR character on the cover is evolving as well. “The show is a graphic poem narrative, meaning it is like a huge comic installation,” says Glaubitz. “‘Charge’ is part of the narrative, where the main character takes charge to meet her destiny, after her transformation from child to teen.”

JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 5

UP FRONT | LETTERS LETTERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 Show. I asked him if he would be interested in going to the range to learn the safety rules regarding firearms and then have a good time shooting a gun for his first time. He refused. We exchanged emails for months and even had what I thought was a friendship until I made a comment on Facebook about not liking criminals. Dave, surprisingly, was unable to remain friends with someone whose views were contrary to

his and ended our friendship. An- enjoy. Generalizing like you did ger and intolerance strikes again. would be like me saying you are Regarding your commentary dishonest simply because you are [“Clenched fist of truth,” July in the same business as CNN, and 5], I just wanted to correct two they promote dishonest conspirathings. First, the proclamation cy theories about Russia.

I have not watched the comwas honoring the good work volunteer members of our organiza- mercial you mentioned yet and tion do in the community and not had no plans to watch it until you “the gun lobby.” Our organization brought it up in this article. By does a lot to spread the message your description, it sounds horof gun safety, responsible own- rible and just may be the biggest ership, protection and accep- mistake media has uncovered retance. Second, SDCGO had noth- garding a group like NRA. I can ing to do with the Dana Loesch/ hardly believe a final nail has NRA commercial that you did not been put in the NRA’s coffin and

would very much like to watch the video now. I have never seen an NRA video that is as horrible and violent as you describe the Loesch commercial to be. I have only seen Loesch speak a few times, but it surprises me that she agreed to be a part of this kind of thing. I am surprised she has a side of her that allows her to recklessly call for violence against so many Americans. So curiosity is getting the better of me.

Be right back. I’m going to go watch it right now.

Sorry that took so long. I

wasn’t sure I had the right video so I really searched. Was this the video? www.youtube.com/ watch?v=tOfLjGg5gP0 I mean it must be. I don’t see another, but this one doesn’t match up with your description of loud and obvious cries for violence. Now I am confused.

Loesch’s entire video was condemning the political violence from the left that has been flooding our news feed for years. You brought up the Bernie Sanders supporter who tried to murder members of Congress, and that is a perfect example of the kind of left-wing political violence Loesch and the NRA are condemning. She ends her condemnation of violence with a reference to the symbol of non-violence resistance used by so many civil rights champions before her: a clenched fist.

So... did you and I watch the same video?

Your analysis of the video could not have been less accurate or missed the mark more had you actually been trying to get it wrong. I noticed you did not provide a link to the video, by the way [Editor’s note: We actually have it right on the page]. Interesting choice to leave out the actual source and just leave your deeply flawed description and analysis. It does make sense to me how you could get the proclamation and SDCGO so wrong now that I see a sample of your shoddy, haphazard attempt to analyse [sic] a one-minute video condemning violence and promoting truth.

Good luck with your paper, Seth.

Michael A. Schwartz

Executive Director San Diego County Gun Owners PAC [Editor’s response: You lost this particular gun-owning libtard at “they promote dishonest conspiracy theories about Russia.”]

DANGEROUS RHETORIC Thank you for your Clenched Fist article in last week’s CityBeat [“Clenched fist of truth,” July 5]. I was one of the “locals” concerned about the gun owners’ day proclamation. I appreciate your pointing out the dangerous rhetoric coming from the NRA. Responsible gun ownership is one thing, promoting gun violence is quite another.

Schemes that promote more guns and glorify their power, have the potential to lead to more guns in the hands of the wrong people.

Thanks for the article.

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

Carol Landale Mission Valley

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UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE

JOHN R. LAMB

Comic Conks Everything is funny, as long as it’s happening to somebody else.

—Will Rogers

A

s San Diego preps once again to become the center of the pop-culture universe and whisks its homeless off downtown sidewalks, Spin Cycle would like to turn readers’ attention to the “comic” portion of Comic-Con. Comic books might be the first thing that comes to mind, but the term can also refer to that brave, solitary soldier of yucks: the stand-up comedian. Would Conan O’Brien be here if there were no merriment to behold for four days? Unlikely.

Visitors may have heard of our mayor, a pleasant enough riddle of a politician by the name of Kevin Faulconer. Devoid of choices, state Republicans have vigorously wooed our blond, smiling mayor to run for higher office in 2018—

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most notably for governor, but also a possible U.S. Senate bid.

Faulconer recently put those urgings to rest—perhaps for the last time—by insisting he’ll complete his final term. “The mayor will be staying mayor through 2020,” communications chief Matt Awbrey wrote Spin.

But back in March, the mayor delivered a comedic tour de force of a speech written by Awbrey to a gathering of friendlies gathered together for the annual Downtown San Diego Partnership installation gala. In that speech, he suggested he was open to a host of elective challenges—including as Donald Trump’s (soon-to-be?) successor.

I know, I know. Readers might be saying, Hey Spin, a roast speech from March? Who gives a Martian’s sphincter about that?

Well, funny story. In April, Spin innocently requested a copy of the speech, since folks were mention-

ing how funny it was. But April turned to May, then June. Not a peep about the speech. A formal public-records request loosened the grip on the thing, which finally arrived Monday.

And it is, in fact, pretty funny.

Billed as “Kev Talk 3,” his third roast speech as mayor noted that “good things come in threes. The three musketeers. The Three Stooges. The three guys who work at the Downtown Partnership.

And of course, being three sheets to the wind.”

He then asked where the chairman of the influential organization was with his gin and tonic.

“Keeping Kev hydrated is one of the position’s duties,” Faulconer quipped.

The mayor went on to laud the Downtown Partnership as a “great name” but lamented “no one knows what you do. Are you lobbying for business elites? Are you helping the homeless? Or are you a downtown shuttle company?”

He suggested the group follow his creed of “message discipline.”

“For two years, I talked about one thing over and over again: football. Now, it’s fútbol. Now that’s message discipline.”

Faulconer boasted about his “landslide” re-election victory, with none of that “I lost the popular vote but won the Electoral Col-

JOHN R. LAMB

Mayor Kevin Faulconer tossed some zingers in a March speech released this week. lege” jabber necessary. “No, people actually like Kev!” he said.

Similar to “our Commander in Chief,” Faulconer crowed about the crowds at his inauguration (remember, this is back in March!).

“Massive,” he said. “Tens and tens of people there. Dozens. OK, so maybe the crowds for our municipal swearing-in ceremony weren’t that huge. But at least it was more people than at the Chargers welcome rally in L.A. That was awkward. It was like watching the real-life version of someone not accepting your friend request on Facebook.”

Zing!

He joked that it could be argued “our election system is rigged. I mean, in San Diego— where Republican registration is only 25 percent—how else could you explain me winning and a Democratic-endorsed candidate [lifeguard union leader Ed Harris] coming in third. There’s no joke there. I just wanted to point out that he came in third.”

Yes, no love lost between those two, but Faulconer had plenty of ammo to go around, from termedout county Supervisor Ron Roberts’ gondola proposal (“Riding a slow bucket swinging 40 feet above ground from Seaport Village to Mission Valley—who doesn’t want to do that?”) to new Supervisor Kristin Gaspar for voting against a pay raise but accepting it anyway. (“She’s like the person at dinner who says ‘I don’t want any dessert, but you know… if the rest of the table orders it… I’ll take a little bite.’”)

For “Harvard-educated” San Diego City Council newcomers Barbara Bry and Chris Ward, dreams of starting “an enlightened conversation” about the city’s biggest challenges have hit the reality of “spending their time fielding constituent calls about broken trash cans and dog-related noise complaints.”

Added the mayor: “How could

two smart people be dumb enough to run for City Council? But heck, I ran for council, too, so it takes one to know one.”

He poked Councilmember Mark Kersey for “his first big move” as council president pro tem: “starting morning City Council meetings two hours later… obviously using that time for his beauty sleep.”

Councilmember Scott Sherman, Faulconer joked, “is a shell of a man” since the Chargers left, “desperate for a new nemesis.” Added the mayor: “I saw him trying to pick a fight with a Girl Scout the other day for crying out loud. He said their new premium cookies are a bad financial deal for San Diegans.”

For his own council nemesis, David Alvarez, Faulconer prodded his announcement—four years out—to run for County Supervisor.

“I like the visionary thinking,” the mayor said. “He could have used some of that on the City Council.

He referred to “ambitious” Councilmember Chris Cate as “my gray-haired, half-Filipino-American, half-Anglo-Saxon American son.”

Faulconer did note the difficulty of “being a Republican in this state. Kev gets lonely sometimes.

People look at me like I’m some sort of miracle of nature,” adding tourists must choose whether to go to the zoo to see endangered pandas or the mayor’s office to observe “one of the last California Republicans.”

He joked he might run for County Supervisor, whose all-GOP board makes it “the last protected habitat for my kind.”

But he also hinted, “Trump won’t be the last blonde in the White House… Kev for Prez!”

Faulconer stressed, however, a difference: “No alternative facts— unless you work at SANDAG.” Better late than never!

Spin Cycle appears every week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | OPINION

AARYN BELFER

BACKWARDS & IN

HIGH HEELS

Fighting from such great heights

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ast week marked the second anniversary of the death of Sandra Bland. Three days earlier, I arrived home from a week at the same Lake Tahoe mountain lodge where I was when, just last year, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were murdered. I’m thinking a lot about this as I re-enter my real life back in San Diego.

I was in Tahoe for my seventh summer attending Pact Family Camp, a five-day gathering of families with adopted children of color. At the camp, kids spend the week engaged in some serious programming with counselors who reflect them not just racially, but also with respect to adoption, foster care and other intersectionalities.

Meanwhile, we adults—adoptive parents, birth mothers, other family members and allies—are immersed in a conference focused on adoption and other issues facing our children (racism, police violence, and inequitable school and justice systems). This year, movie night for us included the viewing and facilitated discussion of Raul Peck’s outstanding I Am Not Your Negro. (If you want to understand America, see this film. And then see it again with your remote in hand, ready to pause, consider, rewind and listen again.)

It’s hardly necessary to say that Pact Family Camp is inherently emotional and challenging for all who attend. Last summer, after attendees emerged from our rooms where many of us privately watched Castile bleed to death, the trauma reverberated across our mountain retreat.

It shimmered like the aspens, hummed like the cicadas and cast shadows longer than the surrounding pine trees.

This year, we gathered in a cloud of acquittals and did the hard work. During family reconnection time one afternoon, I took my daughter and several of her friends—all of whom are black and on the precipice of their teenage years—to a ropes course just up the hill from our campus.

The girls put on their harnesses and helmets, reviewed the rules and performed a quick practice run on a close-to-the-ground zipline before scattering to choose one of five different obstacle courses of varying levels of difficulty and height from the ground.

At the request of my daughter, I reluctantly suited up, too. After watching people jump from the Twin Towers on 9/11, I developed a severe fear of heights, but I don’t want to be the mom that doesn’t do the activity. So up, up, up I went, my friend and fellow parent Kerry out ahead of me.

“It will be good for you,” she said. “Face your fear.”

This is how I found myself on “Fuzzy Bunny,” the easiest of the five courses. I was maybe 20 feet or 1,000 feet in the air (really, it’s all the same to me) as I latched in my Smart Belay system. I stepped onto the obstacle course, a series of suspended wood planks attached to each other in a way that allowed them to swivel.

My stomach was instantly in my throat, my pinkies were throbbing, and electric currents ran from

my head to my feet and back again. My eyes filled up with tears and I couldn’t see; my breathing was fast and shallow and I started to cry.

Just as I was thinking I didn’t have this, I heard laughter.

“You’re doing great, mama!” my amazing daughter called from somewhere in the distance, reminding me how to be okay.

A recent study by the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality has found that black girls are perceived as less innocent than their white peers beginning at age five (research from 2014 on black boys found that they too are misperceived in a similar way beginning at age 10). Make no mistake. Black girls are under attack.

In San Antonio this past May, police officers punched a 14-year-old black girl in the face while breaking up a party; this same month, two girls faced detention and suspension from their Massachusetts school for wearing box braids; also in May, an 11th grade girl faced expulsion from her school for refusing to “fix” her afro. In June, a 19-year-old black woman was violently attacked by police in Bakersfield while taking a moment to have a drink of water. Tatyana Hargrove spent time in the hospital and in jail because of what the police claim was a case of mistaken identity. That is, they somehow confused a fivefoot-ten-inch, 170-pound, bald, black man with a five-foot-twoinch, 115-pound woman with an Afro puff.

“You’re doing great, Mama!”

I looked up through the trees—above my head and all around at much greater heights—to see our girls. Our girls, their box braids and double-strand-twists swinging. Our girls, their bodies’ chrysalides beginning the metamorphosis. Girls becoming women, but still little girls. They were clicking in their belays, launching themselves across gaps, scrambling across thin wires, pulling themselves up on knotted ropes and leaping from platform to platform.

They were fearless. They were strong and masterful and commanding. And they were brave. I pulled my shiz together because, at that moment or any other, they were braver than I could ever imagine being.

The ropes course, I realized, was nothing compared to what is required of them just to exist in their beautiful black bodies. The bodies that America is set on tearing limb-from-limb. The fact that they know this already crushes me.

