San Diego CityBeat • July 23, 2014

Looking at

comics culture

through the prism of

the Bechdel Test

Pgs.19-24

Also: We cast Star Wars

with local politicos (P.7), highlight Comic-Con events (Pgs. 27-28) and look ahead to the fanboy and -girl films of 2015 (P.29)

2 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Bad affordable-housing deal When San Diego Councilmember Lorie Zapf is realized by then, the desired reforms aren’t clearly this excited about a policy proposal, we all should articulated and there’s no automatic annual fee adbe very concerned. Zapf was clearly chagrined justment required. last Thursday, when the committee she chairs, the Tevlin, who noted that she didn’t support the recouncil’s Smart Growth and Land Use Committee scinded ordinance, either, because the fee increase (SG&LU), voted 3-1 to slow the roll of a so-called was too big, said she much preferred a proposal that compromise deal on funding affordable housing. failed in 2011 on a 4-4 council vote, which would The deal stemmed from the council’s decision have raised the fee 20 percent for five straight years in March to rescind its own law, an ordinance that and then adjusted it annually thereafter based on cranked up a fee that developers of commercial market conditions. She said a better alternative to property pay to help finance the creation of new this new proposal, in the long run, would be to not affordable housing. The idea behind the fee is that raise the fee at all initially but index it so it adjusts commercial development results in a certain numannually. However, she pitched her own better idea: ber of low-wage jobs, and the fee helps pay for Raise the fee 25 percent for four straight years, add Shelly Guberek housing for those workers so they can an automatic annual adjustment, betlive in the city where they work. ter define the regulatory reforms and In 2009, the city auditor discovgive the city five years rather than ered that the city hadn’t been followthree to reach them. ing a law that requires the fee to be The council should seriously conadjusted annually based on changing sider Tevlin’s reasonable alternative. economic conditions. So, after more First of all, doubling the fee, which than four years of work, the council the compromise would do, sounds raised the fee dramatically to help like a lot, but it would result in a figmake up for lost money. But a group ure that’s about half of what it would of real-estate developers and business have been by now if they city folinterests calling themselves the Jobs lowed the law. So, already, the develCoalition mounted a successful drive opers are getting a great deal. But the to put a referendum on the ballot that worst part is that the council can pass Andrea Tevlin would’ve repealed the fee increase, all these regulatory concessions that and the council capitulated and sacked its own law. cut costs for developers and a new council in 2017 The San Diego Housing Commission, which was could simply let the fee revert back to its lowestbehind the bold increase, then held a series of negoever level if they deem that the reforms aren’t satistiations with the Jobs Coalition, and the result was factory based on the vague language in this deal. the proposal that Zapf is so excited about. The new At the risk of sounding too conspiratorial, the proposal would double the fee effective next Jan. 1 Jobs Coalition could be proposing a classic bait(the rescinded law would have increased it by 500 and-switch. Right now, there are six Democrats on percent). In exchange, the Jobs Coalition extractthe City Council who want more money for afforded a list of regulatory reforms that it believes will able housing. If Republican Chris Cate beats Demomake developing affordable and market-rate houscrat Carol Kim in the November District 6 election, ing easier, faster and cheaper. Developers of warethat drops to five Democrats in 2015. There’s serihouses, manufacturing plants, nonprofit hospitals ous concern among Democrats that District 1 could and research-and-development complexes would switch to the Republicans in 2016, when Counbe exempt from the fee increase. cilmember Sherri Lightner is termed out, which Boy, do we appreciate Andrea Tevlin right now. means the fee-hating Republicans could have a 5-4 During last week’s SG&LU Committee meeting, advantage and a Republican mayor in 2017, when Tevlin, the council’s independent budget analyst, the council would be debating whether to make the rained on the parade of developers who said that, slightly higher fee permanent. while the compromise isn’t perfect—they want no At best, this deal is too small a step in the right fee increase at all—it’s a deal well worth supportdirection. At worst, it’s a giant leap in the wrong direction. ing. Tevlin doesn’t like the agreement for three main reasons: The fee increase would sunset after What do you think? Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com. just three years if the regulatory reforms aren’t fully This issue of CityBeat is dedicated to its evil stepbrother, ShittyBeat, who has to be locked in a cage every night.

Volume 12 • Issue 50

Cover design and illustration by Lindsey Voltoline

Arts Editor Kinsee Morlan

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

Staff Writer Joshua Emerson Smith

Intern Natalie Eisen

Web Editor Ryan Bradford

Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse

Art director Lindsey Voltoline

Production artist Rees Withrow

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

Vice President of Operations David Comden

MultiMedia Advertising Director Paulina Porter-Tapia

Publisher Kevin Hellman

Editor David Rolland Associate Editor Kelly Davis Music Editor Jeff Terich

Senior account executive Jason Noble Account Executives F. Scott Berman, Beau Odom, Kimberly Wallace Circulation / Office Assistant Giovanna Tricoli Accounting Alysia Chavez, Linda Lam, Monica MacCree Human Resources Andrea Baker

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Call 619-281-7526 or e-mail advertising@sdcitybeat.com. The advertising deadline is 5 p.m. every Friday for the following week’s issue.

Editorial and Advertising Office 3047 University Ave., Suite 202 San Diego, CA 92104 Phone: 619-281-7526 Fax: 619-281-5273 www.sdcitybeat.com

Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami

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

4 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Bush was a psycho, too Regarding “The psychos are back” [“Editorial, June 18]: The title says it in a nutshell: Those behind the Iraq invasion are psychos. Only psychos or the delusional could perpetrate a debacle and, without remorse, claim in 20/20 hindsight that they got it right.

Even by their own yardstick they failed miserably (the war would pay for itself, the war wouldn’t last six months, etc.). And it’s a sad commentary on the state of media that psychos are given a forum to engage in revisionism and not be asked tough questions.

Notably, George W. Bush was absent from the revisionist lie fest, but don’t be lulled into thinking that he’s any less psycho than the others. Revisionism is hard work—you have to keep the lies straight—and hard work seemingly is anathema to Bush. Consider that he couldn’t be bothered to read presidential daily briefings warning of possible terrorist strikes within the U.S. and that a few weeks before sending troops into harm’s way, he hadn’t bothered to know the difference between Sunni, Shia and Kurd. Bush seemingly also hadn’t bothered to read A World Transformed by his father and Brent Scowcroft. Had he done so, he might have had some inkling of what the consequences of invasion would be.

Dan Jacobs, Mira Mesa

The onslaught of fireworks Regarding “Please do not explode fireworks over the animals” [“Sordid Tales,” June 25]: Bad mojo, indeed. Thanks to Edwin Decker for his thoughtful piece about how animals at SeaWorld are impacted

6 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

by fireworks. Imagine how awful it is to be bombarded with blasts and vibrations and having no way to escape the onslaught.

The orcas, dolphins, fish and other animals confined to cramped tanks at SeaWorld already have it bad enough without being subjected to the stress of fireworks. Dolphins navigate by echolocation— bouncing sonar waves off other objects to determine shape, density, distance and location. The reverberations from fireworks is confusing and maddening.

SeaWorld management has proven time and again that spectacle trumps animal welfare. People who care about animals will never buy a ticket.

Jennifer O’Connor, PETA Foundation, Norfolk, Virginia

No more Mr. Nice guy I concur with your June 25 editorial, “Mayor’s populism is empty so far.” My projection is that Mayor Gomer (Faulconer) will continue his middle-ofthe-road course through the end of his current abbreviated term in hopes of garnering a prestigious second term. Provided Faulconer is reelected, I see an abrupt end to his Mr. Nice Guy charade, as those well-known, one-sided puppeteers will attempt to blindly return his elite “nonpartisan” position to the standards of ex-Mayor Sanders. After all, Faulconer is one of Jerry’s Kids.

Byron B. Wishnek, La Mesa,

if

san diego

Photo illustrations by Lindsey Voltoline

were

star wars

by David Rolland

If there’s one thing we CityBeatniks love more than Star Wars and politics, it’s reducing politicians to overly simplistic archetypes of good and evil. That’s why we couldn’t wait for Comic-Con to come back around: An excuse!

If you want the good and the righteous represented by conservative Republicans—um, what are you doing here?

Go elsewhere. In our universe, the San Diego establishment / empire has long been controlled by the business elite and its Republican operatives (with inroads being made by employee unions, to be sure). The liberal rebels

Councilmember David Alvarez is Luke Skywalker Young, earnest and quick to lash out emotionally at the Evil Empire, Alvarez’s campaign for mayor demonstrated that he’s more about action than patience.

Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez is Princess Leia Gonzalez is brash and says what’s on her mind. She’s totally committed to the progressive rebellion and would stop at nothing to unionize every inhabitant of every planet in the galaxy. We’re amazed she can get all that hair into those side buns.

Council President Todd Gloria is Han Solo At this stage in the saga, Gloria is the swashbuckling bad-ass of the local progressive movement. And he’s good with a one-liner. This hero gets the girl—er, guy—in the end.

Jerry Sanders is Darth vader As chief of the Chamber of Commerce, Sanders is way meaner than he ever was as mayor—a supreme, formidable foe of the galaxy’s working class. You’ll never turn Luke Alvarez, Darth Jerry!

Donna Frye is obi-Wan Kenobi Alvarez would have stepped back if Frye wanted to run for mayor, but Frye stepped aside for the New Hope. Like Obi-Wan, Frye has achieved a certain mythic quality in the progressive movement while not exactly leading it.

have waged some spirited battles over affordable-housing funding, community planning and the minimum wage, but the empire quickly struck back and obliterated those first two uprisings so far and is currently planning its likely brutal response to the third.

With all that in mind, we’ve re-cast the original Star Wars trilogy with our own colorful characters from in and around San Diego’s halls of power. (For a better look at the art, go to sdcitybeat.com.)

May the force of liberal populism be with you.

u-T San Diego publisher Doug Manchester is the Emperor

Carl DeMaio is Jabba the Hut Naturally, the creepiest local politician is the creepiest Star Wars character. DeMaio licks his lips over downsizing government and stripping hardworking people of their pensions the way Jabba licks his lips over Princess Leia (wait, that’s Gonzalez—eww!). But mostly, this allows us to cast DeMaio’s partner, Johnathan Hale, as Salacious B. Crumb, the little monkey-lizard character with the crazy laugh.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer is Governor Tarkin

At this point, the mayor is merely a high-level henchman of the Evil EmWe simply like imagining Manpire. Anyone else see the similarities chester pulling all the strings between what Tarkin did to Leia’s from his comfy chair at the daily beloved Alderaan and what Faulconer did to Barrio Logan?

Death Star. “Good! Let the hate flow through you!”

Councilmember Marti Emerald is Chewbacca Emerald is Gloria’s loyal liberal sidekick, ready to charge down any hallway into battle. Littleknown fact: Like Emerald, Wookiees have grave concerns about medical-marijuana edibles.

Councilmember Myrtle Cole is R2-D2 Well, Cole is kind of small, and we think it’s possible she holds information that’s vital to the rebellion.

We just have to figure out a way to get it out of her. Maybe Obi-Wan Frye knows how.

Councilmember Ed Harris is C-3Po

Councilmember Mark Kersey is Boba Fett

Like the bounty hunter Fett, Kersey is smart and very dangerous. The progressive rebellion is left to hope Kersey’s eventually eaten by the sand-dwelling Sarlacc. Are there any in District 5?

Councilmember Lorie zapf is Greedo Greedo, you’ll recall, was the green alien bounty hunter working for Jabba the Hut (Jabba de Maio?) who was gunned down by Han Solo in that happ’nin’ cantina on Tatooine. Shoot, Han Gloria, she’s got a blaster!

Councilmember Scott Sherman is Bib Fortuna

Bib is that ugly dude who was Jabba’s majordomo—you We admit we’re stumped know, with the weird appendhere, but we had one council ages coming out of his head member uncast and one maand draped over his shoulders. jor character left. So, Harris You don’t see it in Return of the Jedi, but after Jabba’s death, is 3PO by default. Well, wait: Everything scares this droid, Bib assumed control of Jabba’s palace and possessions. Perand Harris did seem rather spooked by Clairemont NIMBYs haps Sherman will follow suit after DeMaio’s demise. recently. Anyway, bone up on those alien languages, Ed.

Councilmember Sherri Lightner is Lando Calrissian

Rabble-rousing attorney Cory Briggs is Admiral Ackbar

“It’s a trap!”

You never know when Lightner will betray the rebellion, but as she did with the minimum-wage and Barrio Logan battles, she tends to come No one is Yoda Hmm. Maybe that’s the progressive movement’s problem. through when she’s really needed.

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

spin cycle

john r.

lamb Faulconer’s Illumina-ting pitch “Without a sense of place, the work is often reduced to a cry of voices in empty rooms, a literature of the self, at its best poetic music, at its worst a thin gruel of the ego.”

—William Kennedy With the constant drumbeat foretelling California’s imminent demise emanating from the U-T San Diego editorial pages every time a San Diego company even glances at another state, it’s understandable why Mayor Kevin Faulconer was smiling last week.

There he was, clasping meat hooks with the CEO of Illumina— the San Diego-based genomecracking-device-manufacturing firm that MIT recently dubbed the “smartest company in the world”—over a less-than-sexy 10year, $1.5-million tax-rebate deal that the mayor hopes will keep the company’s growth local for

years to come.

“This is a perfect example of how San Diego can support middle class jobs while also encouraging economic growth,” the mayor said in a written statement. “This agreement keeps hundreds of high wage jobs in San Diego, ensures city residents benefit from over a million dollars in annual sales tax revenue, and strengthens our region’s leadership in biotechnology.”

After the San Diego City Council unanimously gushed its approval Monday, Faulconer hit the airwaves again, boasting in a KUSI interview that San Diego had successfully fended off Illumina suitors from “other cities across the country.”

Media reports on the “historic” deal—as Council President Todd Gloria described it—suggested that the cities most aggressively

8 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

seeking favor with Illumina’s allure were Poway and Memphis.

This was news to some pretty smart folks in Poway and Memphis.

“That really surprises me, because we’ve never been in contact with the company,” Poway Mayor Don Higginson told Spin.

“I checked with our economic-development director, and he said we were never approached by them.”

Higginson acknowledged that Illumina may simply have had real-estate brokers poring over industrial-park possibilities in his city, but he also knows that Poway is frequently used as the tip of a local company’s spear when it threatens to relocate.

“Yeah, we’re not into that ballgame,” Higginson said. “We’re big on business attraction and retention, but we don’t try to cherry pick folks from other cities. In fact, if some other municipality is working really hard with a business to keep them on site, we’ll support them 100 percent.”

A city staff report to the City Council downplayed Poway’s threat. “Poway was not reportedly offering financial incentives, but real estate costs are substantially lower, and many San Diego-based companies have relocated operations to, or expanded in Poway,” the executive summary stated.

“I wouldn’t say real-estate costs are substantially lower,” countered Jay Virata, Poway’s economic-development director.

“That’s a real head-scratcher. In reality, we and San Diego are part of the same market.”

The bigger mystery is what, exactly, Memphis offered. Mark Cafferty, president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp.—a key organizational player in reaching the Illumina agreement—described the offer as “a money and land deal” worth somewhere between $15 million and $20 million, roughly 10 times San Diego’s pitch.

“People say, ‘Ah, well, they’re a $20-billion company. Why would that even matter?” Cafferty told Spin. “It does matter when you’re doing a $50-million project, and coming right out of the ground you can save $15 million to $20 million-plus on that project.”

The city staff report noted that “Illumina claimed that it had been offered financial incentives to move at least some of its manufacturing operations to Memphis” but did not offer details, which are often cloaked in secrecy.

Reid Dulberger, head of economic development for the Memphis area, told Spin he was “unfamiliar” with such an offer. Asked if it was in the ballpark, he would only add, “There is no ballpark.”

Similarly, representatives of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce and Mayor’s office could not attest to awareness of any courtship involving Illumina. Some in Memphis suggested checking in with their neighbors just to the south in DeSoto County, Mississippi, a five-minute drive from Memphis International Airport.

Spin reached out to the DeSoto County Economic Development Council—known for its aggressive push to draw companies to the Memphis area that boasts the headquarters of shipping giant FedEx—but there was no response by press time.

For Spin, this raises the proverbial question of San Diego’s view of itself. Going forward, will city leaders throw a bone to every company that mentions Texas or some other far-off land of fiscal opportunity?

With similar tax-incentive deals offered recently to local craft brewers Ballast Point and AleSmith to stay put, is this the wave of the future? The mayor’s folks told the City Council Monday that no other similar deals are in the pipeline.

Cafferty said he understands

John R. Lamb

the potential precedent, and he argued that’s the value of his organization moving forward—to vet those daily laments he hears from business folk over the cruelty of California governance and wondering if business paradise lies elsewhere.

“I think it comes down to a company like Illumina seeing that the city was willing to try at all,” Cafferty said. “They already knew that San Diego was going to be a better place from a talent perspective. They’re trying to show shareholders why it makes sense to stay in San Diego. Sometime soon, I have to figure out how to quantify talent, because talent is worth tens of millions of dollars.”

As Cafferty noted, Irwin Jacobs came to San Diego to teach and ended up creating the city’s most-recognized company, Qualcomm.

Where Cafferty won’t go, like U-T San Diego editorials will, is somehow pitting the needs of an Illumina that promises to keep some 300 employees here against the plight of the many San Diegans who’ll never map a genome but just hope to scrape by.

“Yeah, to me that’s not the point,” Cafferty said. “We’re not looking at this like one versus the other.”

For Spin, the day can’t come soon enough when San Diego can tell local businesses eyeing other supposed fertile plains: “Fine. Go. Enjoy the two months of pleasant weather in [fill in the blank].”

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

aaryn

backwards & in high heels

belfer Fighting the (unwinnable?) fight of body-conscious girls It was the last field trip of the school year, and I She did not like that answer and fled away like I bumped around like a pinball among the girls in the had 10 heads. Then it dawned on me that nearly evlocker room, looking for my daughter. There were ery kid in the place was doing the surfer-changing30 or 40 slippery 9-year-olds squealing in their wet out-of-a-wetsuit-in-the-beach-parking-lot maneuswimsuits, and I was overcome by the volume of bodver. Some of the little darlin’s kept their modesty ies. Or maybe just the volume. Either way, I pretty intact by clutching their towels in tight fists, while quickly started to feel claustrophobic and was conothers used their teeth as they wiggled with garsidering an about-face when a child I didn’t know— gantuan, contorted effort out of their suits. Several clutching her towel around her body like some sort chaperone mothers perpetuated the girl atrocity of waterlogged pupa—looked in my eyes and desperknown as Dear God, Don’t Let Them See Me Naked ately asked, “Where are we supposed to chaaaange?” and held towels in the air as makeshift changing “Uh—.” I did a quick scan for a parent or authorrooms for their embarrassed daughters. Seeing this, ity figure because I was about to drop some of my I felt deflated. wisdom on the child, and I’m never quite sure if Only an hour earlier, I’d watched some of the what I’m going say is cool with the other parents, same girls walk the gangplank of the high dive and because, let’s be honest: It frequently isn’t. Unlike then leap, jump, cannonball and flip into the water a lot of modern parents, I talk about stuff with my 17 feet below. Some of them walked out there like kid. Like, stuff. it wasn’t but a thing, while others stood nervously, For example, just last week, we were at the petheir toes just over the edge of the board, contemdiatrician’s office for Ruby’s annual checkup, and plating whether they would do it. All of them did it.

I explained to her about how, someday—not for a They were soaring out there. long time, but someday—the doctor would have to But in the locker room? It was a different bunch look inside her vagina. of girls. My heart sank as I recognized the scene I was quite pleased with how from my childhood and realized she received this information. how little things had changed.

Once she popped her eyeballs Research out of the NYU No wonder girls’ back in their sockets, she was very Child Study Center has shown confidence plummets: curious, and what followed was that girls’ self esteem peaks at a wonderful conversation about Everything around them age 9. It peaks, people! At the age speculums and mild discomfort of this group of girls. And then tells them they’re not and the funny stirrups for your takes a speeding nosedive thereright as they are. feet and the photograph of a tropafter—which, I’d like to point out, ical island taped to the ceiling. is a tragedy of indescribable proThere we were, my daughter portion. There are, of course, nuand me, having a discussion about something other merous reasons for this phenomenon, but it should than a man. I’m proud to say we passed the Bechgo without saying that the media plays a significant del Test IRL. And, too, we passed the less famous role. At the bottom of an online article called “Girl but far more rigorous Belfer test. This test requires Power: Nine Ways to Build Your Daughter’s Self Esnot just the presence of a person of color, but, for teem,” there are links (and photos) to other articles the dialogue to be a truly meaningful, informed and titled “How to Make Your Eyes Look Bigger with worthwhile, the voice of said person of color also Makeup” and “10 Hottest Hair Trends of 2014” and must be equitably included.

“Back to Basics: 12 Shoes Every Woman Should Whoa. How did I manage to get all the way over Own.” No wonder girls’ confidence plummets: Everything around them tells them they’re not right here? as they are.

Anyway, I’m really big on normalizing and deAfter blowing that poor child’s mind with the mystifying topics, and I notice that other parents ghastly thought of changing in a changing room, I are—well, less so. (Those parents had better hope looked up to see my daughter at the other end of their kid doesn’t bring their inquiries to me, is the locker room, separated from me by a gaggle of all I’m saying.) And back in the locker room after happy but utterly self-conscious little girls. She was swimming, there was no parent with any wisdom carrying on with a friend who was doing the pupa but me standing before this impressionable, young, thing. I watched her from afar as she dropped her already-body-shamed girl. So onward I forged. towel on the disgusting floor, stripped her suit, put “This is a locker room,” I explained. “It’s for on her clothes—and—boom!—just like that, she was changing. Changing is what you do in here.” I emgood to go. We’ve talked a lot about this stuff. phasized exactly where (right here!) with great gesAs I turned to leave and wait outside, bolstered to ticulation and a few facial cues. continue hauling the battle ax, I saw her pick up her “But there’s no privacy—.” The child was shaktowel and hold it up as a makeshift dressing room ing now. for her pal, still shivering in her swimsuit.

“Honey, it’s OK. We are all girls. We all have the same parts. Just drop the towel, strip the suit, put Write to aaryn@sdcitybeat.com on your clothes and—boom!—just like that, you’re and editor@sdcitybeat.com. good to go.”

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

by michael a. gardiner Michael A. Gardiner

the world

fare

Blast from the past It was a set of images recalled dimly from the early Jimmy Carter years: A restaurant with rustic décor over-stuffed with miscellaneous antiques, saguaro cactus bodies repurposed as lighting fixtures in one room and a faux-tropical garden in the next; an elegant and courtly proprietor who never quite seemed to smile but nonetheless was supremely welcoming; a restaurant in Rosarito, Mexico, that didn’t exactly seem like a Mexican restaurant but, rather, the best steakhouse this particular carnivorous kid had ever enjoyed.

And I had not been back for years. Years of school, a career, a family and a drug war later, that changed when a Rosarito Tourism Board promotional tour stopped at El Nido Restaurant for lunch (67 Blvd. Benito Juarez in Rosarito, elnidorosarito.net). One step in the door and the memories started flooding back: the same funky interior, same owner-host (looking hardly a day older) and the same menu. Within a week, I’d be back again, this time on my own nickel.

It somehow seemed more Mexican now, perhaps because I’d been too young for the margaritas. But had I missed the mariachis? If chips and

10 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

salsa are not a giveaway that you’re in Mexico (and they should not be, because Mexicans don’t eat chips with their salsa—that’s a gringo thing), the mariachis should have been. Cheesy? Yes. But it really is quite pleasant to sip a margarita while listening to good mariachis who are being paid by a guy at the next table over.

The steaks at El Nido are still the main draw. The carne asada is justly famous, with the bacon-wrapped filet mignon perhaps a step behind. I particularly liked the rib eye, tender and flavorful both from the high temperature sear and from the marbling of the meat. (It’s generally a good idea to order rib eye at a steakhouse.)

Perhaps my favorite steak was not beef but, rather, venison from El Nido’s ranch on the outskirts of town. This farm-raised venison had just a hint of the wild stuff’s exotic gaminess. And El Nido’s wood-burning-grill set-up is a tool superbly adapted to the task of searing venison, which, because of its leanness, absolutely must be cooked rare lest it dry out. El Nido’s venison was perfectly cooked: just caramelized from the high-heat sear on the outside and rosy on the inside.

The dish of the evening, though, was the grilled quail. On the flavor-profile spectrum from chicken to duck, quail is on the meaty duck side.

Cooked quickly over high heat, the semi-boneless birds were nicely charred on the outside with a juicy interior. There’s something brilliantly carnivorous about stripping the meat off the bones of a little bird. It’s good, clean tasty fun.

Rosarito’s changed quite a lot in the last 30 years. Its spring break ended long ago. Fears— both rational and irrational—of narco-violence saw to that and have forced the place to appeal to a different demographic. But returning to El Nido was an opportunity to step back in time and find a piece of the old Rosarito that, it seems, never went away.

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

by ian cheesman

beer &

mandates that an invisible line of death separate the lobby’s bottle shop from the main tasting room. Rumor has it that attempts to transfer a pint or bottle out of their respective geographies will summon an array of laser cannons to deploy from the ceiling, instantly vaporizing violators.

Tapping into fun Even if that’s not true, Ziggy could very possibly grunt in your direction. You don’t want to In the pantheon of all possible weekend plans, chance that.

I can be fairly certain that I’ve never suggested Should you cross the checkpoint unscathed, that my friends meet me at a super-happening the tasting room greets you with a shrine to San keg-rental store. That’s going to change.

Diego craft brew. The walls are adorned with the I understand if you’re a tad skeptical. That emblems of every brewery Tap That works with, was my reaction when my buddy tried to numerous enough to wallpaper a strip around ian cheesman the perimeter. That diversity convince me that we should head over to Tap That in is further represented in the Oceanside (3207 Roymar 20 draught options, which Road, Suite E, tapthatkegnow. showcase offerings from all com) rather than a brewery corners of the local brewing or pub. Were it not for his empire and a broad array of very compelling argument styles (usually including at that they had beer, I might least one cider or mead for have skipped it entirely. those who swing that way).

Curiously, Tap That This place knows San Diego welcomes patrons by beer, and it wants to make impeding their entrance sure you do, too. with a small kiddie fence Far and away my favorite propped against the door feature of Tap That was sill. It was unclear if it was its keg-clearing discount. to prevent toddlers from Much like the time-honored fleeing captivity or crashing tradition of nagging your the party. Either scenario friends to help decimate seemed oddly terrifying. And the hoppy remnants of the as frightful an image as that previous evening’s shindig was, my inner-nurturer was (a “brewtenanny,” perhaps?), most concerned that this Tap That urges patrons to fetal horde was so anemic return every Sunday and that a fence secured only help empty select draught by gravity was sufficient to lines with $3 pours. Sure, keep them at bay. Who was they have other sorts of This was the most work neglecting the nutrition of discounts through the week, Ziggy did all day. this toddler army? Anyway, but nothing that bolsters the it turns out that, despite all the evidence, there esprit de corps of pitching in and making new isn’t a baby uprising; the gate only exists to beer options happen. quell the lackluster escape plans of Ziggy, the Tap That nests an unusual tap room with lethargic bulldog mascot of Tap That. unusual rules in an unusual corner of OceanThe foyer seems unassuming, but that side and somehow makes it work. It’s a warm narrow strip of real estate is actually home to a and friendly place to enjoy San Diego craft brew.

Just mind the lasers. demilitarized beer zone. This is the consequence of a treaty signed with the California Legislature Write to ianc@sdcitybeat.com that allows Tap That to possess licenses for both and editor@sdcitybeat.com. on- and off-premises alcohol sales. That duality

chees

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

by Mina Riazi mina riazi

laborated on the décor—a charming interplay of old and new. Marble tabletops contrast with distressed wood floors; chandeliers sparkle next to industrial pipes. It feels elegant in an accessible way.

Globally inspired egg dishes—like eggs a la Espana and green chilaquiles— form the yolk of the breakfast menu.

Pancakes make a brief yet memorable appearance; the carrot cake and red-velvet versions (each served with cream-cheese frosting) are bound to elicit melodic oohs from sweet-toothed folk.

Something tells me Jackson Pollock would appreciate the expressive smattering of chocolate sauce decorating the ricotta pancakes, which are studded with blackberries, blueberries, strawberHanna’s berry ricotta pancakes ries and raspberries. The mildly flavored Italian whey cheese appears in quartersized splotches and offsets the sweetness of the chocolate sauce and powdered sugar. Chewy and lightweight, the pancakes arrive three to a plate, which makes for a generously portioned dish.

If, like me, you’re addicted to eggs, the menu’s “Eggs” section will take some time to unscramble.