James Baldwin had it right, and still has it right: “The story of the Negro in America is the story of America, and it is not a pretty story.”

It is my wish that none of these amazing children ever has to face a suspension, a detention, an incarceration, a hospitalization, or—like Bland, Sterling, and Castile—a morgue, because of white supremacy.

But I’m not naive. That they live to be old, old women is what I fight for.

Make no mistake.

Black girls are under attack.

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aarynb@sdcitybeat.com.

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UP FRONT | OPINION VOICES

RYAN BRADFORD

WELL THAT WAS

AWKWARD

Remember that one really f’d up Garfield comic?

W

hen I was six or seven, both my parents worked, so we had a series of live-in nannies that took care of my brothers and me.

It wasn’t as silver-spoon-y as it sounds. They were more like live-in babysitters—women in their early twenties and probably working their first job after leaving home. They actually felt like surrogate older sisters, really. Like part of the family.

There was one nanny who was with us for such a brief period of time that I can’t even remember her name—Chanel or Shania or something else Midwestern and perfume-y. After Chanel moved in, my mom took her to a department store and bought sheets, towels and other amenities for her room. That must have been on a Sunday.

On Monday, my brother and I came home from school to an empty house.

She was gone. Disappeared.

••• Back in 1989, Garfield creator Jim Davis—not particularly known for his provocative imagination—published a series of uncharacteristically troubling comics leading up to Halloween.

In the first comic, the intolerant, Monday-hating cat wakes up cold and shivering. Right away, we know something’s not right, because there’s black shading around Garfield. Garfield is not a comic that uses shadows, and here Davis uses it to alienating effect. In the last panel, Garfield says, “This doesn’t feel like home.” He wanders off to explore. There is no punch line.

The next comic begins with a canted angle that would be better suited for a German Expressionist film. Garfield’s owner Jon and dog/nemesis Odie are missing. Garfield stares at the audience and thinks, “I’m alone” (the lack of punctuation heightens the creepiness). In a box underneath his thought bubble, omniscient narration reads, “You have no idea how alone you are, Garfield.”

In the ensuing comic strips, Garfield discovers that his house appears to have been condemned for many years. Everyone is gone. At one point, he actually hallucinates a fake family. Fake Jon holds out bowl of food and disappears when Garfield reaches out for it.

Panel after panel: desolation. And before he slips off the edge of sanity (conveyed by a monstrous illustration of Garfield’s bloodshot, spiraling, sweaty eye), Garfield wakes up.

For kids who were used to Garfield’s routines, it was fucked up.

Jim Davis has never been a savvy storyteller. In fact, it’s well documented that he created Garfield solely with marketability in mind—a far cry from mind-enriching Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) or even Charles Schulz (Peanuts).

The infamous series has remained in people’s minds nonetheless. Search the internet and there are several theories regarding the what/why/how of this particular series of Garfield strips—the popular one

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being that Garfield is actually still slowly starving to death in an empty house, and that all the comics that followed are just delusions caused by hunger.

(Let me tell you, reading Garfield under the notion that he’s been hallucinating for nearly 30 years brings a whole new joy to the comic.)

According to Boing Boing, Davis has stated that he simply wanted to create something “legitimately scary, as opposed to Halloween-scary.” Being alone or dying alone was what scared him the most.

It was that comic—nestled sinisterly in one of the collected volumes I used to carry around in my backpack—that haunted me on the day when my brother and I came home to an empty house. Our house had become alien and unrecognizable without the presence of adults. The shading seemed different. Had there always been those shadows? It wasn’t too far of a reach to imagine myself as Garfield, stuck in a boarded-up house, forever waiting for his family.

And this is why I think Garfield deserves its places at the table. Despite its laziness, commercialism and antiintellectualism, there’s an underlying existential understanding, especially for an anxious mind. It’s an understanding I couldn’t articulate when I was seven, but knew there was a fundamental connection; the idea that Garfield had been in the exact same predicament was comforting. Even if Jim Davis’ orange cat is remembered as a cynical cash-grab, at least this series of comics proved he was able to make adult fear digestible for kids, and a kid fear legitimate for adults.

In Garfield, there’s only a thin veneer that hides the awkwardness and dread of life (popular blog Garfield Minus Garfield also illustrates this point). We keep afloat via our routines—work, internet, lasagna, kicking Odie, etc.—but once those disappear we’re liable to fall into pit of anxiety and loneliness, and nowhere is more routine than the world of Garfield.

It’s a comic that knows what it feels like to manage anxiety by hiding it under the routines of home life, the workplace and social interactions.

When Chanel or Shania abandoned her post, she stripped the sheets of her bed and took everything that my mom had just bought her. It could’ve been a con job, but more likely she was got cold feet at the idea of watching three young boys and bailed, because the thread-count on those sheets couldn’t have been that high.

My brother and I were alone for only an hour or two before our parents came home, but an impressionable brain has the tendency to make the worst of things.

Mondays, am I right?

Well, That Was Awkward appears every other week.

Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com

JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

UP FRONT | FOOD

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

offer Indian food and are both on Pearl Street, it’s almost insulting to suggest they offer the same thing.

Take for example the kursi chaat appetizer. It’s remarkable just for its presentation: potato, tamarind chutney and yogurt over flatbread crisps sitting on chairs with mango leather diamonds as their backs. There’s whimsy in that presentation You get what you pay for but also resonance in the form of a reference to ndian and Mexican cuisines have a lot in com- where one might find such flavors back home in Inmon. Both are characterized by the layering of dia (street carts with customers on fold-up chairs). flavors through numerous spices and chilies. But the taste may be more incredible than the preBoth are born of economies where labor has always sentation: bright, creamy with touches of earthibeen cheap. In the U.S., an often-ignorant public ness, sweetness and spice. You can’t get that just expects both to be inexpensive and demands little down the street.

The hallmark of Masala Street’s food is an exin the way of refinement. Masala Street (915 Pearl St., Suite B/C) in La Jolla, for many, will be the first traordinary precision in the use of spices. The flaglimpse of just how much more Indian cuisine has vors aren’t built by just cooking things for a long time but by precise ordering of the use of those to give. spices, employing different techniques MICHAEL GARDINER to bring out the best in each. Take, for example, the Martabaan Ka Meat in which spices are toasted whole in the pan prior to adding lamb with spoonfulls of ground spices. Pickled chili paste and fresh herbs are added at the finish. The result is a deeply flavored dish that fires all of the taste buds without overwhelming any.

Similarly, three lemon shrimp uses citrus in three different forms—lime leaves, lemon zest and pickled lemons—along with grilled shrimp and fennel. The result is a palate-opening effect a lot like that of the spices in the lamb dish. The slight anise flavor brings the whole thing together.

Masala Street offers a variety of dals featuring different legumes: black lentils on one trip, yellow on another and garbanzo beans on a third. Each shows a different side of legumes; none are Three lemon shrimp boring. Basmati rice and naan bread complete the picture and the meal.

The conventional “wisdom” of the restaurantMasala Street is the brainchild of Hermant Oberoi (former Executive Chef at the Taj Mahal going public is, no doubt, accurate so far as it goes.

Palace in Mumbai) and his son Saransh Oberoi (for- Cheap Indian food is definitely out there and nearly merly of the two-Michelin-starred Campton Place ubiquitous. A meal at Tandoori Chef is, no doubt, in San Francisco, a Cal-Indian trailblazer). There half the price of Masala Street. But the meal at Maare no steamer tables or buffets at Masala Street, no sala Street is more than twice as good. cheap Punjabi fare, and the food is generally twice the price of Tandoori Chef a few blocks down the The World Fare appears weekly. street. But other than the fact the two restaurants Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

FARE I

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

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UP FRONT | DRINK

ANATOMY OF A

BY IAN WARD

COCKTAIL SCENE #10: The miseducation of mezcal at Cantina Mayahuel

I

’ve worked in all manner of bars over a very long, occasionally tiring, and always no-end-in-sight bartending career. I’m pretty sure I’ve worked everywhere but a cruise ship, and for that I’m grateful.

And through all of my many years behind the proverbial stick, the lack of well-educated tequila drinkers has always been concerning. I believe I now know why. I grew up in a very dark time, dear reader, a time before the internet and with a total lack of Ethernet cable checks and balances, I accepted certain falsehoods. Among them were the “facts” that mezcal was tequila with a worm in it, and there are only two types of tequila (silver and gold).

So, coming of age with a lack of information literally in-hand, my generation—and the generations previous—grew up with a very warped view of the beauty that is agave spirits. I was sitting down talking with Randy Man, brand ambassador for Ilegal Mezcal and knower of all things agave at Cantina Mayahuel (2934 Adams Ave., North Park). He reminded me not only do people’s palates change despite lack of knowledge, but also that knowledge is something that we must seek out and not something that we just accept.

“When I got hired… I was going around throwing resumes out, and happened into Cantina Mayahuel. Larry [owner Larry Auman] was behind the bar

and asked me what I knew about tequila,” says Man. “I answered back with what I thought were facts at the time. This whole, ‘well, I know for a fact that all Reposados are aged for six months, and all tequila is aged in bourbon barrels, and all Anejos are aged for one year,’ kind of thing. He just sat there smiling like, ‘yeah, okay, sure.’ A few days later I got hired, and working with him, I took to it like a sponge.”

“So, what is your favorite agave-spirit-based cocktail to make?” I asked him.

“I love mezcal Negronis,” he said. “I love to see other people’s takes on them, IAN WARD which mezcal they use. They vary so much. It’s funny, I used to hate Negronis, as I feel a lot of people do at first, or used to. But again, people’s palates change. It’s a part of life. As you grow you come to appreciate all the tiny nuances that you used to ignore. Negronis are a perfect example. When I was a kid, I hated bitter things, but now I appreciate things that are a little more bitter. A Negroni with mezcal offers all of the elements.

Bitter, with sweet and smoke.”

And that’s when it all hit me.

At times I may look back a bit beMezcal negroni grudgingly on my illustrious bartending career, even from working at the diviest of dive bars, I certainly learned something. And even if I had taken a job on a cruise ship, I would probably at least have learned C.P.R. Anatomy of a Cocktail Scene appears every other week. Write to ianw@sdcitybeat.com

MEZCAL NEGRONI As prepared at Cantina Mayahuel 1 oz. Ilegal Joven mezcal 1 oz. Italian Vermouth

1 oz. Campari Orange Peel

Combine the liquid components into a mixing glass. Add ice, and stir until chilled.

Pour into a rocks glass with fresh ice cubes. Express an orange peel on top.

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JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

UP FRONT | DRINK

FINAL

BY BETH DEMMON

DRAUGHT Comic-Con buzz(ed)

COURTESY OF STONE BREWING

F

anboys, cosplayers, gamers and more are about to unleash the unholy madness of Comic-Con on San Diego yet again. Along with their lightsabers and sonic screwdrivers, they’ll bring millions of dollars—much of which will be spent on food and, more importantly, drink.

Despite nerds’ predilection for energy drinks, I’m willing to bet at least a few beer drinkers will manage to slip into the crowds. Lucky for them, there are plenty of off-site beer events coinciding with the Con. Bonus: none of these require a badge!

Wednesday, July 19 Those with beer on the brain who lack access to Preview Night should head to Hop-Con 5.0 at Stone Brewing Liberty Station (2816 Historic Decatur Road). The annual w00tStout festival will feature the annual Drew Curtis/Wil Wheaton/ Greg Koch Stone “Farking Wheaton” w00tstout collaboration plus tons of other brews, food and art. It runs from 7 to 9 p.m. and tickets are $75.

For something closer to the convention center, this month’s free Yappy Hour at Mission Brewery (1441 L St.) is a revved-up “Super Hero” edition from 5 to 7 p.m. (free admission). Bring a wellcostumed pup for a chance to win $2 pints of Hoppy Pilsner all night.

Players of Magic: The Gathering will need to travel north for battles and brews. Vista’s BattleMage Brewing Company (2870 Scott St., Suite 102), along with Sky High Comics, will be having its weekly “$20 Draught and Draft” unsanctioned Magic meetup from 6 to 9 p.m. $20 gets attendees Draft entry and two pints or flights. There’s only room for 16 players (21+ only), so RSVP ASAP by emailing sales@skyhighcomics.com.

Thursday, July 20 The Inaugural Star Wars Spelling Bee and Modern Times Beer Dinner at BIGA (950 Sixth Ave. #C) falls on the first official night of ComicCon at 7 p.m. Expect multiple food courses, rare beer tappings and hardcore Star Wars devotees clamoring for spelling bee glory. Advance tickets are $35 on Brown Paper Tickets, but it’s $45 at the door.

12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

w00tstout art by Walt Simonson Saturday, July 22 If the amount of exclamation points on their website is any indication of how! amazing!

Heroes! Brew! Fest! at Waterfront Park (1600 Pacific Highway) is going to be, then hoooly shit, it’s going to be epic. The event promises “beer, art, tech and music” and Kristian Nairn—Hodor from Game of Thrones—hosting a “Rave of Thrones” DJ set, expect an eclectic crowd. General admission opens at 4 p.m. and tickets start at $24.

Pay homage to Princess Leia from Star Wars at the Women in Comics art show featuring a tribute to the late great Carrie Fisher. The show opens at 6 p.m. at Iron Fist Brewing (1985 National Ave. #1132).