Gastronomic globetrotting After all, sandwiching the abovementioned eggs a la Espana are two equally tempting omelets—the Sometimes, I forget that Sunday brunch is the Romana and vegetarian—not to mention several weekend’s crown jewel. I clumsily sleep in and other egg-centric dishes, including a rich biscuitshow up late, possibly with drying toothpaste on and-gravy offering. my chin. A server clearing away empty chamIn the eggs a la Africana, my protein-of-choice pagne glasses hand-delivers the grim news: is served alongside fava beans and yogurt. Stop“We’re closed for the day.” She shoots me a sorryping by my table, Tesfamichael, who hails from not-sorry smile and shrugs. On my way out, I conEthiopia, pointed out that the dish is East Afritemplate stealing a lone bacon strip from somecan. Tomato, cilantro, celery and Serrano pepone’s long-forgotten plate. I don’t. The weekend pers flavor the tart yogurt sauce. Spoon it over fizzles like homemade fireworks. the eggs and fava beans, then scoop a bite of each Sunday brunch is a two-hour oasis uninhabitinto pita bread for a delectable interweaving of ed by the pesky minutiae of everyday life. Anyone flavors. The cool yogurt complements the cumin lucky enough to experience it on a weekly basis is and turmeric-seasoned fava-bean blend. And if surely a better person because of it. Call me drayou request over-medium eggs, the yolk will also matic, but that’s what I believe. So, on a recent contribute its buttery flavor to the mix.

Sunday, awake before noon, I decided to partake The best Sunday brunches leave you feeling in the alluring breakfast-and-lunch tango. more awake yet somehow also sleepier. Warm, On Sundays, Hanna’s Gourmet in University nourishing food tends to have that dichotomous Heights is open until 3 p.m., giving late risers a effect. On my way out of Hanna’s, I also felt a shot at microwave-free nourishment (2864 Adams pinch of sadness: I’d need to wait an entire seven days for another shot at Sunday brunch.

Ave., hannasgourmetcatering.com). Originally an outpost of owner Hanna Tesfamichael’s popular Write to minar@sdcitybeat.com catering business, the newly expanded restaurant and editor@sdcitybeat.com. is immediately inviting. She and her husband col-

One Lucky

Spoon

12 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

urban

by Nina Sachdev Hoffmann

scout What can I find…

In Carlsbad Village?

When I think of Carlsbad, I think of rich people and outlet shopping (which is hit or miss, by the way—I prefer Las Americas near the border). So, when I read somewhere that the resort town calls itself “the preeminent downtown of North County” (because of course it does), I had to go and see what the hell that really meant. While it’s not quite the descriptor I’d use, I will give credit to the Carlsbad Village Association (carlsbadvillage.com): There’s more to see and do—and most importantly, buy!—here than I thought.

I really enjoyed my early evening stroll down Carlsbad Village Drive and Sbicca sandals at Blues and Shoes environs last week. OK, maybe that was the freedom talking. I was without my husband If none of this is your scene, you have many and toddler (read: peace and quiet). I probably more options. That’s the great thing about this would’ve enjoyed sitting on the curb, drinking a little village. You can wander in and out of doz40 next to the randomly discarded love seat with ens of local shops that carry the latest trends, the worst floral pattern ever (#RichPeopleTrash) much of them from popular L.A. designers that in the parking lot behind Fish House Vera Cruz. you won’t find in too many places in San Diego (a But I digress. Vacationers happily inhaled fro-yo lot of these brands sell wholesale only). at Swirlicious, and live music flowed from nearby One of these designers is Love Stitch (love restaurants and pubs. The air smelled clean, and stitchla.com), which appears to be taking SoCal by Via Facebook everyone I talked to was restorm. Another wholesaleally nice—a little too nice, if only brand (a retail site is you ask me, but what I do rumored to be coming soon), know? I’m from Philly.

Love Stitch is an affordable, And then there were the really well-made line of shoes. Tan, black, leather, wardrobe necessities, fun but wedge, sandal, heel. A place work-appropriate tops, datecalled Blues and Shoes (457 night dresses and more, all Carlsbad Village Drive; blues with flirty detailing, flatterandshoes.wordpress.com) ing lines and simple patterns. had it all, and then some.

I got a black-and-white silkThe ladies minding the store and-cotton top with lace dehere are expert stylists and tailing for $40; at a place like, will be fitting you with sexy say, Express, that would have skinny jeans and a hot pair been at least $10 to $15 more. of heels to match in a matYou can find Love Stitch at ter of seconds. Best of all, Cielo Boutique & Body you could leave with an enBar (2969 State St., cielohair tire outfit for less than $100. salon.com). The name alThis place is truly a gem. most stopped me from going Just know that the style in, but I think I saw a dress in Inside Cielo Boutique & Body Bar the window that looked inskews bohemian-chic. My own style couldn’t be further from that, but even teresting. Glad I did; the inside definitely had the I found something cute—a cream-colored tank feel of a boutique store. ($26) with hand-stitched detail on the front from All in all, I think I did pretty well here. Two the L.A.-based designer Hem & Thread. sleeveless tops and a sundress for my 18-monthAfter you’re done there, head over to B&S’s old. I wasn’t expecting to leave with anything. sister stores, Ragz Dressware and The Beat.

Who knows how I would have fared at the outBoth had an interesting collection (guy stuff inlets. But who cares? I ate a carne asada burrito completely uninterrupted. cluded!), some for the younger crowd, some for, well, my crowd. You just need to go and enjoy the Write to ninah@sdcitybeat.com experience of browsing and letting a stream of and editor@sdcitybeat.com. people bring you outfits to try on.

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

the

SHORTlist

1

FRIEDNADO

Judah Friedlander isn’t short on self-esteem.

“I am a role model. I am the greatest martial artist on the planet,” the actor and standup comic tells CityBeat with his trademark deadpan delivery. “But I’m also going to be the next president of the United States.”

One issue that’s got his attention is the plight of tens of thousands of Central American kids crossing into the U.S. “I think we send ’em up to Canada,” he says.

“I think that’s where they’re trying to get to, anyway. Canada’s got more space, and they already have healthcare, so it seems like that’s probably where they’re headed.”

Friedlander ( judahfriedlander.com), who lived in San Diego for 10 years as a child, booked a series of standup shows here—five performances from Thursday, July 24, through Saturday, July 26, at The American Comedy Co. (818 Sixth Ave., Downtown, americancomedyco.com, $20)—to coincide with Comic-Con. “I’m a big horror-movie guy,” he says. “I like odd people, in general. I’m a big sci-fi kind of guy. And I really appreciate art. I don’t read comics as much as I want, but I love anything that’s dealing with the arts and fantasy.”

He’ll hold a couple of signing appearances at Comic-Con and serve on a panel on Sharknado 2: The Second One, in which he plays “some dude from Queens who’s trying to kill some sharks, trying to save New York.”

“I’m a big fan of that company, The Asylum,” he says of the studio that produces the Sharknado films.

He says he started tweeting at The Asylum during the first Sharknado. “I think after a while, they real-

2

CREATIVE COMMONS

In the last decade or so, local museum nightlife has hit an all-time high as events like Culture and Cocktails at the San Diego Museum of Art and Thursday Night Thing at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego have enticed younger and hipper crowds with live music and boozy refreshments. If you’re up for a slightly longer drive, North County is promising a lively event of its own with Lux’s Art Institute’s Creative Nights (1550 S. El Brothers Grim Camino Real in Encinitas). The event will feature artists engaging in live art-making, such as welding and glass blowing, alongside live performances by The Brothers Grim and Tolan Shaw, plus food and libations. The fun starts at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 24. Admission is $20. luxartinstitute.org

14 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

ART

COORDINATED BY KINSEE MORLAN PHIL PROVENCIO

HPop! The Art of the Geek at Michael J. Wolf Fine Arts, 363 Fifth Ave., Downtown.

View artwork by a dozen established and emerging artists who’ve reimagined pop-culture icons in new ways. On view through July 27. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m.

Wednesday, July 23. mjwfinearts.com HCRAFT/ART at Stone Brewing Tap Room, 795 J St., East Village. Live sketching by top comic artists. Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind sketches as well as bid in a silent auction with proceeds benefitting Media Arts Center San Diego. From 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, July 23. $5-$10 suggested donation.

Empower Art & Music Show at La Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. A one-night-only event featuring A Reason To Survive (ARTS) Empower students. From 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 23. areasontosurvive.org HCreative Nights at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Enjoy dinner and drinks from Bull Taco and Stone Brewery while checking out indie rockers Brothers Grim. There’ll also be tours of Lux artist-in-residence Beverly Penn’s bronze nature sculptures and a trunk show by The Dainty Lion. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, July 24. $20. luxartinstitute.org HArt Expo at Wonderbread Factory, 121 14th St., East Village. A curated selection of artists and DIY creatives who specialize in graphic novels, handmade objects, zines, prints, original artwork, toys, silkscreens and collectibles. From 3 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, July 24, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, July 25, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, July 26. facebook.com/artexposd

ized I was serious,” he says. “So then they gave me a little part in it. It was so much fun, dude.”

But what about his standup shows?

“It’s going to be the greatest sexual experience— and comedic experience—people have ever seen,” he boasts. “First of all, there’s a mandatory sex party after every show, and everyone gets in free. And let the ladies know, they’ll all get in. Gentlemen, they’re invited, too, to watch, learn, take notes, see how things are done properly. The guys might be intimidated by what I can do. It’s educational and inspirational.”

3

HAT TIPS ON DISPLAY

Quint Gallery and the Murals of La Jolla project have teamed up for a cool collaboration. The Horizon exhibition, opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at Quint (7547 Girard Ave. in La Jolla), will feature established artists alongside emerging artists whom they admire. The big-name artists with work featured in the large outdoor murals hanging billboard-style on private businesses throughout La Jolla—John Baldessari, Robert Irwin, Ryan McGinness, Kim MacConnel Jean Lowe and others—were each asked to “Shatter 4” by name an artist they thought Jessica McCambly deserved attention. They did a good job, naming rising stars like James Enos, Joseph Huppert and Susan Metzger—the final lineup reads like a cast of San Diego’s best all-time and up-and-coming artists. quintgallery.com

Super Video Game Land at Mission Brewery, 1441 L St., East Village. San Diego artist Anthony Bulcao celebrates video games of yore. Opening from 6 to midnight Thursday, July 24. 619-544-0018 x 314 HArtist Talk: Miki Iwasaki at San Diego International Airport, 3225 North Harbor Drive. Iwasaki discusses the transition of his artwork from studio to public practice.

He recently completed a sculptural installation located in the airport’s Terminal 1 food court, which is where this talk will take place. From 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, July 24, mi-workshop.com Superhero Sideshow at Broken Heart Tattoo, 1833 Fifth Ave., Bankers Hill. Over 45 local tattoo artists showcase original artwork inspired by comics, movies, entertainment and video games. Opening from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, July 25. sd-too.com HGIRLS GIRLS GIRLS at Low Gallery, 3778 30th St., North Park. New mixed-media works from local artists Jaclyn Rose and Carly Ealey, which explore the trials and tribulations of womanhood. From 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, July 25. 619-348-5517, lowgallerysd.com HClive Barker: Parade at Alexander Salazar Fine Art, 640 Broadway, Downtown. An exhibit of erotic art from the legendary English author, film director, video game designer and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, July 25. alexandersalazarfineart.com Quilt National at Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside. Contemporary art quilts created around the world were submitted to this juried traveling exhibition by nearly 500 artists. OMA will feature 32 of the award-winning quilts.

Opens Saturday, July 26. $5-$8. 760435-3720, oma-online.org HSeal of Disapproval: Deviancy and Delinquency at Space 4 Art, 325 15th St., East Village. This exhibition explores the possibilities that superheroes are not

all that perfect with original art from M.J. Stevens, Larry Caveney, Vanessa Martinez and more. Performance artist XR will also be giving a live performance. At 7 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $5. 619-8186419, staystrange.com HA Priest, a Rabbi and an Art Critic at Opportunity Gallery, 2690 Historic Decatur Road, Building 202, Suite 103, Point Loma.

A panel discussion on “varieties of truth, beauty and art” featuring Rabbi Lenore Bohm, Rev. Eleanor Ellsworth and art critic Robert Pincus. Moderated by CityBeat’s Kinsee Morlan. From 5:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday, July 26. ntclibertystation.com HBarrio Art Crawl at Barrio Logan Arts District, 1878 Main St., Barrio Logan. A free self-guided tour consisting of murals, open studios and galleries throughout the Barrio Logan Arts District. At 6 p.m. Saturday, July 26. barrioartsdistrict.com Mackenzie Thorpe: A Retrospective at Legends Gallery, 1205 Prospect St., Ste. B, La Jolla. An impressive collection by the famed artist and philanthropist.

Opening from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26. legendsgallerylajolla.com HThe Art of Fantasia and Other Disney Classics: The David Yaruss Collection at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido.

See the collection of over 250 original Disney animation cells, concept sketches, painted backgrounds and storyboard drawings from collector David Yaruss.

Opens Saturday, July 26. On view through Sept. 7. $8. artcenter.org Zooinitas at Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive, Encinitas. Seventeen local artists will display new works with proceeds benefitting the Animal Safehouse Program at Rancho Coastal Humane Society. Opening from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 26.

760-519-1551, zooinitas.zohosites.com Taylor Gallegos at 3rdSpace, 4610 Park Blvd., University Heights. The artist will display work from his “Chaos and Creativity” series. There’ll be a live interactive art piece, live music and spoken word. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 26.

619-255-3609, TaylorGallegos.com HHorizon at Quint Contemporary Art, 7547 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Quint invited artists who made works for the Murals of La Jolla project to recommend an artist they feel is underrepresented or emerging.

Includes work from James Enos, Aspen Mays, Cindy Tower and nearly a dozen more. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 26. 858-454-3409, quintgallery.com HConvergence at R.B. Stevenson Gallery, 7661 Girard Ave., Ste. 201, La Jolla.

New works from L.A.-based painter Maggie Tennesen, who specializes in abstract art composed of lines and crosshatches that resemble city maps and circuit boards. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 26. rbstevensongallery.com Hjust a little bit longer part 2 at Disclosed unLocation, 1925 30th Ave., South Park. In Part 1, five women chose a personal belonging, recreated it in multiples and attempted to sell it at the Spring Valley Swap Meet. Now, they display similar works to further explore the role of objects, value and attachment. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 26.

619-933-5480, unlocation.com We Are Here at Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2125 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. An exhibition of queer and ally art, including visual art, dance, theater, spoken word and music. Lineup includes Nina Jeannine Yogi, Myth of Solitude by Chrissy Croft-West, Cara H. Cadwallader, Nile and the Delta and more. From 1:30 to 7 p.m.

Sunday, July 27. 619-630-7750, facebook.com/events/1495820930632634

BOOKS Ellen Sussman at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Sussman will discuss and sign A Wedding in Provence, a novel of love, forgiveness and trust, set in southern France. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 23. warwicks.indiebound.com HSteve Breen at Unicorn Books and Gifts, 738 Main St., Ramona. Meet the Pulitzer-winning cartoonist and author who’ll be signing, Unicorn Executions and Other Crazy Stuff My Kids Make Me Draw.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 23. 760-7883700, unicornbooksandgifts.com Romance for All Readers Happy Hour at Mosaic Wine Bar, 3422 30th St., North Park. Hang out with romance authors Christina Lauren, Alice Clayton, Kresley Cole and Renee Carlino, plus get your books signed. Ticket includes a glass of wine, appetizers and a book discussion Q&A. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 23. $35. adventuresbythebook.com

will be in conversation with The Book Catapult’s Seth Marko, about Doerr’s 10-years-in-the-making WWII novel, All The Light We Cannot See. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, July 30. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com

COMEDY Deathsquad at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Today’s hottest comedians and podcast hosts present a unique show that highlights the new face of comedy. At 8 and 10 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, and 10 p.m.

Thursday, July 24. $15. 619-795-3858, americancomedyco.com HJudah Friedlander at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown.

He’s stolen the show in movies like Ameri-

can Splendor and Meet the Parents, but is probably best known as Frank Rossitano on 30 Rock. At 8 p.m. Thursday, July 24, and 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday, July 25, and Saturday, July 26. $20.

619-795-3858, americancomedyco.com HErikka Innes at Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. Part of the Comedy-Con Nerd Invasion. A Comic-Con badge gets you half-off admission. Wear a costume, there’s no cover at all. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 25-26. $20. 858573-9067, thecomedypalace.com HChris Tucker at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. The actor and comedian has returned to stand-up on his current “Payback Tour.”

At 8 p.m. Friday, July 25. $45-$60. sandiegotheatres.org

HImpractical Jokers Tour at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. Featuring The Tenderloins, this interactive comedy show features improv and never-before-seen videos inspired by the hit television show Impractical Jokers.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $49.50. sandiegotheatres.org Michael Yo at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Best known for his work on Chelsea Lately, this self-proclaimed “half-black brother with a Korean mother” brings his unique brand of standup. At 8 p.m. Sunday, July 27. $12. 619795-3858, americancomedyco.com HSam Wiles at Mad House Comedy Club, 502 Horton Plaza, Downtown. The up-and-coming local comic has a pretty hilarious Twitter account and is part of the New Best Thing comedy crew that

performs regularly at the Whistle Stop. At 7 p.m. Sunday, July 27. $15. 619-7026666, madhousecomedyclub.com HJeff Ross Presents Roast Battle at Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St., La Jolla.

Ross performs a rare, one-night-only performance followed by the Roast Battle, where two stand-up comics compete in a match of wit and insults. At 8 p.m. Monday, July 28. $10. 858-454-9176, lajolla. thecomedystore.com HSullivan & Son Comedy Tour at Mad House Comedy Club, 502 Horton Plaza, Downtown. The cast of the TBS sitcom about a family bar that isn’t always family friendly stop by for some politically incorrect humor. At 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 29. $18. madhousecomedyclub.com

CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

HDaniel Silva at David & Dorothea Garfield Theatre, 4126 Executive Dr., La Jolla.

The author will share insights into his newest Gabriel Allon book, The Heist, which finds the art restorer and occasional spy on a new adventure. Attendees will receive a signed copy. At 7 p.m. Thursday, July 24. $32. 858-362-1348, sdcjc.org Jacob Glass at Vision Center for Spiritual Living, 11260 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The spiritual teacher and writer will hold a book signing of his latest work, You Were Born For Greatness. At 7 p.m. Thursday, July 24. visioncsl.org Deborah Harkness at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The novelist will discuss and sign The Book of Life, the third and final book in the supernatural thriller series. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 25. warwicks.indiebound.com HJim Musgrave at Upstart Crow, 835 West Harbor Drive, Seaport Village. The local author will discuss and signSteam City Pirates, a mix of steampunk fantasy and futuristic sci-fi. There’ll also be a steampunk costume contest. At 7 p.m. Friday, July 25. 619-232-4855, upstartcrowtrading.com Julie Morris at Williams-Sonoma Fashion Valley, 7007 Friars Road. The superfood expert will be signing copies of Superfood Juices and Superfood Smoothies. There will also be a juicing demo and tasting. At 1 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $18.31. williams-sonoma.com Joe Abercrombie at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The British fantasy author and occasional film editor talks fantasy, black humor, reluctant heroes, and the madness of Comic-Con. He’ll also sign and discuss his novel, Half a King. At 2 p.m. Sunday, July 27. mystgalaxy.com HBen Kamin at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Kamin will discuss and sign, Dangerous Friendship: Stanley Levison, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers. At noon Sunday, July 27. warwicks.indiebound.com HIngrid Croce and Jimmy Rock at Health Services Complex, 3851 Rosecrans St., Point Loma. Croce and Rock, will discuss their co-authorship of I Got A Name, The Jim Croce Story, the biography of the late singer/songwriter. At 7 p.m.

Monday, July 28. $5. sdwritersguild.org Tobias Buckell at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The bestselling author and futurist will sign and discuss Hurricane Fever, his exploration of a world transformed by climate change. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 29. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com HAnthony Doerr at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Doerr

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

16 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

THEATER

Out of anesthesia and into the—piano?

San Diego’s big-name theaters have unveiled (fronted by Michael Bakkensen, Tom Pattwo very different productions: a harrow- terson and William Youmans as rival creding history story at La Jolla Playhouse and, it-grabbers) is more than up to the task of at The Old Globe, a reimagining of a musical making a squeamish story one you can’t look that was born there. away from (well, most In La Jolla, Michael of the time). The re-creWilson directs Elizabeth ation of the actual Ether Egloff’s Ether Dome, Dome (which still exists) a co-production with adds to the authenticity Houston’s Alley Theatre, and uneasiness of the auHartford Stage and Bosdience experience. ton’s Huntington TheEther Dome runs atre Company. Based on through Aug. 10 at La Jolthe true story of the early la Playhouse. $15 and up. days of medical anesthelajollaplayhouse.org. sia, this one is not for the faint of heart. There’s “blood,” yowls of surgical Stephen Sondheim and pain and a couple of opJames Lapine’s Into the erations that may leave Woods debuted 28 years you weak in the knees, Tom Patterson (left) in Ether Dome ago on at The Old Globe even though you’re sitand went on to become a Broadway and ting down.

That said, Ether Dome (that’s the operat- worldwide sensation. The musical mingling ing theater at Massachusetts General in Bos- of fairytales is back at the Globe for the first ton where all this drama and controversy un- time since then, in a reimagining by New folded in the mid-19th century) is a mesmer- York-based Fiasco Theater.

Fiasco’s Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld coizing tale, especially in the second act, when ambition and greed threaten to subvert the direct an Into the Woods that plays out on a good that’s come from minimizing patients’ set that resembles the inside of a piano rather suffering and pain while in surgery. The cast than tall trees and rhythmically moves like

•••

COMIC-CON You don’t need a badge for any of these events. For more Comic-Con happenings, see Pages 27 and 33.

HGam3rcon at 10th Avenue Theater, 930 10th Ave., Downtown. Four floors of gaming entertainment, including a video game arena, tabletop gaming lounge, gaming industry panels, live theatre,artwork and rooftop parties. From 6 to 10 p.m.

Wednesday, July 23, noon to midnight Thursday through Saturday, July 2426, and noon to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, July 27. $10-$50. 619-920-8503 gam3rcon.com HNerd HQ at Petco Park, Park & Imperial, Downtown. The four-day event provides fans a free hangout during Comic-Con. Guests can expect an expanded “Conversations for a Cause” panel series, fanfocused interactions, a dance party and exclusive gaming opportunities showcasing never-before-seen titles. From noon to 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, July 24-27. thenerdmachine.com HVideo Games Live at Embarcadero Marina Park South, 111 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown. Popular game music themes given the full symphonic treatment with synchronized lighting and even some real on-stage game-playing. Concert will feature music from Zelda, Sonic, Metal Gear Solid, BioShock and more. At 8 p.m.

Thursday, July 24. $28-$90. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton at Embarcadero Marina Park South, 111 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown. The San Diego Symphony and SACRA/PROFANA chorus play Elfman’s famous film scores enhanced by visuals on the big screen of Tim Burton’s original film sketches, drawings and story boards.

At 8 p.m. Friday, July 25. $28-$90. 619235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org HStar Trek Live Orchestra Soundtrack

a Second City production. As it was from its inception, the overlong first act is witty and prop-heavy, while the darker second act is very moving, making sweeping statements far beyond the triteness of fairytales, especially spoofed ones like these. Sondheim’s score is most haunting in Act 2, as well, and we’re reminded just why the show became legendary.

Into the Woods runs through Aug. 10 at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. $29 and up. oldglobe.org

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

OPENING Much Ado About Nothing: Believe it or not, no one dies at the end of this, one of Shakespeare’s classic comedies. Presented by Intrepid Shakespeare Company, it opens July 25 at SDA Performing Arts Centre in Encinitas. intrepidshakespeare.com Quartet: Three former opera singers, living at a home for aged musicians, are joined by the wife of one of them, and the four set out to perform one last concert.

Opens July 25 at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. oldglobe.org

For full listings,

please visit “T heater ” at sdcit ybeat.com

at Embarcadero Marina Park South, 111 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown. Conductor David Newman, the San Diego Symphony and the SACRA/PROFANA chorus give the new Star Trek movie the Summer Pops treatment. There’ll be a wide screen showing of the J. J. Abrams reboot featuring the symphony performing the soundtrack. At 8 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $28-$90. sandiegosymphony.org H@Midnight Live! at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Chris Hardwick puts on a live performance of his late-night Comedy Central. Similar to the televised show, Hardwick will lead three celebrity contestants down the ultimate Internet wormhole. At 10:30 p.m. Friday, July 25. $30. sandiegotheatres.org HNerdist Podcast Live at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Stand-up comedy performances by host Chris Hardwick, plus Jonah Ray and Matt Mira, followed by a live taping of the popular Nerdist podcast. At 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $30. sandiegotheatres.org Comic-Con Dive Show at Birch Aquarium, 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla. Rod Roddenberry, TV producer, ocean advocate and son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry dives in the aquarium’s twostory, 70,000 gallon kelp forest tank. At 12:30 p.m. Thursday, July 24. $11-$17.

858-534-FISH, aquarium.ucsd.edu Hw00tstock 6.0: A Night of Geeks & Music at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Television host/special-effects artist Adam Savage (MythBusters), actor/ author/blogger Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and music-comedy duo Paul and Storm (The Internet, Da Vinci’s Notebook) celebrate geekdom with music, readings, comedy, short films and more. At 7 p.m. Thursday, July 24. $40. 619-5701100, sandiegotheatres.org

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

ayweallonline.com

Marked Men V Party at Star of India, 1492 North Harbor Drive, Downtown. The pirate/Game of Thronesthemed party aboard the Star of India features music, belly dancers, fire dance shows and more. From 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, July 25. $75$125. markedmenparty.com

HObon Festival at Vista Buddhist Temple, 150 Cedar Road, Vista.

Celebrate Japanese and Buddhist culture with food, taiko drumming, demos and performances, talks on Buddhism and dancing. Free.

From noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, July 27. vbtemple.org

Sony Online Entertainment Block Party at Sony Online Entertainment Studios, 8928 Terman Court, Sorrento Mesa. Enjoy game demos, a beer garden, costume contests and more. There’ll be shuttle service from the Marriott waterfall on 333 W. Harbor Drive. From noon to 6 p.m. Friday, July 25. 619-8571533, forums.station.sony.com HFood Truck Fridays: Nerd Nite at Silo @ Makers Quarter, 753 15th St., East Village. Take a break from Comic-Con and enjoy food-for-purchase from Casanova Fish Tacos, Frida’s Cocina and Thang & Dang’s, plus trivia by three NatGeo personalities, including Aaron Sagers from Paranormal Pop Culture. Open bar, too. From 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, July 25. sandiego.nerdnite.com

SPORTS Epic 25 at Four Point Sheraton, 8110 Aero Dr., Kearny Mesa. Experience live-action MMA with 10 fights between 20 warriors. At 7 p.m. Friday, July 25. $30. 619800-0662, epicfighting.com

Devin Larson’s “Eel Boxing Feat. Aquaman” is on view in QANVAS, more than 50 artists’ comic-inspired paintings on sandwich wrappers. It opens from 7 to 10 p.m.

Thursday, July 24. RSVP (required) to info@theaceagency.com.

Gotham Vixens Burlesque Show at The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Hell on Heels Burlesque Revue throws a Comic-Con-inspired show featuring ladies dressed and undressing as well-known Batman villains. At 9 p.m.

Saturday, July 26. $12-$15. 619-2997372, hellonheelsburlesque.com HHeroes Brew Craft Beer Festival at Embarcadero Marina Park North, 1 Marine Way, Downtown. The Superherothemed beer festival features more than 40 breweries along with food trucks, a costume contest and live music performed on a solar-powered stage. From 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $20-$55. heroesbrewfest.com HSDCC Zombiewalk at Children’s Park, 180 First Ave., Downtown. Dress up like a zombie and walk around downtown for one of the city’s largest and longest running flash mob events. At 5 p.m. Saturday, July 26. sdzombiewalk.com

FOOD & DRINK Del Mar Racetrack Beer Fest at Del Mar Racetrack, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Sample dozens of craft brews from top-rated San Diego breweries. Receive five, 7-ounce tastings for $18.

Held in the Seaside Cabana and Seaside Concert area West of the Grandstand.

From 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $18.

858-755-1141, DelMarScene.com Alex’s Lemonade Stand Grand Stand 366 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. The Miller family’s ninth annual Grand Stand features a silent auction, live music, Legoland tickets and, of course, lemonade. Benefits childhood cancer research.

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 26. 858-755-1141, alexslemonade.org

MUSIC SDYS International Youth Symphony at Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park. San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory’s International Youth Symphony will play chamber music pieces. At 7 p.m. Thursday, July 24. sdys.org Yale Strom at Rancho San Diego Library, 11555 Via Rancho San Diego, El Cajon.