Multi-day Diversity and draughts will be on hand at Border X Brewing (2181 Logan Ave.) during the third annual Chicano-Con every night from July 21 through July 23. Includes beer, taco specials and some guest artists. It’s only a short walk from Comic-Con ground zero, but far enough that it will probably be one of the chiller off-site events.

Final Draught appears every other week. Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com, check her out on Instagram at @thedelightedbite, or via Twitter at @iheartcontent.

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SHORTlist

EVENTS

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

CORONADO

1 NATURE BOY

When it comes to Henry David Thoreau, at the Lamb’s Players Theatre (1142 Orange Ave., no one is as thorough as playwright Rich- lambsplayers.org) at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 23 ard Platt. In fact, he’ll be the first one to point out and Monday, July 24. Platt points out that the set X consisting of just a podium, a that people have been saying Thoreau’s name wrong is minimal by design, for decades (it’s actually pronounced like the word bench, a chair and a book.

“He’s the perfect subject for that kind of treat“thorough”). Platt is keen to demonstrate that his obsession runs deep when it comes to the iconic au- ment, because that austerity and simplicity was central to everything he thor of Walden and Civil RICHARD PLATT believed and how he lived Disobedience. his life.”

“I just took out a tape The performance, measure and measured presented by Write Out my entire collection of Loud, was commissioned books by and about Thoin honor of Thoreau’s reau, and it comes out to 200th birthday, but Platt about five feet of shelf believes the author’s life space,” Platt says. “That’s and words are ripe to find a lot of stuff.” contemporary audiences.

Platt’s encyclope“There is no writer dic knowledge led him that I know of that has to write Ripples from more to say to the 21st Walden Pond, a one-man century than Thoreau,” show that works as a day Ripples from Walden Pond Platt says. “He asks eterin the life of the 19th cennal questions: What does tury author (he’s hanging out in the woods, naturally). Platt was meticulous it mean to be a responsible citizen? What does a in his approach, researching everything from Tho- responsible citizen do when he finds himself in the reau’s mannerisms to using quotes and content right and the government in the wrong? What is the from the writer’s journals and letters. When it purpose of a liberal education, which is something comes to the performance itself, Thoreau will be people want to be asking themselves in the age of played by actor Steve Smith for two performances alternative truth.”

ENCINITAS

2 BUGGING OUT

There’s no denying there’s a fascination about insects even if some folks’ fascination only extends to screaming and running away. At the Insect and Ladybug Festival, located in the San Diego Botanic Garden (230 Quail Gardens Drive), that fascination is turned into education. Aspiring entomologists and bugenthusiasts of all ages are welcome to attend this event that includes local bug experts and thousands of multi-legged beings including Madagascar hissing cockroaches. Yikes! OK, but there will also be snakes, lizards and a Galapagos tortoise, plus cooked mealworm larva of the mesquite, teriyaki and barbeque flavor. Yum. The event is free with admission and goes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23. sdbgarden.org COURTESY OF SAN DIEGO BOTANIC GARDEN

Insect and Ladybug Festival

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LA JOLLA

3 COMIC GROUND

At first glance, poetry and comic books would seem to occupy different worlds entirely, but author Gary Jackson has found a way to deftly intertwine the two in his collection Missing You, Metropolis. He skillfully blends the comic-book universes of Gotham City and Metropolis with his own Kansas hometown, applying the ideals of beloved comic book characters to address some of the struggles he faced as a young black man in America. Jackson’s clear passion for comic books shines through in his poetry, which is at once humorous, heartfelt and bold. He will be sharing selected works from the collection on Saturday, July 22 at D.G. Wills Books (7461 Girard Ave., La Jolla), perfect for those who are looking to escape the downtown madness of Comic-Con. The event begins at 7 p.m. with an introduction by Yusef Komunyakaa and is free. dgwillsbooks.com

Missing You, Metropolis

JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 13

EVENTS

AFTER DARK: ABOUT LAST NIGHT Blame game

W

hen it comes to blame, it’s easy to pass the times with the climate in Pacific Beach too, it’s just buck. That’s what The Spectacular Now and easier to blame the bars and restaurants than it is Whiplash star Miles Teller tried to do fol- individuals for their actions.”

Ramirez decided to embrace the incident that lowing a drunken night in Pacific Beach last month.

After partying at PB Shore Club (4343 Ocean Blvd.) shined a light on the bar’s reputation. Two weeks ago, with friends who were about to deploy, the actor was he started printing T-shirts and hats emblazoned with “I Blame Shore Club.” He says caught stumbling around outside by COURTESY OF PB SHORE CLUB he’s trying to turn a negative into a police. As has been reported by news positive since the proceeds from the outlets—near and far, fact-based t-shirts and hats ($20 a pop) benefit and gossip-centric—Teller was arthe Wingman Foundation, which rested for public intoxication (even supports the families of fallen Navy though he tried to say he was only and Marine Corps aviators. He says detained). the charity selection is fitting beTeller took to Twitter the next cause the bar has a large Navy folday, saying “I blame Shore Club,” lowing and Teller was partying with alluding that the raucous beachmembers of the military the night front bar had over-served him. But he was arrested. There’s also the obPB Shore Club owner Billy Ramirez vious play on words. says Teller is a long-time frequenter “If you have a wingman with of the bar and that the accusation you, maybe you wouldn’t have gotwas made in jest.

“Someone getting arrested is “I Blame Shore Club!” merch ten in trouble,” Ramirez says.

To further spoof the incident, not the greatest thing, but obviously his response wasn’t malicious at all. It was just Ramirez made a few hats for himself, his friends and things I’ve heard over the years honestly,” Ramirez Teller that say “I Blame Miles Teller.” Despite it all, Teller’s trouble has worked out well for Ramirez. says laughing.

“He’s worldwide,” he says. “It just got everyRamirez goes on to say that people blame PB Shore Club for a lot of things, not just for over-serv- where, which is really crazy. You can’t buy that kind of advertisement... I don’t know what kind of following alcohol as Teller claimed.

“We’ve had people get married, and they blame ers he has, but if one percent of them comes in and Shore Club. We’ve had friends who have had kids, checks [PB Shore Club] out, that’s pretty awesome.” and they blame Shore Club, so it seems like some-

ART Chuck Jones Gallery Comic-Con Events at Chuck Jones Gallery, 232 Fifth Ave., Gaslamp. The gallery will be hosting a series of events during Comic-Con, including a 40th anniversary celebration and artist receptions for James Coleman, Rodel Gonzalez and Rob Kaz, among other artists. Various times. Wednesday, July 19 through Saturday, July 22. Free. 888-2949880, blog.chuckjones.com Heroes, Villains, Monsters and Robots at Art Hookah Lounge, 923 Sixth Ave, Gaslamp Quarter. Thumbprint Gallery, known for its focus on urban art and pop surrealism, presents a mix of comic, film and television fan art by local artists. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 20. Free.

858-354-6294, thumbprintgallerysd.com HDowntown at Sundown at MCASD Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown.

MCASD’s after-hours event offers free admission and guided tours of exhibitions at MCASD and the SDSU Downtown Gallery.

Includes specials at local businesses and live music. From 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 20. Free. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org San Diego Comic Con Art Show at the Grand Hyatt San Diego, 1 Market Place, Downtown. The Starburner Galactic Courier Service is hosting this event, which will feature local comic-inspired art as well as pieces from around the world. From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 20 through Sunday, July 23. Free. starburnercouriers.com The Urban Ocean at La Playa Gallery, 2226 Avenida De La Playa, La Jolla.

Emerging local artists, Jeff Yeomans and Katy Helen Stockinger, present their works of oil paintings and mosaic-mirrored surf-

H = CityBeat picks 14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

boards that portray ocean and beach life.

Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 21.

Free. 858-454-6903, laplayagallery.com Darkstar at Athenaeum Art Center, 1955 Julian Ave, Logan Heights. Multimedia and Tijuana-based artist Charles Glaubitz presents paintings based off his own graphic novels, combining elements of myth and spirituality with comics, alchemy and science. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 21. Free. 619-269-1981, ljathenaeum.org Comics vs. Anime Group Art Show at La Bodega Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. X-Men, Star Wars, Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon are just a few of the inspirations behind the pieces on display at this show.

Cosplay is highly encouraged. Opening from 5 to 11 p.m. Saturday, July 22. Free.

619-255-7036, labodegagallery.com Women in Comics Art Show at Iron Fist Brewing San Diego, 1985 National Ave. #1132, Barrio Logan. Prismatic Series introduces an art event honoring women in comics with a special tribute to Carrie Fisher.

Live body art by CJ Martinez and music will also be included. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 22. Free. outsidecomiccon.com Murals of La Jolla Walking Tour at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. The Athenaeum will host this walking tour led by project curator Lynda Forsha. View murals by Kim MacConnel, Ryan McGinness, Kelsey Brookes and more. At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 26.

Free. 858-454-5872, muralsoflajolla.com

BOOKS David Grann at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The bestsell-

= Comic-Con Events

—Torrey Bailey

ing author of The Lost City of Z will discuss and sign his latest nonfiction book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, July 19. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com HAlexandra Fuller at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The bestselling author will discuss and sign her debut novel, Quiet Until the Thaw. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 20. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com Christina Henry at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The author of the Chronicles of Alice duology will be promoting her new book, Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook. At 7 p.m. Saturday, July 22. Free.

858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com HAndy Weir at Fleet Science Center, 1875 El Prado, Balboa Park. The author of The Martian will discuss his upcoming novel, Artemis, and the importance of science in creative storytelling. He will be available after the event to sign copies of his book and meet audience members. From 7 to 9:30 p.m. Monday, July 24. $35-$75. 619238-1233, rhfleet.org Rachel Ignotofsky at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The illustrator and designer will discuss and sign her new book, Women in Sports: 50 Fearles Athletes Who Played to Win. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 24. Free. 858454-0347, warwicks.com HLee Siegel at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The acclaimed culture and political writer will discuss and sign his new memoir, The Draw. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 26. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 @SDCITYBEAT

EVENTS DANCE United We Move at Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, Gaslamp Quarter. Under this year’s theme, TranscenDance Youth Arts Project’s teen dance performance explores social justice through original and contemporary forms, plus video and spoken word. At 7 p.m. Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22. $15-$25. 619-5441000, tdarts.org

FASHION Avant Garde Costume Gala at Horizon Park Chapel, 590 Fir St., Bankers Hill. Guests are invited to wear their most unique and thought-provoking costume and enjoy dance performances, a fashion show, food and Baja wine. From 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, July 22. $75-$90. eventbrite.com

FILM Shores of Light at the Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park.

The film follows the lives of Jewish WWII survivors who rebuilt their lives in Southern Italy following the war. The following discussion will analyze aspects of that particular refugee migration and compare them to the refugee crisis today. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, July 20. $12. sandiegoitalianfilmfestival.com

FOOD & DRINK Hop-Con 5.0 at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, 2816 Historic Decatur Road #116, Point Loma. This year’s event celebrates five years of the Drew Curtis / Wil Wheaton / Greg Koch Stone Farking Wheaton w00tstout. In addition to 15 beer samples (including all five versions of w00tstout), the event will also feature unlimited food tastings and a photo booth. From 7 to 11 p.m. Wednesday, July 19. $40-$75.

619-269-2100, stonebrewing.com HCraft Beer Block at Pariah Brewing Co., 3052 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. San Diego Brewing Company, Pariah Brewing Co. and Eppig Brewing team up for a pairing dinner on Friday and a block party with a maker’s market and food trucks on Saturday and Sunday. From 5 to 9 p.m.

Friday, July 21 and at noon Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23. Free-$21.

619-642-0545, pariahbrewingco.com HFeast Oceanside Food Festival at The Old Mission San Luis Rey, 4050 Mission Ave., Oceanside. A food festival and fundraiser highlighting over a dozen restaurants, breweries and distilleries located exclusively in Oceanside and benefitting local non-profit organizations. From 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 26. $45-$50. mslrfeast.com

MUSIC Tribal Seeds at Del Mar Racetrack, 2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Del Mar. The reggae band plays a concert after the last race as part of the racetrack’s 4 O’Clock Friday Summer Concert Series. At 2 p.m.

Wednesday, July 19. $15-$30. 858-7551141, dmtc.com HDaryl Hall & John Oates and Tears For Fears at Valley View Casino Center, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway. Relive the ‘70s and ‘80s with some of the biggest hits of the time, including “Maneater,” “Sara Smile,” and “Mad World,” among others. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 19. $35-$129. 619-224-4171, valleyviewcasinocenter.com The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses at Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. Now in its fourth season, the concert will feature a new piece from Breath of the Wild, a new

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movement from Skyward Sword, and more played by a 57-piece orchestra and 20-person choir. At 8 p.m. Friday, July 21. $60-$100. 619-570-1100, sdcivic.org Mystery Science Theater 3000 at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Gaslamp. The comical cult show appears live for the first time with two performances. Expect B-movies, robots, sketches, audience interaction and more. At 7 p.m.

Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22. $39-$299. 619-570-1100, mst3k.com The Return of the Get Down at Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2004 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. Hip-hop event coordinators and podcasters Tuff Rocking bring back their Bboy/Bgirl battle with cash prizes. Featured DJs include Mane One, Sake and more. From 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, July 22.

Free. 619-235-6135, tuffrocking.com Raiders, Rebels and Superman: The Music of John Williams at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown.

The San Diego Symphony performs a special concert of live music by John Williams, who created soundtracks for Jurassic Park, Superman and more. Limited seating remains. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 22. $25. 619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org The Peter Sprague Trio at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. The trio explores the jazz tradition of improvisation, while also catering to the Boomer generation by playing pieces by The Beatles, Stevie Wonder and more. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 24. $22. 858-481-1055, northcoastrep.org

PERFORMANCE Game of Thrones The Musical at Tenth Avenue Arts Center, 930 Tenth Ave., Downtown. The prestige drama will be re-imagined as a musical parody with no shortage of Dothraki love songs and tapdancing direwolves. Various times. Thursday, July 20 through Sunday, July 23. $30. 818-314-0947, gotthemusical.com W00tstock 9.0 at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Gaslamp. An evening of comedy, music and general nerdery featuring hosts Adam Savage from Mythbusters and comedy musicians Paul and Storm. At 7 p.m. Thursday, July 20. $43.50. 619-570-1100, sdbalboa.org Into the Walker Woods at The Geoffrey Off Broadway, 923 1st Ave., Downtown. Part of the San Diego International Fringe Festival, this performance is a creative mashup of the musical Into the Woods and the television show The Walking Dead.

Featured songs include “Sanity, Suffering, Gore” and “Hello, Zombie Girl.” From 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 20 through Sunday, July 23. $16. sdfringe.org Suicide Girls: Blackheart Burlesque at Music Box, 1337 India St., Downtown. A unique burlesque show centered around comics, television shows and movies, set to an upbeat indie soundtrack. At 9:30 p.m. Friday, July 21. $26-$75. 619-7951337, musicboxsd.com HRipples from Walden Pond at Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado. This one-man performance will pay homage to Henry David Thoreau on what would have been his 200th birthday.

Following the show, audiences can participate in a discussion with the playwright and actor. Performances at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 23 and Monday, July 24. $24-$48. 619-437-6000, lambsplayers.org Del Mar Racetrack Opening Day at Del Mar Racetrack, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Fast horses, big hats and even bigger bets means it’s once again time for race track’s inaugural day. Watch the races, participate in the Opening Day Hats Contest

and more. At 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 19. $15-$30. 858-755-1141, dmtc.com Brew-Asana at San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park. The museum, in partnership with Yoga One, hosts an evening of exercise with craft beer tastings from Aztec Brewing Company and discussions with scientists from Fleet Science Center about yoga, beer and the mind. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 20. $15-$20. 619-5440587, museumofman.org Family Con at Liberty Public Market, 2820 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma.

An event for comic-loving kids and their families, Family Con will offer a costume contest, superhero scavenger hunt, photo booths and more. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Thursday, July 20. Free. 619-487-9346, libertypublicmarket.com CinemArt: The Supreme Being at the Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. This event, featuring food and cocktails by HOPE46, will be based around sci-fi adventure film The Fifth Element. Art by local vendors will be available for purchase. 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 20.

Free. 619-296-2101, lafayettehotelsd.com Chicano Con at Border X Brewing, 2181 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. The annual event portrays the allure of Mexican art and culture by featuring iconic Chicano superheroes and revolutionaries like Cesar Chavez. Includes special guests, beer and taco specials. From 1 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 21 through Sunday, July 23. Free. facebook.com/events/247506862400588 SDCC Horror Cosplay Meetup at Horton Plaza Park, 900 Fourth Ave., Gaslamp Quarter. Fans can dress as their favorite frightful characters and join the party with fellow horror-enthusiasts for costume contests, giveaways and more.

The event will also host a remembrance vigil for zombie maestro, George Romero.

At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 22. Free with RSVP. facebook.com/sdzombiewalk Heroes Brew Fest 2017 at Waterfront Park, 1 Park Blvd., Downtown.

Local craft beer, a variety of comic art, virtual reality exhibits and a DJ set by Game of Thrones actor Kristian Nairn (Hodor!) are all on tap for this event.

From 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 22. $32-$104. heroesbrewfest.com HInsect Festival at San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas. The event is crawling with thousands of bugs, reptiles and Madagascar hissing cockroaches. Plus, bug collecting, barbequed mealworm and local experts.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23. Free-$14. 760-4363036, sdbgarden.org Femme Forme at Pasaje Rodriguez, Avenida Revolución, Entre Calle 3ra y Calle 4ta, Zona Centro, Tijuana. Hosted

by Tini Ebla, this face-to-face networking event encourages female artists of all mediums to meet, collaborate and share their stories. From noon to 5 p.m.

Saturday, July 22. Free. facebook.com/ events/314444722311541 Obon Festival at Vista Buddhist Temple, 150 Cedar Road, Vista. Enjoy Japanese food while watching taiko drumming, cultural demonstrations and koto performances. Plus discussions on Buddhism and a farmers market. From noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23. Free. 750-941-8800, vbtemple.org HSouth Park Summer Walkabout starting at Juniper & 30th St., South Park. An evening celebrating some of the unique businesses in South Park, with free food samples, live music and unique wares.

The info booth at Juniper and 30th St. will offer South Park maps and the chance to enter a free drawing. From 6 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, July 22. southparksd.com

JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 15

THEATER

JIM CARMODY

Marcel Spears, Heidi Armbruster and Brenna Coates in At the Old Place

Home, not-so-sweet home

H

ome is where the pity party is. Or so it goes for Angie, a woman of creeping middle age who, awash in doubts and self-recriminations, abandons her career and her husband in order to retreat to the empty home in Virginia left behind by her recently passed mother. Naturally, Angie and her mother have been estranged for years, and that estrangement is just a percentage of the psychoemotional morass in which Angie finds herself.

In Rachel Bonds’ At the Old Place, a world-premiere production at La Jolla Playhouse directed

by Jaime Castaneda, the sort of internal crises and personal assessments Angie (Heidi Armbruster) confronts have been dramatized many times before by many writers working in a variety of mediums.

Bonds’ narrative twist, and what separates her play from an 80-minute wallow, is the presence of two fun-loving young people, each troubled in his/her own way, who bring to the surface the emotion that At the Old Place otherwise lacks and which Angie seems unable to harness.

Will (Marcel Spears, in a very natural performance) and Jolene (Brenna Coates) have been hanging out on the front lawn of Angie’s mother’s house long before she arrived on the scene. Jolene thrives on f-bombs and spiked Coke, but she really is a vulnerable soul. Will, sensitive and even more vulnerable, is the most likable (the only likable?) character in the story. However, each of them manages to affect Angie to the point that she girds herself to make an assured decision about her life and her future. (The play’s other character, a colleague of Angie’s from the college where they teach with whom she’s been in a relationship, makes one appearance—“courting” her intellectually as only a dyed-in-the-wool academic can.)

For all its angst emanating from central figure Angie, At the Old Place is at times frustratingly lowkey. Its liveliest scene might be the drinking game she, Will and Jolene play, even if it feels like Aunt So-and-So trying to fit in with the kids.

One thing is undeniable: The family house de-

16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

signed by Lauren Helpern, with its wide front porch, pitched roof and lemon-yellow light aglow in the windows, is so warm and homey you’ll long to move right in even if it means spending some time trying to cheer Angie up.

At the Old Place runs through July 31 at La Jolla Playhouse’s Mandell Weiss Forum, UCSD. $35-$60; lajollaplayhouse.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Speaking Out: Why I Stand: The true stories of 16 military sexual trauma survivors told through a series of monologues. Written by Rachel Carter, it opens July 21 for three performances at the Women’s Museum of California. womensmuseumca.org Much Ado About Nothing: The Bard’s witty comedy about how a war of words can sometimes lead to a marriage of hearts. Presented for free as part of the Free Classic Series, it opens July 21 at the Coronado Playhouse. coronadoplayhouse.com Perfect Wedding: A romantic comedy about a groom who wakes up on his wedding day with a stranger in the bed with him… And the bride is on her way. Written by Robin Hawdon, it opens July 21 at the PowPAC Community Theatre in Poway. powpac.org Robin Hood!: A world premiere from playwright Ken Ludwig that gives a comic spin on the legendary British outlaw. Directed by Jessica Stone, it opens July 22 at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org The Book of Mormon: Two musical Mormon missionaries are sent to Uganda to convert the locals, who aren’t the slightest bit interested in being converted. Written by the creators of South Park, it opens July 25 at the Civic Theatre in the Gaslamp. broadwaysd.com

For full Theater listings, visit sdcitybeat.com

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july 19, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

18 · San Diego CityBeat · July 19, 2017

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COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

“I Want It All” from the El Ultimo Show Del Burro series n addition to traveling back and forth between San myths. Mickey Mouse grew more villainous and began to tor is purely based on what we cannot experience with the Diego and Tijuana for many years, Charles Glaubitz battle an army of Lucha Libre masked birds for world domi- five senses. It just seems like it’s magic.”

Weaving that magic and the concepts of the unknowns regularly crosses borders and pushes boundaries in nation. Skeleton Mickey was the capitalist monster, his his work. The Tijuana-based painter, illustrator and minions a battalion of angry cow skulls. The battle, and the or barely-knowns—like black holes and subatomic partiseries, ended in what Glaubitz calls a “big cles—is what “The Eternals” series is all about, and it lays graphic novelist has a visual style that LUNA GLAUBITZ the foundation for Glaubitz’s current work in the graphic bang.” employs iconic, cartoonish imagery such The final show of El Niño Burro paint- novel medium. as Lucha Libre masks and skeleton-faced “These Gods, these eternals are faces of these four forcings was essentially a deconstructed Mickey Mouse figures, as well as children comic book on the wall depicting the es: Gravity, electromagnetic force, strong force and weak in spacesuits and “Zonkey” costumes last battle between the Mickey army and force,” Glaubitz says. “The story began to evolve in 2007, (Zonkeys are Tijuana Donkeys painted to the Lucha Libre tribe, the latter defend- and I started to include this idea of the villains, which are look like Zebras). ing the fragile-seeming flower friend of the Illuminati and the Annunaki [deities from ancient MesGlaubitz’s work and style—developed El Niño. When the flower, protected by opotamian cultures], and this idea of humanity not being over a 15-year-career—often ensnares the child, gains her strength, she puts an evolved, but genetically created. And things started rolling the viewer just as an exploitative Zonkey end to the battle with a massive explo- from there.” might ensnare a tourist, or like an insect The result is Starseeds, which was just published by Fansion of stars that annihilates the whole in a spider’s web. And like a spider spinworld and paints it black. The last image tagraphics, and is the first installment in a series of graphic ning a web, Glaubitz painstakingly and is a powerful one: Sparkling particles are novels. Audiences are also getting a chance to see fragments fastidiously builds his artistic tales.

Charles Glaubitz raining down on smiling red and gray of Glaubitz’s next installment in a special exhibit at The “During school, I was exposed to JoAthenaeum Art Center (1955 Julian Ave.) in Logan Heights. seph Campbell who is this scholar and academic who talked flowers that appear to be from another dimension.

Just in time for Comic-Con and its newborn sister, ChicanoThus completes the cycle and births a new one. about world mythologies and focused not on their differ“Those first five or six years were like a training ground Con, the show is titled DARKSTAR and features non-linear ences but on their similarities,” says Glaubitz, referring to COURTESY OF THE ARTIST yet narratively rich paintings arranged in his time at the California College of Arts in Oakland. “From for me to try to understand what I wanted a comic-book-like grid. their similarities, you have these archetypes and see how to do. And then when that world ceased to The conversation about comics and these ideas pop up all over the world and tell a similar story.” exist, I tried to grab what I learned from With his latest work, a graphic novel called Starseeds, those years and do something more congraphic novels has evolved over the years Glaubitz is taking his subversive style and stories across di- crete in a mythological way,” Glaubitz just as the art form too has changed. Glaumensions and through the multiverse. Starseeds has been a says. “So I started a new storyline called bitz’s process, however, is almost a reverse work in progress over the last decade, sprouted from a huge ‘The Eternals’ about these quantum gods evolution. He starts with fine art paintings amassing of work, and a natural next step in the artist’s that create subatomic particles and how in order to develop his narrative and flesh these subatomic particles were created narrative-driven evolution. out his worlds.

“In the beginning I was trying to be a fine artist and I for a prophetic moment where new beings “I think if I could tell a story in words was doing these series of paintings that were fragmented were going to be born.”

I’d be a writer, I’d do novels,” Glaubitz Shifting from Mickey Mouse to “quanideas of a larger concept,” says Glaubitz, who started off as a says, almost lamenting. “Since I’m better graphic designer and commercial illustrator. “The idea was tum gods” may seem like quite a leap, at telling stories with images, it’s turned “Growth” from the Darkstar into a graphic novel. It’s not that I think but Glaubitz’s technique is fascinatingly that each show would be a chapter in this narrative.” series by Charles Glaubitz that comic books have a wider audience, A smattering of paintings featuring El Niño Burro, seamless and speaks to the immense powthe character of the young boy in the Zebra-Donkey suit, er of harnessing and organizing creative thought. or are more easily accessible; it’s just that I don’t have the “Campbell would say that mythology has to be present ability to write in that sense. It’s very metaphorical and evolved into a series that lasted over five years. Out of this process, Glaubitz realized that he was interested in not with science in order to communicate with the present,” bombastic, this comic language. It’s somehow poetic. I only storytelling, but in building entire elaborate worlds. Glaubitz says. “So I thought, ‘OK,v I’m going to dive into think that’s what I’m striving for. Not to be something litHis characters were busting out of their own cartoon land quantum physics.’ Chaos, magic, anything that’s on the eral, but a huge graphic poem.” and becoming grand archetypes and extensions of ancient fringes of what people normally digest… that unknown fac-

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JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

I

I’m one of the lucky ones. For the past few years n 2008, I watched a girl dressed as a Valkyrie get held hostage by a group of male attendees just I’ve experienced SDCC from a vendor booth. As a feinside the doors of the San Diego Comic Con male, having a place to run to means I don’t have [SDCC] exhibit hall.