The klezmer violinist and author presents stories and songs from the hinterlands of Eastern Europe. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 24. 619-660-5370, sdcl.org Navy Wind Ensemble at Spreckels Organ Pavilion, Balboa Park. The renowned wind ensemble will perform patriotic favor-

18 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

ites and Big Band music. From 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Saturday, July 26. balboapark.org Sven Ingvart Mikkelsen at Spreckels Organ Pavilion, Balboa Park. Mikkelsen visits from his native Denmark, where he’s the organist at Frederiksborg Castle Church. Joining Mikkelsen is Jens Romer, who will perform on the bombarde. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 28. sosorgan.org Fred Benedetti and George Svoboda at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3598 Talbot St., Point Loma. As part of the church’s Music at Dusk series in its Huntington Amphitheatre, Benedetti and Svoboda play a mix of classical guitar including Spanish, Flamenco and Eastern European music. At 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 28. 619-223-3193, westminstersd.org

PERFORMANCE Steam Powered Giraffe at North Park Theatre, 2891 University Avenue, North Park. The robot band performs their original music, along with a some comedic sketches. At 6 p.m. Thursday, July 24. $25-$100. thenorthparktheatre.com Super Awesome Showdown: Galacticadia 1 at Victory Theater, 2558 Imperial St., Logan Heights. Technomania Circus’ take on professional wrestling returns to Victory Theater for a night of family-friendly intergalactic combat. At 8 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $5-$15. 619-236-1971, facebook. com/SuperAwesomeShowdown

SPECIAL EVENTS MOPA Remix Nights at Museum of Photographic Arts, Balboa Park. Each Thursday MOPA stays open late and features entertainment. This week, it’s a special performance from MOXIE Theater. From 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 24. $6-$8. mopa.org HSan Diego Metal Swap Meet at Queen Bee’s, 3925 Ohio St., North Park. Vendors selling new, used and hard-to-find metal CDs, vinyl, T-shirts, DVDs, art and more.

Event includes beer and food vendors and Venom tribute band Sons of Satan. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $5. facebook.com/sdmetalswapmeet HThe Family You Choose at White Box Theater, 2690 Truxtun Road, Point Loma.

So Say We All’s annual LGBT storytelling showcase returns, featuring tales by JD Burke, Brian Joyner, Dylan Yates and more.

At 8 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $10-$15. sos

HSkate Wars: The Renegades Skate Back at RSportz Arena, 165 Denny Way, El Cajon. The Renegade Rollergirls split into Team Sith and Team Jedi and skate into the ultimate battle of good and evil.

At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26. $5-$12. facebook.com/FullContac tRollerDerbySanDiego

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS

Transparency in the Mexican Educational System at Institute of the Americas, International Lane, UCSD. Alexandra Zapata from the Mexican think tank IMCO will discuss how it is that Mexico spends more per student than most industrialized nations and yet exhibits low academic achievement. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 23. $10. 858-453-5560, iamericas.org Building Resilient Cities Agriculture and Food Systems at World Resources Simulation Center, 1088 Third Ave., Downtown. Experts will discuss strategies pertaining to sustainable agriculture and the agricultural ecosystem. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 24. $10 suggested donation. 619-234-1088, wrsc.org HRockin’ the Boat: The Activists Who Made It Happen at Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 16, Point Loma. A panel discussion with women who fought for women’s rights and helped change laws starting in the early ‘60s. At 6 p.m. Thursday, July 24. womensmuseumca.org HThe History of Surf in San Diego at Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park. A discussion on the history of surf in San Diego from several different perspectives. From 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 24. $5-$8. 619-239-0003, mingei.org GMOs: Ethics and Economics at Joyce Beers Community Center, 3900 Vermont St., Hillcrest. Dr. Maarten J. Chrispeels of UCSD will discuss GMOs, particularly their impact on agricultural efforts in the developing world. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, July 27. sdari.org Shattering the Glass Ceiling at Hall of Nations, Balboa Park. Join UNA San Diego’s Women’s Equity Council for a discussion on how to overcome adversity in professions traditionally dominated by men. From 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 29.

619-233-3970, unasd.org HJanet Sobel at Benjamin Branch Library, 5188 Zion Ave., Allied Gardens. The author and local attorney discusses how and why the civil legal system is failing to serve ordinary people who seek justice.

From 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 29.

619-261-6165, judgingthelaw.com

For full listings,

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

Comic-Con the Bechdel Test Popular fiction has evolved, but big-time fails in female representation mean the test’s still relevant

T

by Kinsee Morlan

atiana Maslany was robbed.

When the Emmys were announced earlier this month, the actor was conspicuously missing from the list of nominees. Her fans were shocked: The Canadian star deserved not only outstanding lead actress for her role as con-artist Sarah Manning in Orphan Black, but also outstanding supporting actress several times over for playing all of Manning’s clone sisters in the sci-fi series.

With Orphan Black, BBC America and Space have created something unique: a TV show about women engaging with women about serious issues other than their male love interests. Maslany’s many characters have distinct, imperfect personalities—from transgender bandit to suburban soccer mom, Russian psychopath to hipster scientist—and they’re both kind and cruel to each other.

Orphan Black doesn’t just pass the Bechdel Test; it obliterates it. Too bad the show’s such an anomaly.

The Bechdel Test is a simple thought experiment that requires works of fiction to feature at least two female characters talking to each other about something other than a dude. It’s a ridiculously low bar that a surprising number of contemporary works fail to reach. And while women are increasingly being represented in fiction as more than just big-breasted love interests or one-dimensional sidekicks, there’s still a long way to go.

“It is sad that so many things still fail,” says Alison Bechdel, the longtime Dykes to Watch Out For cartoonist and author who included the test in one of her early comic strips. “But, for me, I feel like there’s been so much progress, too. I mean, when I wrote that cartoon in 1985—almost 30 years ago—it was just a little lesbian joke in an alternative feminist newspaper. Now it’s something people are discussing in mainstream culture. So, to me, that seems like huge progress.”

Bechdel is quick to admit that the idea wasn’t hers; it came from a friend. After the strip resurfaced online and the test became a meme in recent years, she learned to stake more claim in it since the idea embodies one of the main goals of her life’s work—representing women as normal people who do normal things. She says she’s enjoyed see-

Andrea Letamendi

Elena Seibert

Alison Bechdel ing the rise of the more realistic everywoman in fiction.

“There’s just been this evoThe ground rules for what became know n as the Bechdel Test were first laid out lution of women getting to be in this 1985 “Dykes to Watch Out For” comic strip by Alison Bechdel. regular jerks, like men always got to be jerks,” she says, citing television shows Girls and Broad Women in Popular Culture: Nontraditional Roles of A team of women including KaCity as examples. “I think that’s really crucial.”

Women: Tess Fowler (writer / trina Hill of the website Action Andrea Letamendi, a clinical psychologist and author illustrator for Game of Thrones) Movie Freak and professional who uses comic books, sci-fi and fantasy to explore psyand other female panelists talk stuntwoman Lesley Aletter dischological science, says the Bechdel Test is a good starting about nontraditional roles of cuss the best and worst examwomen in the comic and enples of powerful women in pop point. She likes that it relies on the interaction of women tertainment industries. At 3:30 culture. At 3 p.m. Thursday, and the exclusion of romantic involvement, but she says p.m. Friday, July 25, in Room July 24, in Room 7AB. that even when fiction meets those basic requirements, 26AB. Heartbreakers: Join the feit often depicts women as “Mary Sues” or unrealistically Strong Female Characters: male-focused comic creators strong females so fierce and so talented that the audience Well-written, realistic female for a discussion about sexism, can’t connect. characters are celebrated in science fiction, comic books this panel featuring June Brigand geek culture. At 1 p.m.

“It’s taking that version of a strong female character to man (Power Pack), Amanda Thursday, July 24, in Room an extreme where it becomes hyperbole,” she says, adding Conner (Power Girl), Colleen 32AB. that there are many other aspects to consider when looking Coover (Bandette) and others.

Gender Politics: Panelists critically at how women are being represented in fiction.

At 3 p.m. Saturday July 26, including Laura Hudson of in Room 7AB. Bechdel herself is among the first to point out her eponWIRED and IDW editor Sarah ymous test’s limitations.

More Female-Created ConGaydos explore the role and tent: Female creators give atimpact of gender politics in the “You can have a feminist movie that doesn’t meet the tendees a solid plan of action mainstream and independentcriteria,” she says. “And you can have a movie that meets to enter the industry. At 1 p.m. comics industry. At 10 a.m. the criteria and isn’t feminist. So, it’s not scientific or anySaturday, July 26, in Room Friday, July 25, in Room 4. thing. It was meant as a joke, but I still think it’s a very use23ABC. Female Protagonists: Superful joke…. It’s a bit surprising what does and doesn’t pass.”

Heroines in Paranormal heroines’ journeys have been CityBeat likes a good joke, which is why we decided to Fantasy: Female authors, inlong and hard. Panelists discluding Marjorie Liu (Labyrinth cuss cultural barriers, societal look at this year’s Comic-Con and the culture it celebrates of Stars), discuss creating their sexism and how super-women through the lens of the Bechdel Test. Seth Combs talked protagonists and the paranorhave had to fight more than to a local male comic artist about why he continues to demal worlds in which they live. just crime in order to survive. pict women as sexy and idealized (Page 22). Ryan Bradford At 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July At 4 p.m. Friday, July 25, in 26, in Room 8.

Room 9. watched trailers for some of this summer’s blockbuster films and added a new test (Page 24). Susan Myrland roundSuper Heroines: Female Witty Women of Steamtelevision creators, graphic punk: Steampunk women talk ed up the best of this year’s offsite events geared toward novelists, artists and cultural multiculturalism, science, sexthe Comic-Con crowd and highlighted the ones including commentators, including psyuality, class politics and more. women (Page 27). And over there to the right, we looked at chologist Andrea Letamendi, Panelists include Ay-leen the this year’s schedule and found the panels to which Bechdel will talk about women in the Peacemaker, editor for Beyonsuperhero world. At 1:30 p.m. dVictoriana.com, and steamherself might give an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Dave Maass contributed his geeky guidance to this and other features in this year’s Comic-Con section.

punk model / performer Sarah Hunter. At 2:30 p.m. Friday, July 25, in Room 24ABC.

Sunday, July 27, in Room 23ABC.

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

20 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Bodies of work Bigger has often been better for comic artists, but is it the best they can do?

N

by Seth Combs

ot to get all Dickensian, but the comic-book industry in the ’90s was the best and worst of times. It was an exciting era for artists and writers who were no longer tied to the industry giants (Marvel and DC) and were forming their own companies. The Comics Code Authority, the industry’s arcane version of regulating content (read: censoring it), was now being ignored by a new generation of artists, subsequently ushering in a new era of creative freedom.

However, one could argue that this freedom also ushered in an anatomical archetype that reverberated around the industry and subsists today.

“The ’90s were definitely the era of women with broken backs,” says San Diego comic-book artist Alejandro “Alé” Garza, referring to the extremely exaggerated female caricatures of the era, with breasts so large that it seems inconceivable that they could also fight super-villains. “It was the master decade of exaggeration—basically, taking any atypical feature and playing it up to the extreme.”

Garza, who grew up in Napa Valley, says he couldn’t help

22 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

but soak up the style of artists like protagonist named Lupe Impala who Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane and Rob Camper says can “wrangle a wrench Liefeld. As a teen, he started doing with the best of them.” At the same books for smaller companies, which time, Lupe also hangs out with a ultimately landed him a job at Lee’s talking mosquito and octopus, so it’s La Jolla-based Wildstorm Comics. clearly a work of fantasy. Garza argues Now a well-established artist who’s this point when defending his work. worked on comics like Spider-Man, “What it all comes down to for Supergirl and Deadpool, Garza freeme is this: All the women I draw are lances out of a Golden Hill apartempowered. They’re strong, and, ment and has the freedom to focus yes, they might look, quote-unquote, on original projects (his new Maiden sexy, but I’ll, quote-unquote, objectify Age series and a forthcoming graphic a female just as much as I would a novel), but he says he supports this male,” he says. “The men I draw look work by doing pin-up-style covers, nothing like most guys. None of them mostly of female characters. have pot bellies or love handles, and “The thing is that those artists are more often than not, my female charNotty and Nyce cover image acters are kicking a guy’s ass.” still working, and that style hasn’t

by Alejandro “Alé” Garza changed,” says Garza, who’ll make Garza also sees the industry multiple signing appearances at Comic-Con. “There’s no moving in a more anatomically progressive direction as diminishing market for that kind of art, and publishers a new generation of artists establishes itself. “It’s evolvknow that. Over the top, highly detailed and not entirely ing into more naturalistic images,” says Garza, who cites anatomically accurate—that’s not going away.”

Babs Tarr’s recent Batgirl redesign as more “anatomically However, some people still take issue with it. grounded in reality.” Yet, he maintains that comics are “Women characters are hyper-sexualized,” says Cathy fantasy, and, as with any genre that’s based in suspended Camper, a Portland-based artist and writer who just findisbelief, the artistic renderings of the characters will reished a new graphic novel called Lowriders in Space. “And main fantastical no matter the gender. like porn movies, women characters are often all looks, “Just like all art: It’s an interpretation of a reality that whereas the guys, even superheroes, can be dog-ugly.” doesn’t exist,” Garza says. “We don’t really have talking, Local comics fan Sasha Orman, who’s only missed space-traveling raccoons, we don’t have thunder gods Comic-Con three times since 1999, agrees that the caricawalking around and we don’t have telekinetic women tures aren’t based in reality. controlling the world with their minds.”

“It would be really hard to fight in a strapless bustier leoHe chuckles and adds, “Actually, we might have a few of those.” tard,” Orman says. “Why don’t more female superheroes get costumes that are well-designed without being pin-up art?”

Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Camper’s car-centric Lowriders features a strong female

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

Bumming attractions

We ran summer movie trailers against the Bechdel test, and the results weren’t pretty

by Ryan Bradford

I never wanted to be an elitist movie connoisseur, but it’s getting harder to defend the dreck that passes as cinema. This isn’t a complaint about the intellectual emptiness of Hollywood blockbusters; it’s more of an indictment of the malevolence infecting pop culture as a whole. We flood the cin-

emas to support movies that are apathetic—if not outright hateful—toward women, minorities and other underrepresented or maligned populations.

To prove my point, I watched a handful of trailers to see if any of them respected the ladies by following ground rules established by the Bechdel test. While not perfect (last year’s Pacific Rim was praised for its strong female representation even though it technically failed the test), it’s a good starting point to find out if the culture you’re consuming is respectful or just a dripping bag o’ dicks.

Just to recap, here are the rules for a

movie to pass the Bechdel test: 1. It has to have at least two women in it, 2. who talk to each other, 3. about something besides a man Because I feel that movies could do a better job of respecting humanity as a whole, I’ve added my own appendix. The only rule of the Bradford test is: 1. It can’t be based on a comic book.