GABBOT / FLICKR COMMONS to worry about some of the downsides to fangirling in I had passed her earlier public, but only some of them. in the day and commented Men still feel very free to come on her costume. She said she up and “investigate” if I’m fit spent half the year working to rep a fandom. I’ve been on it. I told her I expected to asked what makes me think I see her online, because phocan wear a hat, shirt or join a tographers were going to love conversation about a comic, her. a book, a film or game. I love Unfortunately, that never a good debate or heated conhappened. versation, but I’m not about That group of guys detaking a quiz to prove I have manded that she pose for the right to have (and voice) pictures. At first, she smiled an opinion. You’d think the and posed, but when she Bitch Planet cosplay I’ve worn tried to leave she realized would be a clue that I’m not she was surrounded and the one they want to come they weren’t breaking the for, but I’ve been cussed out, circle. When she tried to physically pushed and talked push free, they jostled her over far more often than I’ve around between them. It ever passed their “test.” took two tall guys to get her I have a hell of a good out. Her wings were broken time during Con, but these and she was shaking like a Valkyrie cosplayer situations always remind me leaf. She left almost directly to only give out my throwafter and now refuses to atMEBRETT / FLICKR COMMONS away email and to keep my tend SDCC. Not one security badge turned backwards. If person intervened, and mobs you’d asked me after right of people just kept on walkafter SDCC ‘08 if I’d feel safe ing without even blinking. If attending SDCC in full cosI hadn’t asked, the two guys tume, my answer would’ve who did step in would’ve been, “hell no. They don’t kept walking too. allow you to carry real weapIt’s been nine years since ons” and to be honest, that’s then, and attending Con still still how I feel. has had its ups and downs.

Male attendees at SDCC Other Cons have updated have a tendency to act as entheir policies when it comes titled gatekeepers, and it’s to conduct, but the section on always annoying (dudebros SDCC badges is more detailed gonna dudebro). But it can than its code of conduct. Girls also be dangerous, because still get held up against their ultimately, SDCC still leaves will and security still just the responsibility for deflectwalks by. There are panels on ing and defusing toxic situfandom gender dynamics, but ations heavily to its female you best bring your sense of attendees. When it gets out of humor and thick skin if you hand for me, I have a counter plan on speaking up. There between the crowd and me. are more panels intended to But like I said, I’m one of appeal to female attendees on Bitch Planet cosplayer the schedule, but many apthe lucky ones. proach the topic(s) through a seriously male-centric lens and confusingly feature Rhonda “Ro” Moore is a local writer, film critic, book mostly male panelists even when kick-ass women reviewer and copywriter with a political news and pop are available. culture addiction. Check her out at shelfenvy.com.​​

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

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july 19, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

TODD LEYKAMP

e all cried a little when Zachary Levi made the announcement that NerdHQ wouldn’t be at this year’s Comic Con. The HQ was one of the more accessible events for non-badge holders, but there are still a ton of local breweries, art galleries, theaters and even museums that have put together events for nerds of all stripes. From zombie plays to Star Wars spelling bees, we’ve rounded up some of the better events that will, hopefully, cheer up some of our badge-less readers. For more, check the CityBeat events calendar, the SDCC Unofficial Blog (sdccblog.com) and Outside Comic-Con (outsidecomiccon.com).

First, put on a red cape and challenge siblings and parents to play some comic-inspired games at Family Con at Liberty Station Public Market (2820 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma). The day has activities ranging from comic costume contests to a superhero scavenger hunt. It goes from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

COURTESY OF BORDER X BREWING

Chicano Con Thursday, July 20. Wear a super suit, despite the hot weather, and enjoy some free, genuine family fun. libertypublicmarket.com

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

Game of Thrones: The Musical!

Another alternative “Con” is the annual event to emphasize the importance of giving kids a creative platform and ultimately creating awareness for a diverse comic industry. Chicano Con, at Border X Brewing (2181 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan), does just this just as it portrays the allure of Mexican art and culture. The event is free and takes place from 1 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 21 through Sunday, July 23.

Scare the actual crap (OK, not literally, that would be gross) out of everyone with the scariest costume at the SDCC Horror Cosplay Meetup. Join other horror-enthusiasts, free of charge, for giveaways, a costume contest and more at the Gaslamp Quarter (614 5th Ave. Ste. E, Gaslamp) from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 22. After the event, those over 21 can head over to Club Sabbat at Numbers (3811 Park Blvd.) for a Horror vs. SciFi afterparty, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Speaking of horror, Turning Tydes Theater combines Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods and AMC’s The Walking Dead in their newest musical, Into the Walker Woods at the Geoffrey Off Broadway (923 1st Ave., Gaslamp). The show runs from Thursday, July

COMIC-CON ROUNDUP CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

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COMIC-CON ROUNDUP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22 20 through Sunday, July 23, 7 to 8 p.m. and features lurching zombies, southern accents and songs such as “Sanity, Suffering, Gore.” Yum. Tickets are $16 at ticketleap.com.

Right down the road, parody show Game of Thrones: The Musical! is playing at Tenth Avenue Arts Center (930 Tenth Ave., East Village).

For $30, catch another hit TV show turned to song and dance. Productions are at various times Thursday through Sunday evening (gotthemusical.com).

One of the more popular burlesque tours will be here Friday, July 21. Suicide Girls: Blackheart Burlesque features models from all around the world giving sultry, Con-inspired performances (think storm troopers dancing in bikinis to an indie soundtrack). It happens at The Music Box (1337 India Street, Downtown) at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $26 to $28 at musicboxsd.com.

San Diego’s biggest music box, the Civic Theater (1100 Third Ave, Downtown) is reviving the 30-yearold soundtrack of The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses is an orchestral adventure featuring scores from Zelda games both old and new. The show is one night only, Friday July 21 from 8 to

COURTESY OF HEROES BREW FEST

and Star Wars Spelling Bee (7 p.m. Thursday, July 20 at Biga San Diego, brownpapertickets.com).

In the Gaslamp Quarter, Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros.

Pictures will debut the virtual reality experience for the upcoming Blade Runner sequel with The Blade Runner 2049 Experience, a virtual walk through the film’s neon-lit setting. The free experience starts Thursday, July 20 and runs through Sunday, July 23 in the afternoon and evenings. Registration is on site and can be done in advance or the day of. (slashfilm.com)

After experiencing virtual reality, actually get face to face with the cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Creator Joel Hodgson, host Jonah Ray, their smartass robot companions and other members of the crew put on a live performance at Balboa Theatre (868 Fourth Ave., Gaslamp Quarter) Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $39 to $299. (sandiegotheatres.org) Worst case scenario: Just find a bar in the Gaslamp, order a cocktail and bask in the costumes, revelry and the guilty pleasures that unite all.

Heroes Brew Fest

JOE ABBRUSCATO / FLICKR COMMONS

Suicide Girls: Blackheart Burlesque 11 p.m., and tickets are $60 to $100 at ticketmaster.com.

There’s also some keynote brewing and cocktail events taking place all over the city. Attend a headlining DJ act by Game of Thrones cast member Kristian Nairn (Hodor!) at Heroes Brew Fest (2 p.m. Saturday, July 22 at Waterfront Park, heroesbrewfest.com), enjoy some gluttony and drinking till you drop at Hop Con (7 p.m. Wednesday, July 19 at Stone Bistro & Gardens—Liberty Station, stonebrewing.com), and talk about the A’s, Beers and C’s at the Modern Times Beer Dinner

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JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23

24 · San Diego CityBeat · July 19, 2017

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couple years ago, I analyzed late-summer trailers and tried to determine the quality of the movies they were advertising. Based on my dismissive summary of the trailer for a little movie called Guardians of the Galaxy (“There’s a tree guy and a raccoon and that one guy from Parks and Recreation. They’re in space.”), I proved that my grasp on pop culture culture is tenuous at best.

But hey, I’m going to do it again because 1) I want to redeem myself, and 2) if the bajillionth Spider-Man reboot has taught us anything, it’s that people are more willing to reward repetition than originality.

Valerian (Official Trailer #3) Observed plot summary: Aliens do alien shit until a bunch of bad aliens come to fuck them up. Some space agency sends Agent Valerian (who appears appears to be wearing the same outfit that Leo DiCaprio wore in Romeo and Juliet) to save the good aliens but, hoo boy, Valerian and his partner seem to play by their own rules.

Bradford analysis: As a forever-fan of The Fifth Element, I always have to give director Luc Besson the benefit of the doubt, but c’mon, didn’t we all watch (and subsequently forget) Avatar? Or any of the Star Wars prequels? Haven’t we learned our lesson with movies that rely too heavily on CGI, or do movie studios bank on you not being able to remember any movie you’ve seen over the past 20 years? This movie would’ve been better as a video game—at least that would have distracted all the scary teens who normally hang out at the movie theaters. Not that I’m afraid of teens. You are.

Should you spend money on this: Gonna go and drop a big ol’ NOPE on your chest.

(International trailer #2) Observed plot summary: Oh, I don’t know—just a little something about THE ULTIMATE BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL! Idris Elba plays a gunslinger who

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pursues Matthew McConaughey through the lengths of time in an effort to protect a big, phallic tower (patriarchy, am I right, ladies?). Elba also has the lines, “I do not kill with my gun, I kill with my heart,” which sounds real cool until you remember that we’re a country plagued by an epidemic of

Dark Knight, Inception), and now you’re doing a... war movie?” But after a couple minutes Wiki-ing and learning that no American forces were involved in the Battle of Dunkirk—thereby diminishing the jingoistic “oorah” of most war movies—I think this will be pretty dope.

Should you spend money on this: Yeppers.

Should you spend money on this: Nah, brah.

The Emoji Movie (Official trailer #2) Observed plot summary: Charlize Theron is a spy. She kicks people. She kicks more Dark Tower people. Some people want to team up with her. She punches. She makes out with Sofia gun violence.

Boutella. She strangles a dude. Someone Bradford analysis: Let’s face it, this double crosses her. John Goodman’s charmovie’s not going to be good. But I would acter describes another character as having probably watch a two-hour video of Idris “an atomic bomb of information” which is Elba deciding between sandwiches at Subalmost the title of the movie! way before most summer blockbusters.

Should you spend money on this: For Idris, sure.

(Official trailer) Observed plot summary: [In sleazy movie producer voice] “Okay, now imagine this: Emojis are alive! Yes, I am not shitting you! They have their own little world that we’re not even privy to. They have parents, they go to school, and even love interests!

Still with me? [Snorts line of cocaine] Okay, so the ‘Meh’ emoji wants to break out of his role and showcase his diverse emotions.

You see, it’s really about being yourself! So Meh and his emoji friends—cute, huh??— go off on an unforgetable adventure! Kids’ll love it.”

Bradford analysis: Let me tell you who this movie is for: Bay Area tech bro millionaires who’ve just started a family. Their Atomic Blonde company will send out a bus to escort them to a movie theater that’s rented out for Bradford analysis: Um. I feel dumber a private screening. Once there, they will Dunkirk having just watched this. It’s also directed laugh at all the insider jokes and references

by David Leitch, whose only film experi- to the technology they’ve helped create— ence before this was stuntman work. There technology that has ultimately destroyed (Official Main Trailer) Observed plot summary: I may be go- may be a style-over-substance subversive- our ability to adequately communicate or ing out on a limb here, but it looks like a war ness to this that I’m not picking up on express feeling. Then, they will all go home (something along the lines of the John Wick and contribute to the technological polyarmovie.

Bradford analysis: At first I was all, movies), but I think it’s just a femme fatale chy that further dismantles the working “Christopher Nolan, sir, you’ve given us the movie that nerds will cite as an example of class every day. But hey, thanks for the lols, two of the most innovative, high-concept female empowerment while hiding their Emoji Movie.

Should you spend money to see it? summer movies in the last ten years (The sweatpants-boners.

JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

CULTURE | FILM

Sitting ducks

Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan’s epic WWII triptych finds resilience in the agony of defeat

by Glenn Heath Jr.

C

ornered by failing memory (Memento), past stationary rows are sitting ducks against the screamtrauma (Insomnia, The Batman Trilogy), crip- ing aircraft of the Third Reich. After reaching a medic pling ego (The Prestige), shifting dreamscapes vessel bound for home, Nolan’s young trio temporar(Inception) and global extinction (Interstellar), the he- ily find themselves trapped in a watery tomb thanks roes of Christopher Nolan’s films are each confronted to a perfectly placed German torpedo. The marooned, with crises of purpose. Their masculine genre stories, shell-shocked officer (Cillian Murphy) Mr. Dawson defined by non-linear trickery and bravura special picks up on the way to Dunkirk reflects the survival effects, work to aestheticize this ongoing struggle of guilt that eventually permeates each character.

Of the three narrative threads, Farrier’s roving body and mind with the hopes of creating a cinematic experience like no other. Few mainstream filmmakers perch best represents the film’s portrayal of split-sechave shown this level of ambition or scope, nor the ond pragmatism. Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema’s pristine aerial imagery is a study in jarring opsame capacity to encourage unchecked hubris.

Nolan’s virtues and shortcomings fuse together in posites—quiet blue horizons contrast with the everthe enthralling war triptych Dunkirk, where the mo- rickety gun sight and ear-splitting rev of the plane’s tif of escape repeatedly wavers between personal and Rolls Royce engine. During multiple tense dogfights, the pilots work in a constant collective experiences. The year state of emergency. But to those is 1940 and Allied Forces have witnesses on the ground, their been pushed nearly into the DUNKIRK sacrifice provides a much-needEnglish Channel by advancing Directed by Christopher Nolan ed jolt of bravery.

German troops. Approximately Starring Tom Hardy, As Dunkirk spends more time 400,000 British, French, Canawith certain characters, their dian, Polish, Dutch and Danish Fionn Whitehead, experiences seem increasingly soldiers line the massive beaches Aneurin Barndard conventional. Despite hardly waiting to be evacuated. Nazi Uand Mark Rylance saying a word, Tommy becomes boats scour the waters, sinking Rated PG-13 the de facto moral compass that rescue vessels with ease, while stands in opposition to Alex’s ruthless dive-bombers strafe the “Britain first” mentality. Nolan sand from the sky.

Dunkirk’s massive story unfolds through three dif- embraces the emotion of skillful propaganda as Mr. ferent temporal prisms. “The Mole” takes place over Dawson’s civilian fleet arrives at Dunkirk, and when the course of one week on the windswept dunes of the rousing words of Winston Churchill are quoted diDunkirk’s coast where young grunts Tommy (Fionn rectly in the final moments. Yet clues emerge suggestWhitehead), Alex (Harry Styles) and Gibson (Aneu- ing he is also wary about the need for rushed nationrin Barndard) do everything they can to evade certain alism. Look no further than the imposing image of a death. “The Sea” explores a single day’s time in which burning Spitfire being flanked by faceless Nazi troops.

Nolan’s best and worst impulses are at war in English civilian boat captain Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) and his teenage crew set out to help with the Dunkirk, which opens Friday, July 21. One moment the evacuation. Finally, “The Air” depicts a tense hour director captures a breathtaking and quiet birds-eyein the cockpit of a cramped Spitfire helmed by Far- view of a minesweeper capsizing, and the next he’s rier (Tom Hardy) who patrols the skies attempting hammering home “war is hell” themes with a dead(sometimes fruitlessly) to protect his compatriots ening thud. While that contrast can be frustrating, it from above. All three divergent timelines sporadically doesn’t detract from the film’s powder keg urgency overlap, creating a fractured mosaic of situational and blistering formal achievements. Much of Dunkirk survival. is unforgettable, a relentless ode to minor human vicTraditionally, Nolan transcribes panic and hope- tories in the face of colossal national disaster. lessness through the perspective of a single character, but in Dunkirk this feeling spreads across the vast Film reviews run weekly.

IMAX frame. Swaths of the fatigued soldiers stacked in Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

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july 19, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

CULTURE | FILM

Valerian

Intergalactic misfire

L

uc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets peaks immediately with a century-spanning montage charting the history of Alpha, a space station orbiting Earth that grows exponentially in size as new galaxies are discovered. The passage of time is symbolized by wordless handshakes between leaders from various intergalactic cultures, all to the tune of David Bowie’s iconic “Space Oddity.” Obvious song choice aside, the gorgeous sequence introduces crucial themes of unity, progress and patience that stand in defiant contrast to vicious present day trends.

Sadly, this example of pure cinema is rarely repeated during the film’s bloated running time. Instead, Besson’s mangled script, based on the French comic book Valérian and Laureline by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières, is fraught with obvious exposition and uninspired dialogue.

Federal Agents Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are tasked with tracking down the last remaining “converter” (essentially a guinea pig crossed with an armadillo) that replicates whatever precious stones it digests. From here they get caught up into an overly complicated plot involving The Pearls, a peaceful race of translucent aliens whose planet was destroyed 30 years previous.

Visually dense, each image contains layered textures, intricate colors and exaggerated costumes. Alpha itself is a maze of interconnected eco-systems and grids coexisting as one harmonious biosphere. But where’s the sense of humor or romance? DeHaan and Delevingne fail to muster the kind of magnetic chemistry Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich conjured up in Besson’s superior The Fifth Element.

Valerian, which opens Friday, July 21, has antiquated views on gender equality and race. Laureline is excised from the action, forced to ponder her partner’s endless series of marriage proposals instead of kicking ass. Rihanna’s shape- shifting stripper is merely an emotional crutch to prop

28 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

up the white leads. Besson may be an ace world builder, but no one’s going to ever accuse him of being progressive.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING 13 Minutes: After Georg Elser’s attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler fails, he is arrested and confined, forced to recall the events leading up to his plot and the reasons for deciding to take such drastic action.

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography: Director Errol Morris profiles the life and work of famous portrait photographer Elsa Dorfman. Opens Friday, July 21, at the Ken Cinema.

Dunkirk: During the early stages of WWII, thousands of Allied soldiers try to escape the Nazis after being surrounded on all sides in the French town of Dunkirk. Directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Inception).

Girls Trip: Four lifelong friends at different crossroads in life decide to take a road trip to New Orleans, and hilarity ensues.

Harmonium: A married couple living a predictable life with their young daughter is visited by a mysterious acquaintance from the past, permanently altering their lives in the process. Opens Friday, July 21, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Hermia and Helena: Camila (Agustina Muñoz), a young Argentine theater director, travels from Buenos Aires to New York for an artist residency to work on a new Spanish translation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Opens Friday, July 21, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Lady MacBeth: Based on the novella by Nikolai Keskov, the debut film from director William Oldroyd takes place in rural Scotland where the young bride of a wealthy landowner begins an illicit affair with one of her farmhands.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets: Luc Besson’s massive space opera follows two intergalactic federal agents as they try to solve the mystery at the heart of an expansive mega city.

For a complete movie listings, visit F ilm at sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC

HADAS DI

Eaddy and theOGM

he first experience that any listener or audience member has with New Jersey noise-rap duo Ho99o9 is likely to be an unsettling, even alienating one.

There’s a video of the beginning of the band’s set, shot at Warped Tour 2015, which displays their abrasive, fucked-up presence perfectly. It opens with a dimly lit shot of group member theOGM, dressed in a wedding gown, triggering a series of strange, clipped sound effects from a keyboard. Then, in crawls Eaddy, literally on his hands and knees, his face wrapped in gauze like a mummy. As the group’s introductory track takes off, Eaddy simply grunts and groans into the mic, taking his agonizing time before even uttering a real word.

The first comment under the video: “Poor 12-year-old scene kids gonna be terrified.” It’s hard not to imagine suburban tweens not knowing how to process this scene.

And this is well before the audience turns the show into a mosh pit from hell (which caused a venue in Austin to shut down one show at SXSW). It quickly turns into something that feels a lot more like a punk show. The tempo

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picks up, the music grows more ferocious, and the beats take on an almost skate-punk pace. Ho99o9 (pronounced “horror”) always keeps their audiences guessing. More importantly, the band says in a phone interview from Berlin, they want to leave some kind of an impact.

“As musicians and entertainers, we want to put on the best show possible for fans and people to experience,” says Eaddy. “I know, myself, as a fan and a person who loves music and seeing music live, that I want to go to a show, and I want my mind to be blown. I want to be able to go back to friends, family strangers and say ‘yo, you gotta see this band live.

They’re incredible!’ We put our heart soul and blood and sweat into what we do.”

Ho99o9’s debut album, United States of Horror, doesn’t feature the zombie-like movements, wedding gowns, balaclavas, fake blood or occasional nudity of the group’s per-

formances, but it is intended to capture the group’s live show in an audio format. It’s a loud, noisy, seething blend of Bad Brains and Busta Rhymes, DMX and Death Grips.

The leadoff track, “War Is Hell,” buzzes with some of the nastiest production ever heard on a hip-hop record, while “Street Power” transitions seamlessly between ominous hardcore rap and a Black Flag-like punk beatdown.

Ho99o9 is far from the first group to blend hip-hop with more abrasive and aggressive musical styles, but theirs is particularly destructive. The group says it’s created more challenges for them career-wise, since they’re reluctant to commit to any one narrow musical path.

“Just because we come from an urban community and listen to rap doesn’t mean we have to make rap a certain way,” says theOGM. “If we make rap any other way, we’re weirdos or outsiders, because we listen to hardcore shit and metal. We love all kinds of music; we love rap, we love hardcore, we love industrial, we love laid-back Motown vibes.

Who’s to say what I can make and when I can make it?”

On some level, Ho99o9 does deal heavily in shock value—it’s right there in the name. But to focus too much on that aspect of the group’s presentation is to overlook the socio-political elements in their music and visual presence. “Street Power,” for instance, is an anarchic anti-elite anthem that finds the duo declaring, “kill the rich!” And a recent series of videos delves further into social commentary. Their clip for “City Rejects” features a video game in which police kill black men, while “United States of Horror” features footage of Klan and Nazi rallies not so subtly right next to an American flag. Ho99o9 doesn’t shy away from tackling issues such as racism or police brutality, even though they don’t claim to know what the solution is.

“That stuff’s been going on forever,” says theOGM. “We don’t have the answers as far as change goes. But we do know it’s happening, and we’ll continue to document it as it happens.”

There’s nothing conventional about what Ho99o9 does, and even if audiences get used to what they’re doing now, they could just as easily make their next album sound entirely different. For Eaddy and theOGM, artistic freedom and independence are crucial, especially because they remember growing up in environments where their peers might not have approved of these kinds of artistic choices.

“Growing up...we came from these communities that were predominantly black, many of whom were in gangs or selling drugs or very poor,” says Eaddy. “And I used to watch TV, and I would watch this show on The Box—it was a music channel—and I was into rap. But these videos would come on, from like System of a Down, and I would watch and think ‘this is cool,’ but I didn’t think I could go back and tell my friends about it.”

“There’s so much more out there,” adds theOGM. “You just have to open up your eyes.”

Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com and follow him on Twitter @1000TimesJeff.

JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 29

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO LOCALS ONLY

T

he inaugural Be Well Fest has been announced for Saturday, July 29, at Rancho Valhalla Nursery. The all-ages festival, which will feature performances by Matt Lamkin (formerly of The Soft Pack), Los Shadows, T. Rexico and Splavender, is a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Splavender’s Danny Ellis, who co-organized the festival, says that some recent personal events made it important for the festival to be a benefit show.

“I had something happen in my life that made me more aware of struggles with mental health,” says Ellis. “I just want this to help the community. There’s going to be an art installation that people can add to about mental health challenges, and what it means to them.”

The event is being held at a nursery owned by Ellis’ parents, and in addition to there being live music, Be Well Fest will feature food, visual art curated by Weird Hues and a zine display courtesy of Verbatim Books.

When Ellis was approached by Spooky Cigarette’s Jakob McWhinney about the idea of putting together an all ages festival, Ellis said he had just the place for it.

“My parents have owned a nursery my whole life,” he says. “There’s a koi pond with a waterfall next to the stage. It’s just a beautiful outdoor space.”

Splavender McWhinney, who co-organized the fest with Ellis and booked many of the bands, said he made an effort to bring in as many under-21 acts as possible, in an effort to keep the vibe of the show youth friendly.

“In central San Diego, there’s a huge drought for all ages venues, and places for young bands to play,” says McWhinney. “Finding a place to host these types of events is a blessing. It’s not often you get to see a show in a space like this. The main focus is just to give a platform for young bands to be heard.”

—Jeff Terich

OBSERVATORY OBSERVATIONS

L

ast week, City Councilmember Chris Ward held a public meeting in North Park along with members of the San Diego Police Department and management from Observatory North Park to discuss concerns of residents following the assault and stabbing that took place the night of the XXXTentacion show in June. At least that was the intent—to address safety concerns. As it turned out, however, not many people who attended the meeting that night had that show in mind at all.

The meeting was, instead, mostly an airing of grievances from residents, partially balanced out with speakers in support of the Observatory.

Residents who spoke in support of the venue mostly expressed how it was a great thing for the community to have a concert venue so close to where they live. Complaints and concerns, on the other hand, ranged from a lack of parking spaces to noise, litter, inappropriate sexual conduct in public, poor police response (which is admittedly troubling) and a general sense of annoyance with drunk people. (Some, rather problematically, singled out hip-hop shows as being an unwanted element.)

Police representatives said they would do an administrative audit of complaints surrounding the venue to see whether or not Observatory broke the terms of its liquor license. But even if the police actually found something, I have my doubts that would make a difference. North Park is a busy neighborhood with a business district that’s always teeming with people, many of them often drunk. I work in North Park, I see

30 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

it all the time (as well as the parking shortage), and I get the frustration. Drunk people, especially when the other person is sober, are the worst. Though nobody mentioned the Social Cycle that rolls through regularly with bar-hoppers whooping the whole time.