I expect to get some guff for this, especially in the frickin’ Comic-Con Issue, but hear me out: Can anyone remember a comic movie delivering more than a cash-grabbing, cynical repackaging of nostalgia? Or presenting an original vi-

sion that didn’t feel processed through a committee? Maybe Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Night, but that was six years ago. B-b-but The Avengers? You mean the movie that raised our feverish expectations for each succeeding superhero movie to include all the superheroes? If that’s not a sign of cultural excess trumping innovation and originality, then I owe you a new pair of sweatpants.

So, onward with another summer of movie trailers! Onward with another year of supporting the white / hetero / male-dominated pop-cultural infrastructure while we continue our slow trudge to the grave!

Lucy (official trailer No. 1):

Observed plot summary: Scarlett Johansson (Lucy) is an unwitting mule for bad guys who sew drugs or chemicals into her stomach. When it leaks, it unlocks 100 percent of Lucy’s brain potential (science!), thereby disputing every fifth grader’s favorite fun Hercules fact that we use only 10 percent of (official trailer No. 1): our brains. Apparently, when you Observed plot summary: use 100 percent, you can make Shirtless Hercules fights a lion and time stop and play the world like a boar that are, like, way bigger an iPad, or some shit. than normal-sized lions and boars.

Bechdel results: Twist! SecBechdel results: There are ond trailer in and this feels like a literally three shots of women in trick question. Johansson is the this trailer and one of them shows only woman shown, but she seems harem-esque ladies sexily gyrat- strong and spends the entire time ing their hips. Fail. killing bros, so that nullifies at least Bradford results: Can’t re- two of the Bechdel rules, right? ally remember what Hercules is. No. Also, director Luc Besson has a Greek myth? Bible story? Disney fetish for weaponizing the woman thing? I’m too lazy to look it up, form in his movies, and I can’t rebut I know it’s ubiquitous enough ally get behind it, so fail. that it probably has been made Bradford results: This is an into a comic at one point or an- original story, no matter how other. Fail, probably. dumb it sounds. Pass.

24 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy (extended cut)

Observed plot summary: Lord knows. There’s a tree guy and a raccoon and that one guy from Parks and Recreation. They’re in space. The raccoon seems to get angry a lot.

Bechdel results: There’s a shot of the only female character—an alien?—zipping up a tight jacket over her green cleavage, which definitely soothes the urge to spitefully rage-cum at the otherwise lack of eye candy. Amirite, fellas? Fail.

Bradford results: Maybe I’m missing the point—maybe this film’s totally subversive. But that doesn’t negate the fact that fans will probably use phrases like “foul-mouthed raccoon” and “saves the galaxy” to defend it. Fail.

into the Storm

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

(official teaser trailer) Observed plot summary: Destruction. Fire tornadoes. Holy shit.

Bechdel results: There’s absolutely no dialogue here, so, technically, it fails, but it seems that the only purpose that the humans in this movie serve is to be flung around by devastating weather. Perhaps it’s a symbolic retribution for our hubris, excess and misogyny.

Bradford result: Remember in Taxi Driver when Travis Bickle says, “Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets”? Let chaos reign / rain! Pass.

(trailer No. 2) Observed plot summary: Title + dubstep = plot.

Bechdel results: This is the first trailer I’ve seen during this project that has two women talking to each other—Megan Fox and Whoopi Goldberg—but their conversation is about the turtles who, I think, are guys. Plus, this is a Michael Bay production. It should be called T.M.N.T.I.T.S. Fail.

Bradford results: I loved the T.M.N.T. comics and toys more than anything back in the day, and seeing such callous treatment of them Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com. makes me cry T.E.A.R.S. Fail.

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

26 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

‘how many of us are there?’

A roundup of some of the best no-badge-needed events for the Comic-Con crowd • by Susan Myrland

a

s Comic-Con grows in popularity, so do the options for those who couldn’t score a badge. Each year brings more parties, pop-ups, zombie walks and just plain weirdness.

The core of the universe is the San Diego Convention Center and the Gaslamp Quarter, but you can find events from Escondido to Eastlake. We’ve included a few that hold up to the Bechdel Test, or, at least, come close to involving more than one woman. For more, check the CityBeat events calendar, the SDCC Unofficial Blog (sdccblog.com) and Outside Comic-Con (outsidecomic con.com). There’s even a Facebook page aptly called San Diego Comic-Con Off Site Events 2014. Holy watershed!

Fans of the Canadian sci-fi TV series Orphan Black are multiplying before our eyes. They’ll gather for a CloneClub Meetup at Southpaw Social (815 J St., Downtown) from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, July 25. Come as your favorite character or get a Cosima makeover. Enjoy a Helena Buffet (there should be Jell-O) and dancing. Free. orphanblack.tumblr.com We have a massive girl crush on Felicia Day of Geek & Sundry, the YouTube series created by Day and her producing partners Kim Evey and Sheri Bryant.

Smart, funny and solidly indie, Geek & Sundry will set up shop at Jolt’n Joe’s Bar & Restaurant (379 Fourth Ave., Downtown) on July 24 and 25.

Enjoy a gaming lounge, previews of new shows and parties. Day events are allages, parties 21-andolder. Free. geekandsundry.com Chuck Jones Gallery (232 Fifth Felicia Day Ave., Downtown) has a full schedule of activities, including art demos, signings and visits with legendary animators. Of special note is Girls Drawin’ Girls, a collaborative of women artists rede-

Blackheart Burlesque fining the art of the pin-up. Join their party from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, July 24. It’s free and all-ages, but there will be an open bar, so RSVPs are strongly recommended. Artwork from Girls Drawin’ Girls and 6 Point Harness studios can be viewed from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., July 23 through July 27. girlsdrawingirls.com, facebook.com/ChuckJonesGallery The San Diego Symphony has three nights of Con-themed performances, beginning Thursday, July 24, with “Video Games Live,” music set to synchronized lighting and onstage game playing. Friday, July 25, features “Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton,” including the scores from Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and Batman. Saturday, July 26, has a widescreen showing of J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek film reboot with the symphony playing the soundtrack live and appearances by composer Michael Giacchino and actor John Cho (Sulu). Performances begin at 8 p.m. at Embarcadero Marina Park South. sandiegosymphony.org.

Speaking of Burton, there’ll be a costume walkabout from 8 to 10 p.m. Friday, July 25, featuring characters from Burton films and coordinated by cosplay veteran Lady Mari. The walkabout is free and all-

ages. Contact costumewalkabout@yahoo. com to join. costumewalkabout.weebly.com, sandiegosymphony.org The Zombie Walk is a Comic-Con tradition. Beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday, July 26, zombies gather at 180 First Ave., Downtown, to lurch, stagger, crawl and flop their way through the Gaslamp. You know, like a typical Saturday night. Free and all ages. Search Facebook for 8th Annual SDCC Zombiewalk.

Quite the opposite of zombie shambling, The Assassin’s Creed Experience promises a “huge French Revolution-inspired parkour course” across from the Convention Center.

Parkour pros will help you scale rooftops, vault over walls and survive a 25-foot Leap of Faith. Zombie parkour, anyone? assassinscreed.ubi.com SuicideGirls, the celebration of alternative beauty and outsider women, holds a geek fantasy show, Blackheart Burlesque, at House of Blues (1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown) on Saturday, July 26. There will be many pop-culture references and lots of skin. Doors open at midnight; show starts at 12:45 a.m. 18 and up. $30-$80. black heartburlesque.com.

And at Rebecca’s Coffeehouse (3015 Juniper St., South Park), songstress Marian Call puts on her annual Comic-Con “Geek Girl” show, this one featuring Molly Lewis.

It’s free, but an RSVP’s required—search for the event at eventbrite.com.

Here’s a quick round-up of more offsite events that don’t require a badge: Get the closest thing to a Con experience at the Petco Park Interactive Zone (sdccblog.com), run away from zombies in the Walking Dead Escape (thewalkingdeadescape.com), test out an Oculus Rift in the Sleepy Hollow Virtual Reality Experience and ride the Gotham Zipline from the Hilton Bayfront Hotel to the Convention Center (fox.com/ comic-con-2014). Stare down a 24-foot-tall Godzilla on the lawn behind the Convention Center (sdccblog.com), catch a panel discussion and game demos at Nerd HQ (thenerd machine.com/nerd-hq) or get even more gamey at Gam3rcon (gam3rcon.com).

For Chris Hardwick fans, there’s Nerdist Podcast Live! at the Balboa Theater (7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26, sandi egotheatres.org). See an exhibition of horror icon Clive Barker’s erotic artwork at Alexander Salazar Fine Art (1040 Seventh Ave., Downtown, opening reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 25). And over at Michael J. Wolf Fine Arts, there’s Art of the Geek, a tribute to “artists who have re-imagined the icons of pop culture” (363 Fifth Ave., Downtown, opening reception 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 23; on view through Sunday). Both Space4Art (sdspace4art.org) and the Wonder Bread Factory (facebook.com/artex posd) will also have Con-themed art on display (see Page 28 for details).

Or just settle into a Gaslamp café, sip a superhero-themed cocktail and watch the crowd. It’s the best entertainment—anytime, anywhere.

Walking Dead Escape

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Kinsee Morlan

Seen Local Pop-in-worthy pop-up

Comic-Con is a deep dive into obsession, and Mark Murphy’s obsessed with connecting artists to audiences. An independent curator, graphic designer, book publisher and college instructor, Murphy has curated 13 art shows during Comic-Con over the years.

For 2014, he pitched the NewSchool of Architecture and Design on a two-quarter course for its Media Design School of Digital Arts. Since March, a small team of students has Mark Murphy, in front of Debby and Larry Kline’s tank worked alongside him, learning how to recruit artists, to construct “Kiss Me You Fool,” an oversized, pixfind sponsors, rehab space and build a new mecha- elated image in bright colors. Each cube was solved nism for creative people to display their work. before being placed in the mosaic, a process that The result is ArtExpo—part pop-up gallery, part took 33 hours. commercial exhibit and part artist support group.

On the second floor of ArtExpo, visitors can chat Murphy calls it “an alternative creative fair.” with artists, watch painting demonstrations, attend a ArtExpo takes over a chunk of East Village’s book signing and browse booths filled with jewelry, Wonder Bread Factory (121 14th St.) from Thurs- graphic novels, prints and collectibles. day, July 24, through Saturday, July 26. The first floor Murphy expects to have more than 150 artists features 47 artists working in lowbrow, graphic nar- represented. rative, outsider and comic art.

ArtExpo fills the same niche as Berkeley-based Pieces created for the show include installations pop-up Tr!ckster, which is sitting Comic-Con out

by New York ceramicist Bonnie Marie Smith and this year. Both ventures provide a cozy, informal atSan Diego artists Kris Warren, Keenan Hartsten mosphere, a place to sip a local beer while discoverand Debby and Larry Kline. ing new artists.

The Klines wrapped a one-fourth-scale model All three days of ArtExpo are free to the public. tank in comics that illustrate stories gathered from lo- Thursday’s VIP event includes a talk with Pasadena cal military men and women, presenting them in the illustrator Mark Todd and a film premiere from visual language of heroism and strength. The Klines Houston artist JooYoung Choi. To register, search love to play with contrasts, balancing the harsh reality for #ArtExpoSD on Facebook and follow the instrucof war with the escapism of entertainment. tions, or register at the door.

Hartsten and Warren—who goes by theCU—Susan Myrland BEartist—used 510 Rubik’s-style “magic cubes”

Stay strange, Comic-Con Sam Lopez is most known for blurring the line between art and music through his ongoing Stay Strange series (staystrange.com), which presents avant-garde, experimental sounds to audiences at dive bars, libraries, parks and other venues.

For the first time ever, the performance artist, who makes noise-music under the name Zsa Zsa Gabor and carries around a sound-making “bag of tricks”—a backpack stuffed with large knives, a human skull and other nontraditional instruments—decided to tap into his community of artists and musicians and put together an outsider-art exhibition for the ComicCon crowd.

In his tiny studio in Mission Valley, Lopez is surrounded by wall-to-wall instruments and music equipment— both the standard variety and weird, hand-made noise machines. There’s art stacked atop the music gear, work by local artists that’s been trickling in for his upcoming Seal of Disapproval: Deviancy & Delinquency exhibition opening at 7 p.m.

Saturday, July 26, inside the backyard classroom at Space 4 Art (325 15th St., East Village).

Lopez picks up what looks like an electrical-outlet box, turns it on and delights in making strange noises come out of it. His attention eventually shifts to a hand-made book by his friend, artist M.J. Stevens, an illustrated series called Screwed-Up Super-

28 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

heroes. Lopez explains that the funny little book is the inspiration for the art show.

“The superheroes, there’s no real warrantable reason for their powers,” he laughs, flipping through the pages before stopping on a few of his favorite anti-heroes. “This guy, he’s the self-hitter. That’s his power; he Kinsee Morlan hits himself…. [The book is filled with] twisted superheroes who aren’t exactly your rock-solid kind of people.”

Several of Stevens’ newest drawings of atypical superheroes will hang in the show alongside abstracted, distorted, Francis Bacon-inspired portraits of superheroes and villains by the prolific painter Larry Caveney, an artist who made it his mission to complete at least one painting every day.

“There’s something wrong with them,” Lopez says, pointing to one of Caveney’s particularly creepy paintSam Lopez ings of Thor. “That’s interesting to see the cracked superhero, and it’s something that I wanted to focus on.”

Other artists who made new work to fit the deviant-superhero theme include Vanessa Martinez and TENSHUN. Shock performance artist XR will present a sound piece and sell limited-edition comic books. Suggested donation is $5.

—Kinsee Morlan Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Accounting for taste

Warner Brothers

This year’s box-office receipts are down, but 2015 looks to be a game-changer

by Glenn Heath Jr. The stampeding arrival of Comic-Con awakens the “think piece” in a lot of film writers.

Some preach the end of times, calling the annual four-day media extravaganza a death knell for modern culture. Others see it as the apex of creative publicity and geek fandom, a safe haven for fringe characters (both real and imagined) to flex their muscles. Many more opinions fall somewhere in between.

I’m more interested in the capitalistic zeitgeist spawned by Comic-Con than the event itself. Ever since Steven Spielberg rang the initial summerseason dinner bell with Jaws in 1975, box office has been an essential indicator for success in a movie’s lifespan. However inane, opening-weekend calculations dictate all. But the tide might be turning.

By all accounts, the summer-box-office season of 2014 has been a glaring disappointment. While things started off swimmingly in April with the Captain America sequel raking in the cash, it’s been a downward spiral ever since. In June, the website Box Office Mojo chalked up the low totals to the lack of a blockbuster in the vein of Iron Man 3 or The Dark Knight.