While I sympathize with the residents of North Park, it seems myopic to heap all of the blame for North Park’s woes on Observatory North Park. The more people that spill into a neighborhood for entertainment, the harder it is to maintain control. I live in City Heights, where we still have trash on the

The Observatory, North Park streets, not enough parking and occasional noise issues. But we don’t have a 1,100-capacity theatre or $500,000-and-up property values. The police audit might very well find violations on the part of the Observatory, but it’s hard not to see this for what it is: A convenient scapegoat for many of the typical problems that come with a busy urban neighborhood.

—Jeff Terich @SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

july 19, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

32 · San Diego CityBeat · July 19, 2017

@SDCityBeat

MUSIC

JEFF TERICH

IF I WERE U A music insider’s weekly agenda WEDNESDAY, JULY 19

PLAN A: Birdtalker, Austin Manuel @ Soda Bar. Wednesday nights are a good time to start working your way up to the weekend with something pretty mellow before you start getting really wild. Birdtalker is a good band for that. The Nashville group is folky, catchy and has lots of pretty melodies.

THURSDAY, JULY 20

PLAN A: BadBadNotGood @ Observatory North Park. Despite the fact that BadBadNotGood is a bad, bad, not good name for a band, their music is actually pretty great.

They do funky, unconventional beat-driven jazz that’s mostly instrumental. However, they did do a collaboration with Ghostface Killah that was pretty cool, so it just goes to show how versatile they are. PLAN B: MC Chris, Goblin Cock @ Music Box. It’s a tradition in San Diego to have nerd-core (i.e. hip-hop about nerdy topics) shows around Comic Con, and MC Chris is returning after many years of performing Con-

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week shows at venues around town. Show up early for an opening set from Rob Crow’s schlocky metal band, Goblin Cock. BACKUP PLAN: Nihilist, Monolith, Heavy Justice, Siva @ Brick by Brick.

Watts is far from your average songwriter.

Expect a good combination of hilarity and funkiness, and probably some beatboxing. PLAN B: La Luz, Teenage Burritos, Sixes, Poison Rites @ Soda Bar. Seattle garage-surf group La Luz sounds like a lot of bands that have gotten popular in recent years, but in my opinion they’re a lot better at writing those ubiquitous garage-surf songs. Sometimes a little reverb goes a long way. BACKUP PLAN: Creature and the Woods, The Heavy Guilt, Taken By Canadians, Mike Pope, DJ Lexicon Devil @ The Casbah.

WENDY LYNCH REDFERN

FRIDAY, JULY 21

PLAN A: Ministry, Ho99o9 @ House of Blues. Read my feature this week on Ho99o9, a New Jersey hip-hop duo that blends hardcore rap with actual hardcore.

It’s noisy and intense. They’re opening for Ministry, who all good goths should already be familiar with. PLAN B: Rozwell Kid, Vundabar, Great Grandpa, Shades McCool @ Soda Bar. Rozwell Kid is all about kickass guitar rock. Their songs have great melodies, but more importantly they shred, with more than a slight influence from ‘70s rock heroes Thin Lizzy.

SATURDAY, JULY 22

PLAN A: Reggie Watts @ The Irenic.

There aren’t many artists that combine standup comedy with R&B, but Reggie

to Basics” tour, and features a long list of underground hip-hop veterans, which should appeal to the lyrics-focused purists and experimental heads alike. PLAN B: Digital Lizards of Doom, Unsteady, Kitty Plague @ The Casbah. Since it’s ComicCon week, it’s a good time to go see Digital Lizards of Doom, whose repertoire consists of chiptune-influenced pop songs about zombies and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Yup. BACKUP PLAN: Phenomenauts @ SPACE.

MONDAY, JULY 24

PLAN A: Yowie, INUS, Featherwolf, In the Womb, Planet B DJs @ SPACE. Yowie is pretty out there. The band plays mathematically complex, abrasive prog rock with song titles that are often just as confusing (“Ineffable Dolphin Communion,” for instance). Still, it’s a hell of a thing to see live.

BACKUP PLAN: Post Animal, Levitation Room, Femny @ Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, JULY 25 Reggie Watts

SUNDAY, JULY 23

PLAN A: Living Legends, Immortal Technique, Necro, Visionaries, Evidence, Andre Nickatina @ Observatory North Park. This showcase is billed as the “Back

PLAN A: Josh Harmony, Titus Haug, Jordan Lovelis @ Soda Bar. Josh Harmony is a professional skateboarder, but as it turns out he also plays some really good, melodic indie rock. His songs have a touch of classic power-pop blended with dreamy effects, which should remind listeners of many of the classic ‘90s-era indie bands they once listened to.

JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 33

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Mrs. Magician (Soda Bar, 8/19), Slaughter and the Dogs (Soda Bar, 8/24), The Pharcyde (Observatory, 8/31), Throw Rag (Soda Bar, 9/1), The Church (Music Box, 9/16), Los Amigos Invisibles (Music Box, 9/22), Allah-Las (Music Box, 10/18), A Giant Dog (Soda Bar, 11/2), ‘Live Wire 25th Anniversary’ w/ Rocket from the Crypt (Observatory, 11/4), Amine (Observatory, 11/10), Julien Baker (Irenic, 12/15), Josh Ritter (BUT, 1/16).

GET YER TICKETS Curren$y (Observatory, 8/2), Metallica (Petco Park, 8/6), Steve Earle and the Dukes (BUT, 8/10), Incubus, Jimmy Eat World (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/11), Neon Indian (BUT, 8/14), Royal Blood (Observatory, 8/15), YOB, SubRosa (Brick by Brick, 8/16), Matthew Sweet (Casbah, 8/16), Dead Cross (Observatory, 8/19), 311 (Open Air Theatre, 8/20), Mew (Observatory, 8/24), B-Side Players (Music Box, 8/26), Pelican, Inter Arma (Brick by Brick, 8/26), Ira Glass (Balboa Theatre, 8/27), Stiff Little Fingers (BUT, 9/6), Quicksand (BUT, 9/11), Goo Goo Dolls (Open Air Theatre, 9/12), Green Day (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 9/13), Kaaboo Festival w/ Tom Petty, Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 9/15-17), Against Me! (Observatory, 9/16), Future Islands (Open Air Theatre, 9/17), Zola

Jesus (Casbah, 9/21), U2 (Qualcomm Stadium, 9/22), Swervedriver (Casbah, 9/22), The Beach Boys (Humphreys, 9/23), Ben Folds (HOB, 9/23), WAND (Soda Bar, 9/24), Sublime With Rome, The Offspring (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 9/26), Bleachers (Observatory, 9/27), Benjamin Booker (BUT, 9/29), Jay Som (Soda Bar, 9/30), The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Loft, 9/30), The Shins, Spoon (Open Air Theatre, 10/1), Algiers (Soda Bar, 10/1), Chelsea Wolfe (BUT, 10/2), Sheer Mag, Tony Molina (Soda Bar, 10/2), Ms. Lauryn Hill, Nas (OAT, 10/3), Irma Thomas, Blind Boys of Alabama (BUT, 10/5), Depeche Mode (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 10/6), Pinegrove (Irenic, 10/6), Coldplay (Qualcomm Stadium, 10/8), Obituary, Exodus (Observatory, 10/8), Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile (HOB, 10/11), The Afghan Whigs (BUT, 10/12), John Maus (Soda Bar, 10/12), The National (Open Air Theatre, 10/12), The Black Angels (HOB, 10/17), Torres (Casbah, 10/17), Café Tacuba (Observatory, 10/17-18), Arcade Fire (Viejas Arena, 10/18), Mastodon (HOB, 10/19), City of Caterpillar, Thou (Soda Bar, 10/19), Linkin Park (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 10/20), The Kooks (Observatory, 10/20), KMFDM (HOB, 10/20), Tegan and Sara (Balboa Theatre, 10/20), Jimmy Buffett (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 10/21), Carla Morrison (Humphreys, 10/22), Real Estate (Music Box, 10/24), Turnover (Irenic, 10/27), Roky Erickson (Casbah, 10/27), Iron and Wine (Balboa Theatre, 10/28), The Drums (Observatory, 11/1), Black Heart Procession (Casbah, 11/4), Halsey (Viejas Arena, 11/5), Cults (Irenic, 11/5), Hamilton Leithauser (BUT, 11/9), D.R.I. (Brick by Brick, 11/10), Fall Out Boy (Viejas Arena, 11/15), Gary Numan

34 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

(Observatory, 11/15), Ariel Pink (BUT, 11/16), Boris, Torche (Casbah, 11/17), Blues Traveler (HOB, 11/19), Mogwai (Observatory, 11/20), New Found Glory (HOB, 11/25), METZ (Casbah, 12/13), Jay-Z (Viejas Arena, 12/19).

Yowie at SPACE. Post Animal at Soda Bar. Blackberry Smoke at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

JULY

Delta Rae at Belly Up Tavern. Josh Harmony at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 19 Khalid at Observatory North Park. Hall & Oates, Tears for Fears at Valley View Casino Center. Colin Hay at Belly Up Tavern. Birdtalker at Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, JULY 20 Colin Hay at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

Beach Fossils at The Casbah (sold out).

BadBadNotGood at Observatory North Park. The Delta Riggs at Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, JULY 21 Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Belly Up Tavern. Third Eye Blind at Open Air Theatre. Ministry at House of Blues.

Dead Kennedys at Brick by Brick. Tribal Seeds at Del Mar Racetrack. Rozwell Kid at Soda Bar. Fleetmac Wood at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, JULY 22 La Luz at Soda Bar. Creature and the Woods at The Casbah. Reggie Watts at The Irenic.

SUNDAY, JULY 23 Maggie Koerner at Soda Bar. Buddy Guy at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Phenomenauts at SPACE. Digital Lizards of Doom at The Casbah.

MONDAY, JULY 24

TUESDAY, JULY 25

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26 The Dabbers at The Casbah. The Upper Strata at Soda Bar. John Waite at Belly Up Tavern.

THURSDAY, JULY 27 David J at The Casbah. Bush at Open Air Theatre. Imagery Machine at Soda Bar. Reckless Kelly at Belly Up Tavern.

FRIDAY, JULY 28 Schizophonics Soul Revue at The Casbah. Violent Femmes at Del Mar Racetrack. Taking Back Sunday at Observatory North Park. Lower Class Brats at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, JULY 29 Robert Cray at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). The Gloomies at Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, JULY 30 Steve Gunn at SPACE. Maxi Priest at Belly Up Tavern. Big Business, Death Eyes at Whistle Stop. All Get Out at House of Blues Voodoo Room. Hollis Brown at Soda Bar.

MONDAY, JULY 31 Rodrigo y Gabriela at Humphreys by the Bay. Que Oso at Soda Bar.

AUGUST TUESDAY, AUG. 1 Unsane at The Casbah. AFI, Circa Survive at Open Air Theatre. Huey Lewis and the News at Humphreys by the Bay. The Rocketboys at Soda Bar. Marshall Tucker Band at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 2 The Buttertones at The Casbah. Alex Napping at Soda Bar. Curren$y at Observatory North Park. Brawley’s Barroom Brawl at Belly Up Tavern.

THURSDAY, AUG. 3 Swirlies at SPACE. Chevelle at House of Blues. Rooney at The Irenic. Mobina Galore at Soda Bar. Inspired and the Sleep at Belly Up Tavern. Oh, Spirit! at The Casbah.

FRIDAY, AUG. 4 Wheeler Walker Jr. at House of Blues.

Chastity Belt at SPACE. Eagles of Death Metal at Del Mar Racetrack. Peking Duck at Music Box. In the Valley Below at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, AUG. 5 Turnpike Troubadours at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Amigo the Devil at Soda Bar. The Crystal Method at Music Box. The Paladins at The Casbah.

SUNDAY, AUG. 6 Ed Sheeran at Valley View Casino Center. Metallica at Petco Park. Nails at Brick by Brick. 10,000 Maniacs at Belly Up Tavern. Parker Gispert at Soda Bar.

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MUSIC KRS One, Slick Rick at Observatory North Park. The Delta Bombers at The Casbah.

MONDAY, AUG. 7 Bent Knee at Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, AUG. 8 Diana Krall at Humphreys by the Bay. James Vincent McMorrow at Belly Up Tavern. Stage Kids at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 9 Rag’n’Bone Man at Observatory North Park. Of Ennui at Soda Bar. Creepseed at Belly Up Tavern. Tyler Childers at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, AUG. 10

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Kayla Hope. Fri: dB Jukebox.

Sat: Part Time Model. Sun: Betsy Ganz.

man Dance Party’. Fri: ‘80s/TRON Dance Party’. Sat: ‘Harvard Bass’. Tue: Ariel Levine.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Colin Hay, San Miguel. Thu: Colin Hay, San Miguel (sold out). Fri: Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, The Routine. Sun: Buddy Guy, Quinn Sullivan (sold out). Mon: Blackberry Smoke, The Cadillac Three (sold out). Tue: Delta Rae, Liz Longley.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: The Heart Beat Trail, Madly, The Bloody Mary Bastards. Sat: Diablo Dimes and the Bloodhounds, Johnny Deadly Trio.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’. Thu: ‘Bat-

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Thu: Nihilist, Monolith, Heavy Justice, Siva. Fri: Dead Kennedys, Sculpins, Authentic Sellout, Systematic Abuse. Sat: Flotsam and Jetsam, Cage, Warpath, DVT. The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Thu: Beach Fossils (sold out). Fri: Fleetmac Wood. Sat: Creature and the Woods, The Heavy Guilt, Taken by Canadians. Sun: Digital Lizards of Doom, Unsteady, Kitty Plague. Mon: DJ Artistic’s Hip Hop Battle Bot. Tue: Emo Nite San Diego.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. Fri: FX5. Sat: Nemesis.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. Fri: Bi-National Mambo Orchestra.

Sat: Joshua White.

The Field Irish Pub, 544 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Fiore. Thu: Shoeless. Fri: The Get Down Party. Sat: The Upshots.

Sun: Joseph Carroll. Mon: Fiore. Tue: Todd Goodnough.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Fri: DJ Scooter. Sat: DJ Vision.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Sat: Brett Bodley.

Hoffer’s Cigar Bar, La Mesa. Sat: Fuzzy Rankins.

The Holding Company, 5046 New-

port Ave., Ocean Beach. Wed: Sidewalk Chalk. Thu: Leilani Wolfgram, Janelle Phillips. Fri: DJ Ofier. Sat: The Fooks, DJ OMZ. Sun: Drednotz. Tue: Crucial Blend, Ridgeway.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Sal Vulcano, Roy Wood Jr., Theo Von. Fri: Ministry, Ho99o9. Sat: Jerry “Hot Rod” Demink. Tue: Robin Henkel.

Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: Bayou Bros. Thu: Kim Jackson. Fri: The Fabulous Ultratones, Rising Star. Sat: Beta Maxx, Backwater Blues. Sun: Groove Squad, Stellita. Mon: Sue Palmer. Tue: Mercedes Moore.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

Sam Hunt at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre. Steve Earle and the Dukes at Belly Up Tavern. Barns Courtney at House of Blues. O-Town at Music Box. Brick and Mortar at Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, AUG. 11 Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe at Belly Up Tavern. Nite Jewel at The Casbah.

The White Buffalo at Del Mar Racetrack.

Incubus, Jimmy Eat World at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre. Betty Who at Observatory North Park. The Creepy Creeps at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, AUG. 12 Steve Martin and Martin Short at Open Air Theatre. Ludacris at Del Mar Racetrack. 2 Chainz at House of Blues.

Petit Biscuit at Observatory North Park.

America at Humphreys by the Bay. Hans Zimmer at Viejas Arena. Swingin’ Utters at SPACE. Wayward Sons at Belly Up Tavern. GZA at Music Box. Glass Spells at Soda Bar. The Ataris at The Casbah.

SUNDAY, AUG. 13 The Black Dahlia Murder at House of Blues. Meat Wave at Soda Bar. Pokey LaFarge at Belly Up Tavern.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Thu: Fayuca, Melapelus. Fri: The Delirians, The Night Doctors. Sat: Way Cool Jr, Blaze of Jovi. Tue: Lads Holiday.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Love Notes’ w/ DJs Blackbelt Jonez, Dr. Birdski. Thu: ‘Centerpiece’ w/ DJ Eliasar Gordillo. Sat: ‘Heroes vs Villains’ w/ DJs Victor Dinaire, Threat Display, Brian G. Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJs Karma, Alice.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Doug Loves Movies. Thu: Doug Loves Movies; Jay and Silent Bob Get Old (sold out). Fri: Dana Gould. Sat: Dana Gould. Sun: Maria Bamford, Nick Guerra.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Thu: Bookmobile. Fri: Amelia White. Sat: Mystic Ritual, Empyrean Throne, Necrochamber, Morphesia, Beira.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Thu: DJ Uncle Blazer. Fri: Hotfire. Sat: Cassian.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park.

Wed: Hey Ho! Let’s Go!. Thu: DJ Ikah Love. Fri: ‘Class Project’ w/ DJs Grimm, Old Man Johnson. Sat: Lorraine Castellanos. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Mon: Tori Roze and the Hot Mess.

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JULY 19, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 35

MUSIC

SPOTLIGHT Third Eye Blind earned my undying respect last year when they trolled a Republican National Convention event by using the platform to speak about LGBTQ issues and asking the crowd if they “believed in science.” And although the band’s musical output has been uneven for the past decade, there’s no denying the dark-tinged genius of their self-titled debut, which turns 20 this year. Third Eye Blind plays Friday, July 21 at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theater.

—Ryan Bradford

MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., North Park.

Sat: Reggie Watts.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Fri: ‘Purps n Turqs’. Sat: ‘Midnight Wave’ w/ Yung Bae. Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., Kensington. Sat: Dirty Hammer, The Subjectors, Revolt-Chix, Let Rage.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Fri: Kyle Phelan, King Taylor Project, Nick Crook. Sat: Bad Wife, People Flavor, Gypsy Wolfe. Sun: Veronica May, Sarah Rogo.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Sophisticats. Thu: Fish & JG. Fri: Flipside Burners. Sat: Ron’s Garage. Sun: Jackson. Mon: JG Solo.

Tue: JG Duo. The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Thu: Tori Roze and the Hot Mess, Lyrical Groove. Fri: Digital Lizards of Doom, Mega Ran, Kirby’s Dream Band.

Sat: Onoff!, Hard Fall Hearts, Nights Like Thieves. Tue: Mindray, Palomino, Flakes.

Mother’s Saloon, 2228 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Sun: Kyle Merrill.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Thu: MC Chris, Goblin Cock. Fri: Suicide Girls: Blackheart Burlesque. Sat: Michelle Branch, HAERTS. Sun: ‘The Sounds of John Coltrane and Miles Davis’.

The Office, 3936 30th St., North Park.

Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs Kanye Asada, Gabe Vega. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’. Tue: ‘True Bass’.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Kristian Nairn. Sat: SAVI. Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Wed: Gilbert Castellanos. Thu: Sahara Grim. Fri: Euphoria Brass Band. Sat: Steph Johnson. Sun: ‘Sundays In the Park’.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Sat: Grand Theft.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Wed: DJs Kiki, Kinky Loops. Thu: DJ Moniq. Fri: DJs K-Swift, Moody Rudy. Sat: DJs K-Swift, Taj. Sun: DJs Cros, Morningstar.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Coastal Eddies. Fri: Three Chord Justice. Sat: Alvino and the Dwells.

Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Fri: Johnny Tarr Quartet.

Sat: Soul Ablaze.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave., San Diego. Wed: Miss Erika Davies and the Men. Thu: Jimmy Ruelas. Fri: Cassandra Jenkins. Sat: Jimmy Ruelas. Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei. Tue: The Gabriel Sundy Jazz Trio.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Birdtalker, Austin Manuel.

Thu: The Delta Riggs, Mrs. Henry, Grim Slippers. Fri: Rozwell Kid, Vundabar, Great Grandpa, Shades McCool. Sat: La Luz, Teenage Burritos, SIXES, Poison Rites.

36 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

Sun: Maggie Koerner. Mon: Post Animal, Levitation Room, Femny. Tue: Josh Harmony, Titus Haug, Jordan Lovelis.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway. Wed: Ramirez, Germ, Shakewell.

Fri: Beach Bums, Los Shadows, The Abstracts, The Gnars, Chutes, The Hynas.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: ‘Cemetery Lipstick’. Thu: ‘Slappers Only’. Fri: ‘Boogie Down’. Sat: Saviorself, Zackey Force Funk, Eddie Funkster, Diamond Ortiz, V-Rock Boogieman, Josex. Sun: Phenomenauts. Mon: Yowie, INUS, Feather Wolf, In the Womb.

Tue: The Simple Pleasure, Vern, Die Missbildungen Des Menschen.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Dreams’ w/ DJ Gabe Vega.

Thu: Forkroot. Sun: The Liquorsmiths.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Electric Carlos, Buddha’s Redneck. Thu: Watashi Wa Dance Party, Kill Lincoln, Fairhaven, Surface Report. Fri: ‘Rollin’ wit tha Funk’. Sat: Generator, Vegascendents, Punk in Drublic, Vegas Threat.

Sun: Pants Karaoke. Mon: Archons, Wounded Giant, Lemon Lung, Sixes.

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: The Void Nation. Thu: ‘Paging the 90s’.

Sat: Kenny and Deez, Coriander. Sun: Allegra Duchaine. Mon: Lauren Leigh and Sam. Tue: Kyle Castellani.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Thu: Midnight Eagle, The Randy Savages, Ash Williams. Fri: Lords of Beacon House, Ritual Potion, Malahierba.

Sat: Midnight Track, Neck Down, Punch Card, Strangely Strange.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Wed: ‘Jam On It’ w/ DJ Shoeshine. Thu: ‘Retrograde’ w/ DJ JC Harris. Fri: ‘F-ing in the Bushes’. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’.

Mon: ‘Electric Relaxation’.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Wed: Audic Empire, Brew Fish, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Mojo Green, Bomb Squad. Fri: Psydecar. Sat: Brothers Gow, The Shenanigans. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Water Seed.

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july 19, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 37

LAST WORDS | ADVICE

AMY ALKON

ADVICE

GODDESS Lewd Skywalker A guy friend of 20 years and I once fooled around years ago. Though he has a girlfriend, he keeps throwing sexual remarks into our conversations, sending inappropriate texts and asking me to send naked photos. I wouldn’t be interested even if he were single, and I’ve been giving subtle hints, like “ha-ha…gotta go,” right after he says something provocative, but it isn’t working. How do I politely get him to stop without ruining a very long friendship?

—Upset As a means of communication, hinting to a man is like having a heartfelt conversation with your salad.

This isn’t to say men are dumb. They just aren’t emotional cryptographers. Social psychologist Judith A. Hall finds that women are generally far better at spotting and interpreting nonverbal messages (from, say, facial expressions and body language, including that female specialty, the pout).

Women tend to use their own ability for decoding unspoken stuff as the standard for what they expect from men. So, for example, the longer a man takes to notice that his girlfriend is pouting (perhaps about what was initially some minor to-do) the darker things get—with hate glares and maybe some cabinetslamming…and then, the grand finale: “Hey, heartless! Time for a month-long reunion with your first sex partner, aka your right hand!”

There’s also a major sex difference in how males and females speak. A body of research finds that from childhood on, males tend to be direct: “Gimme my truck, butthead!” Females tend to be indirect (couching what they want in hints and polite and even apologetic language): “Um, sorry, but I think that’s my Barbie.”

Psychologist Joyce Benenson points out that these conversational sex differences line right up with evolved sex differences in our, uh, job descriptions.

Men evolved to be the warrior-protectors of the species. This is not done with coy hints: “Oh, Genghis, you look so much more tan and handsome while invading our neighbors to the north.”

Women’s mealy-mouthing, on the other hand, dovetails with a need to avoid physical confrontation, which could leave them unable to have children or to care for the ones they’ve already had. However, in women’s self-protectively not quite saying what they mean, they trade off being understood—especially by men.

Making matters worse, research by evolutionary psychologists Martie Haselton and David Buss on the

“sexual overperception bias” in men suggests that the male mind evolved to be a bit dense to a woman’s signals that she isn’t interested. Basically, men seem evolutionarily predisposed to make errors in judgment in whether to pursue or keep pursuing a woman—erring in whichever way would be least costly to their mating interests. So, for example, you might eventually forgive this guy for all the tacky come-ons, but his genes won’t if they miss that vagina-shaped bus into future generations.

In other words, in giving this guy “subtle hints,” you aren’t being polite; you’re being wildly ineffective. Yank off the marshmallow fluff and tell him: “I need you to kill all the sex talk. Immediately. And yes, this includes requests for naked selfies.” (Be prepared to need to repeat yourself.) If he really is a friend, he’ll continue being one. He might even become a better one—the sort you can call anytime, day or night, from the coldest place on the globe, and he’ll say, “I’ll be there with the sled dogs pronto,” not, “Text me a shot of your boobs before you die of hypothermia!”

This isn’t to say men are dumb.

They just aren’t emotional cryptographers.

38 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JULY 19, 2017

Eau Gag Me I love how my boyfriend smells, but I hate his new cologne. The smell literally makes me queasy. Is it even my place to ask him to stop wearing it? How do I tell him I don’t like it without it being mean?

—Plagued

Try to focus on the positive: You find him extremely jumpable whenever he isn’t wearing a $185 bottle of what it would smell like if sewage and verbena had a baby.

Unfortunately, it seems that his cologne and your immune system are poorly matched. Biologist August Hammerli and his colleagues find that a person’s fragrance preferences correlate with their particular set of infectious intruder-tracking genes, called the “major histocompatibility complex.” So, in not liking your boyfriend’s cologne, it isn’t that you think he’s an idiot with bad taste; it’s that your… I dunno, greatgreat-grandma got it on with some hot peasant with the “verbena smells like dead, rotting chickens” gene.

The science is your way in: “Sadly, your cologne does not play well with my genes...” Cushion the blow with something sweet, like, “I know you love it, and I wish I loved it, too.” Suggest you shop together for a new cologne for him (ideally something that makes you want to get naked and not just down to your World War II gas mask). (c)2017, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem?

Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (advicegoddess. com).

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july 19, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 39