What was once a lot of money now pales in comparison. Despite making upwards of $200 million, films like The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Godzilla and How to Train Your Dragon 2 have all underperformed, according to analysts’ expectations. If that doesn’t convince you of how bloated studio production has become, nothing will. The rest of 2014, sans the next entry in the Hunger Games series and the final (thankfully) Hobbit film, looks pretty grim, too.

But those wishing for a paradigm shift and massive studio collapse, à la the late 1960s—this led to a renaissance in American filmmaking in the early 1970s—may need to slow their roll. The summer of 2015 looks like a safe bet to reinstall all the confidence Hollywood needs to keep churning out sequels, reboots and remakes at an alarming clip.

In fact, a year from now, fanboys might be in the midst of a mega-blockbuster onslaught, with each weekend unveiling a different monster on their targeted demographics. Fast & Furious 7 (April 3) gets the ball rolling, bringing a built-in fan base and a lot

Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road of publicity due to the untimely death of star Paul Walker. Adding director James Wan to the mix only amplifies the anticipation.

But muscle-car melodrama is only an appetizer for what’s sure to be the main course of the summer season, The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (May 1). The last film made $623 million domestically, and the sequel is primed to do even more business.

The most exciting release of summer 2015 is George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (May 15), starring Tom Hardy as the eponymous road warrior.

It’ll be interesting to see if modern audiences take to this dark dystopian series that hasn’t been around for three decades. This year’s Comic-Con attendees can get an early look in Hall H. Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland (May 22), starring George Clooney, will undoubtedly transcend its theme-park-ride title. This is the same filmmaker behind The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille.

Jurassic World (June 12), a reboot of The Fantastic Four (June 19) and Pixar’s Inside Out (June 19) storm the gates in succession, giving audiences a wicked combination of counter-programming.

Next July opens with Terminator: Genesis (July 1), back with Arnie in the lead, and continues with Marvel’s long-awaited Ant Man (July 17). The season goes out with a whimper with Assassin’s Creed (Aug. 1).

What’s the moral of the story? Despite having a lackluster—by comparison—go of things in 2014, the studios are masters at planning ahead. No matter how much I hate to admit it, we’re going to be stuck with this comic-book trend for a while.

Oh yeah, and I didn’t even mention a little-known movie that’s set for release in December 2015. It’s called Star Wars.

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

The craftsman

Land Ho!

“Good writing will lead you to good work.” Paul Eenhoorn has believed in this credo throughout a long acting career that started in his native Australia and eventually led him to Seattle.

Recently, he’s starting to see the fruits of nearly a lifetime of labor, gaining much-deserved attention for great performances in two independent films.

Not long ago, I wrote in these pages about Eenhoorn’s nuanced turn in This is Martin Bonner, a beautifully intimate drama that in-

troduced a lot of critics and viewers to his down-home compassion and yearning presence. Now he plays Colin, a retired banker who gets whisked away to Iceland by his human tornado of a friend Mitch (Earl Lynn Nelson) in Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens’ freewheeling road film Land Ho! In a phone interview from New York City, Eenhoorn speaks passionately about his experiences shooting the film on location: “It gave us a physical free-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30 July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

dom, a natural sense of where you were as an actor or character. It created a lot of intimacy.”

The film explores themes of transition, emotional release and friendship in a tender way. It hinges entirely on the chemistry of the actors.

“Opposites attract,” Eenhoorn muses about his rowdy co-star, a ragin’ Cajun who dominates every frame of the film. “Colin was developed in the shadow of Mitch.

I modified my performance to blend with Earl’s.”

Land Ho!—which opens Friday,

July 25, at La Jolla Village Cinemas—provides a quality alternative for older audiences underserved at the multiplex. “Baby boomers are tired of watching 20-year-olds onscreen,” Eenhoorn says. “We are spending all the dollars, so why not make films for us, too?”

Even more importantly, the film showcases Eenhoorn the craftsman, an actor whose dedication to the filmmaking process is driven and defined by the possibility of what amazing moment might happen next.

Opening

his life forever. Screens through July 31 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

A Most Wanted Man: Director Anton Corbijn (The American) adapts John le Carré’s famous novel about a web of spies operating in the shadowy confines of Hamburg, Germany.

Hercules: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson dons the sword, sandals and skimpy underwear to play the half-god at odds with his immortal brethren.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

And So it Goes: Michael Douglas plays a grumpy real-estate agent whose life is suddenly uprooted when he’s forced to care for his estranged granddaughter. It co-stars Diane Keaton.

I Origins: A molecular biologist (Michael Pitt) makes a discovery that could change the world, all while romancing his lab assistant. It’s directed by Mike Cahill (Another Earth) and co-stars Brit Marling and Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead).

Code Black: Director Ryan McGarry’s documentary takes viewers inside a notorious trauma bay in an inner-city emergency room that’s known as the “hurt locker of medicine.”

Land Ho!: Two old friends take a road trip through Iceland, hoping to find a new lease on life, in Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens’ quirky dramedy. See our review on Page 29.

The Empty Hours: When a teenager takes over his uncle’s small and cozy hotel on the coast of Vera Cruz, he meets a seductive older woman who changes

Lucy: Thanks to a drug-smuggling operation gone bad, Scarlet Johansson miraculously begins to use 100 percent of her brain and seeks revenge against the

30 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

bad guys who put her on the spot.

Mood Indigo: The sprightly world of Michel Gondry produces yet another fanciful and visually textured romance about a wealthy bachelor (Romain Duras) who tries to find a cure for his lover’s (Audrey Tautou) unusual disease. Screens through July 31 at the Ken Cinema.

Step Up: All In: Just dance already.

Sweet Dreams: Documentary about Rwanda’s only all-women drumming troupe, Ingoma Nshya, which decides to open the country’s first-ever ice-cream shop, thanks help from Brooklyn’s Blue Marble Ice Cream. Screens through July 30 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Very Good Girls: During their last summer together, two high-school friends (Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olson) decide to make a pact that both will lose their virginity before heading off to college.

One Time Only The Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson’s latest takes place in an opulent hotel set in a fictional Eastern European country right before World War I. Screens at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, at the Mission Valley Library.

Batman: Michael Keaton stars as the caped crusader who battles the evil Joker (Jack Nicholson) in Tim Burton’s gothic version of the famous D.C. comic.

Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, at Arclight La Jolla.

The Endless Summer: Two young surfers travel the world, following an everlasting summer, in Bruce Brown’s legendary documentary. Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, at Hillcrest Cinemas.

Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music: Documentary that uses photos, concert footage and interviews to explore the life and legacy of the famous singer.

Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Kick Ass: A teenager living in a crime-riddled city dons a mask and starts fighting back. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival: The “world’s largest gathering of fashion film professionals” returns from Thursday, July 24, through Saturday, July 26, at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s La Jolla location, showcasing film screenings, panels and, of course, fashion shows. Get details at ljfff.com.

who get trapped in an elevator after a terrorist attack cripples the government’s infrastructure. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 28, at San Diego Public Library in East Village.

Child of God: James Franco adapts Cormac McCarthy’s dark and disturbing character study about a depressed, violent man attempting to live outside normal society. A taped Q&A follows the screening, which starts at 7 p.m. Monday, July 28, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

1492: Conquest of Paradise: Gérard Depardieu plays Christopher Columbus in Ridley Scott’s big-budget telling of the “discovery” of the Americas. Screens at 8 p.m. Monday, July 28, at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park.

Crafting San Diego: Battle of the Breweries: Documentary that surveys the rapidly changing beer culture in San Diego. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 24, at Thorn St. Brewery in North Park.

Aliya: A French drug dealer tries to plan one last deal before heading to Israel for a new life. Screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, at the Point Loma / Hervey Branch Library.

The Lady Vanishes: Alfred Hitchcock’s British thriller kicks into gear when a woman disappears aboard a moving train, initiating a series of events that reveal a disturbing conspiracy. Screens at 8:30 p.m.

Thursday and Friday, July 24 and 25, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: Who needs school when you can spend your time dancing in downtown parades, driving fast cars and dining at posh restaurants?

Screens at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens in Point Loma’s Liberty Station.

When Harry Met Sally: Back when Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan were charming.

Remember that? Screens at 8:30 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, July 26 and 27, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

The Graduate: Mrs. Robinson, still seducing after all these years. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 30, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch: John Cameron Mitchell’s gonzo portrait of a transsexual punk rocker who travels from East Berlin to tour the United States.

Screens at midnight on Saturday, July 26, at the Ken Cinema.

For a complete listing

Alpha Alert: Thriller about three soldiers

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

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

s t a b Aqua The

are

saving

the

world!

read a positive message

Costumed ska heroes sp

T

by

P ete r H ols lin

here’s no band of superheroes quite like The Aquabats. Combining the crime-fighter charm of Adam West’s 1960s Batman with the sartorial flair of The Power Rangers, these Orange County oddballs have spent the past 20 years saving the world from an array of cartoonish monsters and villains.

In live shows and on their albums, they’ve rescued bowls of cereal from the clutches of Powdered Milk Man and fired a rocket into The Floating Eye of Death. On their TV show, The Aquabats! Super Show!, they’ve tamed an enormous, bug-eyed baby chicken and lifted a curse cast by the devious, blue-skinned Überchan.

Granted, these guys don’t exactly have Batman-quality physiques or utility belts with as many cool gadgets. And critics may balk at their relentlessly upbeat aesthetic: the cheerful melodies, the sillyverging-on-inane lyrics and the rampant overuse of exclamation points. But as lighthearted as they are, The Aquabats have also taken on real-world ills, such as the forces of cynicism and negativity. It’s no wonder why they command such a devoted global following.

“Being miserable and depressed and grumpy all the time, it hurts the world. It just does,” the group’s frontman, Christian Jacobs, aka The MC Bat Commander, tells CityBeat. “So, if you’re doing something that you’re having fun and you’re inviting people, you’re being inclusive and you’re smiling: ‘Come on out, let’s have a good time! Let’s wear stupid costumes and be

32 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

silly and make fun of ourselves!’ It’s simple, but it changes things. It changes attitudes. It helps the world.”

For some, the image of The Aquabats looms large in the imagination. Years before the advent of YouTube, they made their live show a multimedia experience, with video interludes, onstage battles, bopping beach balls and toddlers crowdsurfing on inflatable rafts. I have fond memories of seeing them live back in the early ’00s—the pogo-tastic horn hooks of their 1997 ska anthem “Super Rad!” still give me tingles. But the truth is, these guys are running a super-low-budget operation.

Their Santa Ana HQ consists of a small storage unit and a rehearsal studio, which the band shares with another group. The tours and shows are put together by them and a handful of staffers.

“Really, we’re doing the same thing we’ve always done. And that’s just kind of duct-taping a sheet to the wall and [taking] a bed lamp and pointing it towards us and shooting our own stuff,” says Jacobs, 42, whose trademark Bat Commander look includes a doodled mustache and a front tooth blacked out with Sharpie. “It’s kind of one of those things where there’s a lot of stuff that goes into success and making money, and it seems like a lot of times—like many record deals that you hear about— everyone else makes money but the people that actually make the thing.”

When they aren’t suited up in their helmets, goggles and bright-blue rash-guards, the Bat Commander and his comrades—

Christian Jacobs (center) leads the Aquabats under the name MC Bat Commander. bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), keyboardist / saxophonist Jimmy the Robot (James Briggs), drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir) and guitarist Eagle “Bones” Falconhawk (Ian Fowles)—work other jobs to pay the bills. But the Bats can always count on selling out their annual show at House of Blues, booked to coincide with Comic-Con. “I think the Comic-Con crowd is definitely an Aquabats crowd,” Jacobs says.

He’s even seen Aquabats cosplayers, though they usually don’t recognize him without his Bat Commander gear. “A lot of times I’ll stop them and go, ‘Hey, can I get a picture with you guys?’ And they’ll go, ‘Sure!’ But they’ll just think I’m some guy.”

As far as origin stories go, The Aquabats’ is unsurprisingly kooky. Jacobs had recently returned from a two-year stint in Japan—where he served as a Mormon missionary—and was doing videography for a skateboard company and playing music for fun when he and some buddies decided to form a giant band. For their first show, held at a party, their trumpet player brought helmets for everybody to wear, made out of material from the wetsuit company he worked for. The superhero

mythology snowballed from there.

“It was just a joke,” Jacobs says. “A joke that went way too far.”

In the years since, the band’s been through ups and downs, and the lineup is much smaller now than it used to be. But they’re still lighting up people’s hearts.

The kids love it, obviously. And older fans get joy out of it, too—sometimes in ways Jacobs never would’ve expected.

“When you get letters from people that say, ‘I was really depressed, and I was thinking about suicide, but then my friend introduced me to The Aquabats, and it changed my life,’” he says, pausing for a second to reflect, “it’s awesome. It’s really cool. But it feels weird, too. Like, really?

The Aquabats? We’re just goofing around.

“We aren’t meaning to change anybody’s life,” he adds. “We’re just having fun. But just being positive, smiling at someone, helping someone laugh—it helps people.”

And with that, the Aquabats’ fearless leader draws on his mustache, climbs into the Battletram and prepares for the next mission.

Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

notes from the smoking patio LIFE, and Maddock has a new band called Gletscher, who’ll perform at The Casbah on Aug. 1 with Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects.

Thibideau says Maddock’s return to the States could mean more than a temporary end to the band’s hiatus.

“Everyone has other music projects,” he says, “but we are excited to play Sleeping People shows when we can, which could be more often now!”

Locals Only

After an extended hiatus, long-running math-rock outfit Sleeping People are returning to the stage.

On Aug. 8, the band will play a headlining show at Whistle Stop Bar in South Park, marking the first time they’ll have performed together in two years. They played a handful of shows in August 2012 but were dormant for three years before that.

Bassist Kenseth Thibideau tells CityBeat in an email Late last week, All Access that part of the motivation for Music Group announced that playing together is that everylongtime 91X DJ Steve West one in the quartet will finally has left his radio-station home be in the same place at the of 31 years. West began worksame time.

Kenseth Thibideau (in back) ing at the station in 1983 and “It appears our guitarist and Sleeping People hosted the long-running ResJoileah [Maddock] is moving back to San Diego after years of living over in Swit- urrection Sunday program, which primarily featured zerland, which I think is the main reason we’ve been music from the new-wave and post-punk era of the on hiatus,” he says.

1980s. West, the last of the remaining original lineup Members of the band have kept busy with other of 91X DJs, has not yet announced his future plans. projects recently. Thibideau and drummer Bran—Jeff Terich don Relf both play in instrumental post-rock group

•••

Comic-(music)-Con Comic-Con hasn’t been exclusively about comics for a long time, but with the passing of each year, Comic-Con week becomes less about what happens inside the San Diego Convention Center.

A whole mess of venues will celebrate the arrival of the super-geeks with four days of Comic-Conthemed shows, some of which play up the nerd factor and some of which are only loosely connected.

Either way, there’s a lot of cool stuff happening during the course of those four days.

The Casbah will host 4 Nights of the Con from July 24 through 27, with headlining sets from Boris, Flying Lotus, The Muffs and Municipal Waste.

More about all of these shows can be found in this week’s “If I Were U,” on Page 34.

Likewise, The Aquabats will play their annual headlining show at House of Blues on Thursday, July 24; read Peter Holslin’s feature on Page 32 to learn more about the band.

If you’re looking for something with a bit more razzle-dazzle, Crave Online will host a party aboard the U.S.S. Midway on Friday, July 25, featuring performances by Grimes and MGMT. For horror aficionados and metalheads, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett will reunite with thrash-metal legends Exodus at F6ix, Downtown, on Friday, July 25, at the Fear FestEvil After Party. And if it’s a different, kitschier type of Satanism you seek, professor-and-robot band Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra will deliver their humorous theatrics, also on Friday, July 25, at Tin Can Ale House.

Those who prefer their live shows paired with some yuks can catch musical-comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates on Friday, July 25, at House of Blues. And on Saturday, July 26, House of Blues will host Suicide Girls’ Blackheart Burlesque, if you like your Comic-Con experience with a bit more skin.

And just in case these shows don’t scratch your nerd itch, MC Frontalot and MC Lars will head up the fourth annual Comic-Con Nerd a Thon at The Merrow on Friday, July 25; the San Diego Symphony will perform Video Games Live on Thursday, July 24; and musical-comedy duo Paul and Storm will perform at W00tstock at the Balboa Theatre on Thursday, July 24.

—Jeff Terich Garfunkel and Oates

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

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

if i were u

issue. The Tokyo trio plays a style of heavy rock music that takes influence from some unexpected elements and are a dynamic, super-loud live act. PLAN B: The Aquabats, Koo Koo Kanga Roo @ House of

BY Jeff Terich Blues. And see Page 32 in this week’s issue for Peter Holslin’s feature on cartoonish ska heroes The Aquabats, who are savWednesday, July 23 ing the world, one act of goofball positivity PLAN A: Matt Pryor, What’s Eating Gil- at a time. Sure, they’re a little silly, but it’s bert, The Josh Berwanger Band @ The best just to embrace it and Casbah. Back in the early ’00s, I listened to wear a shameless grin. a fair amount of emo while denying that any of it actually could be called “emo.” But who was I kidding? I was emo as fuck. Anyhow, Friday, July 25 the 18-year-old in me wants you to go see Get PLAN A: Peaking Lights, Up Kids frontman Matt Pryor and Anniver- Maria Minerva, M Gedsary frontman Josh Berwanger and just get des, Mirage @ The Casback in touch with that teen angst. PLAN B: bah. Psychedelic dub duo Erika Davies, The Midnight Pine @ Whis- Peaking Lights are a pecutle Stop Bar. The Midnight Pine are respon- liar group, but a good pesible for one of my favorite local recordings culiar, incorporating the of the year so far. In fact, Buried—their new rhythms and pulses of dub album—is probably one of the better albums into a dream-pop sound. you’ll hear from any city this year. So go see They’re opening for the amazing Flying them at this intimate show featuring local Lotus, who’s guaranteed to rock a surrealist jazz-influenced singer Erika Davies. BACK- party with his space-age beats and bleeps.

UP PLAN: Gilbert Castellanos Jazz Jam PLAN B: The White Buffalo, Johnny Two Bags @ The North Park Theatre. The featuring Bruin @ Seven Grand.

White Buffalo, aka singer / songwriter Jake Smith, has been a rising star in alt-country Thursday, July 24 in the past year, thanks in large part to havPLAN A: Boris, Mustard Gas and Roses ing his songs appear in Sons of Anarchy. @ The Casbah. If you missed it, go back Marketing decisions aside, he’s got a rugged and read my feature on Boris in last week’s and rustic sound that’s well worth seeking

34 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

out. BACKUP PLAN: Gloomsday, Shiva Casbah. You might have noticed four straight nights of awesome shows at The Trash @ Whistle Stop Bar. Casbah this week, all of which coincide with Comic-Con, as it turns out. And the Saturday, July 26 last one is a particular ass-kicker, featuring PLAN A: The Burning of Rome, Sanguin- crossover thrash band Municipal Waste. If drake, MURSIC, Spero @ Brick by Brick. you ever got into bands like D.R.I. or just Brick by Brick lives! The newly reopened play Slayer’s Reign in Blood on the regular, Bay Park venue has lined up a long list of then don’t miss this show. impressive bands to christen its new phase, including local favorites The Burning of Rome. Monday, July 28 Their new album, Year of PLAN A: Thee Oh Sees, Tomorrow’s the Ox, is pretty badass, Tulips @ Belly Up Tavern. Thee Oh Sees so I don’t see how those frontman John Dwyer said last year that songs wouldn’t kick ass on the band was probably going to slow down stage, too. PLAN B: The or go on hiatus. Well, that didn’t really Muffs, The Loons, The happen. They’re still touring, producing Touchies @ The Casbah. great psychedelic garage rock and putThe Muffs’ Kim Shattuck ting most other bands to shame. BACKUP was briefly a member of PLAN: Au Revoir Simone, Dresses, The the Pixies last year before Lower 48. getting kicked out without Peaking Lights notice or cause. But considering how bad their new songs are, she Tuesday, July 29 probably dodged a bullet. Her other band, PLAN A: Griever, Deep Sea Thunder The Muffs, is still making fun power-pop Beast, Pissed Regardless, I Trust You to that’s certainly worth the price of admission. Kill Me @ The Casbah. Local hardcore baBACKUP PLAN: Hills Like Elephants, dasses Griever said they were working on a new album last year, and though it hasn’t River City, Soft Lions @ Soda Bar. materialized yet, there’s a good chance it’ll be awesome. And they’re just one of four bands Sunday, July 27 worth the eardrum wreckage that’ll occur PLAN A: Municipal Waste, To the at this stellar showcase. BACKUP PLAN: Point, Witchhaven, Eukaryst @ The AAN, Des Ark, Citrus @ Soda Bar.

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 35

HOT! NEW! FRESH! G.B.H. (Casbah, 9/9), The Avengers (Casbah, 9/19), Blue Man Group (Civic Theatre, 10/3), Perfume Genius (Soda Bar, 10/17), D.R.I. (Brick by Brick, 10/18), Offenders (Soda Bar, 10/20), Grieves (Porter’s Pub, 10/21), Daedelus (Soda Bar, 10/23), Rhye (North Park Theatre, 11/6), The Wytches (Soda Bar, 11/11), Cold War Kids (BUT, 11/19), Jerrod Niemann (HOB, 11/20), Mannheim Steamroller (Civic Theatre, 12/28).

GET YER TICKETS Arcade Fire (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/5), The Fresh and Onlys (Casbah, 8/18), The Zombies (HOB, 8/20), Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/21), Built To Spill (The Irenic, 8/23), The Murder City Devils (The Irenic, 8/25), Buzzcocks (HOB, 9/18), Andrew Bird (Humphreys, 9/19), Drake, Lil Wayne (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/20), Lykke Li (North Park Theatre, 9/22), Temples (BUT, 9/27), The Gaslight Anthem, Against Me! (HOB, 9/30), DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist (HOB, 10/1), Pinback (HOB, 10/4), Chromeo (SOMA, 10/8), Twin Shadow (BUT, 10/9), The Horrors (BUT, 10/13), Washed Out (North Park Theatre, 10/16), The New Pornographers (BUT, 10/18), Metronomy (BUT, 10/19), Charli XCX (HOB, 10/21), Tinariwen (BUT, 10/21), The Afghan Whigs (BUT, 10/24), Daryl Hall and John Oates (Open Air Theatre, 10/25), New Politics (HOB, 10/30), Death From Above 1979 (HOB, 11/12), Blonde Redhead (HOB, 11/15), The

36 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

Misfits (HOB, 11/16), Psychedelic Furs, The Lemonheads (BUT, 11/17).

July Wednesday, July 23 Doug Benson at House of Blues. Matt Pryor at The Casbah.

Thursday, July 24 Tori Amos at Humphreys. OK Go at Belly Up Tavern. Boris at The Casbah. The Aquabats at House of Blues.

Friday, July 25 Goo Goo Dolls at Harrah’s Resort. Guttermouth at Soda Bar. Jason Cruz and the Howl at Porter’s Pub. The Cult at Del Mar Racetrack.

Saturday, July 26 Say Anything at House of Blues. Donavon Frankenreiter at Harrah’s Resort. Slightly Stoopid at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. Kevin Gates at Porter’s Pub. The Muffs at The Casbah. Emily’s Army at House of Blues. The Burning of Rome at Brick by Brick.

Sunday, July 27 Municipal Waste at The Casbah. Dierks Bentley at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

Monday, July 28 Au Revoir Simone at The Casbah. Thee Oh Sees at Belly Up Tavern.

Tuesday, July 29 Foxy Shazam at Belly Up Tavern.

Wednesday, July 30 John Hiatt at Belly Up Tavern. Kidz Bop Kids at House of Blues.

Thursday, July 31 The Hold Steady at Belly Up Tavern. Blu at The Casbah.

August Friday, Aug. 1 Devin the Dude at Porter’s Pub. Neon Trees at Del Mar Racetrack. Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects at The Casbah.

The Coathangers at Soda Bar.

Saturday, Aug. 2

Saturday, Aug. 9 Counting Crows at Del Mar Racetrack.

The Good Life at The Casbah. Sara Bareilles at Open Air Theatre. Toad the Wet Sprocket at Belly Up Tavern.

Sunday, Aug. 10 Crocodiles at The Casbah. Rx Bandits at House of Blues. Those Darlins at Soda Bar.

Monday, Aug. 11 The Head and the Heart at North Park Theatre. Steve Gunn at Soda Bar.

Tuesday, Aug. 12 Imelda May at Belly Up Tavern.

Miniature Tigers at Soda Bar. Xeno & Oaklander at The Hideout. Weezer at Del Mar Racetrack. The Budos Band at The Casbah.

Tuesday, Aug. 5 Arcade Fire at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

Wednesday, Aug. 6 Arctic Monkeys at Open Air Theatre. ExCult at Til-Two Club.

Thursday, Aug. 7 Lynyrd Skynyrd at Humphreys.

Friday, Aug. 8 Steel Pulse at Del Mar Racetrack.

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic, open jam. Thu: Live band karaoke.

Fri: Russell and Brian Barbarin (5 p.m.); Open Arms, Paper Lanterns (9 p.m.). Sat: Brothers Gow. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Battle of the bands.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Thu: Marissa Rose. Fri: ‘Tribute to Eric Dolphy’ w/ The Antar Martin Aggregation. Sat: The Robert Dove Sextet. Sun: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

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

Wed: Deathsquad Supershow. Thu-Sat: Judah Friedlander. Sun: Michael Yo. Tue: Open mic.

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

Thu: Wooden Wisdom. Fri: Lee K. Sat: Bixel Boys.

Sunday, Aug. 3 Prince Royce at House of Blues. Josh Abbott Band at Belly Up Tavern. Shannon and the Clams at The Casbah.

rCLUBSr

Foxygen Wednesday, Aug. 13 Foxygen at Belly Up Tavern.

Thursday, Aug. 14 Black Kids at The Casbah.

Friday, Aug. 15 The Helio Sequence at The Casbah.

Chrome at Tower Bar.

Saturday, Aug. 16 Sonics at The Irenic. The Angry Samoans at Brick by Brick.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Wed: ‘HAM’ w/ DJ L. Thu: Okapi Sun, Ishi. Fri: ‘Bonkers Dance Party’. Sat: The Montalban Quintet. Sun: DJ Ratty. Mon: Tori Roze and the Hot Mess.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla. brocktonvilla.com/beaumonts.html. Wed: Sando. Thu: Trent Hancock. Fri: Scratch.

Sat: Rhythm Authority. Sun: Todd Pyke.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Jimmy Cliff, DJ Carlos Culture (sold out). Thu: OK GO, Miles Hendrik. Fri: Wild Child, Jumping Jack Flash. Sat: Pine Mountain Logs,

CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

July 23, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 37

Horn If You’re Honky. Sun: Vaud and the Villains. Mon: Thee Oh Sees, Tomorrow’s Tulips. Tue: Foxy Shazam, Stop Light Observation, The Nervous Wreckords.

Bluefoot Bar & Lounge, 3404 30th St, North Park. bluefootsd.com. Wed: VJ JK. Thu: Mike Face. Fri: DJs Julz, Kev Mighty.

Sat: ‘Rhythm and Bass’ w/ Capitol.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave, Carlsbad. boarcrossn.net. Thu: Trouble in the Wind.

Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Bourbon Street, 4612 Park Blvd, University Heights. bourbonstreetsd.com. Wed: VJ K Swift. Thu: ‘Wet’. Fri: Rob Deez and Kenny Eng. Sun: ‘Soiree’. Tue: Karaoke.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Thu: ‘Muscle’. Fri: ‘Brown Sugar’. Sat: DJs XP, KA. Sun:

‘Noche Romantica’ w/ Daisy Salinas.

Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Thu: Drum Wars.

Fri: PHILM, Symbolic, Sight Unscene, Nukem. Sat: The Burning of Rome, SanguinDrake, Mursic, Spero.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Wed: Aro Di Santi. Thu & Sat: Malamana. Fri: Joeff and Co. Sun: Oscar Aragon.

Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Clairemont. thecomedypalace.com.

Thu: Ace Guillen. Fri-Sat: Erikka Innes.

Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St, La Jolla. lajolla.thecomedystore.com. Fri: Jason Collings. Mon: Jeff Ross Presents Roast

Battle.

tors, Creeps AD, Nuclear Tomorrow.

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

Thu: Danny Green Trio.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: JG Duo. Thu: 4-Way Street. Fri: Pat Ellis and Blue Frog Band. Sat: In Midlife Crisis. Sun: Gene Warren. Tue: JG Duo.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. dizzyssandiego.com. Fri: Tribute Rebels.

Epicentre, 8450 Mira Mesa Blvd, Mira Mesa. epicentreconcerts.org. Fri: Seaway, Stick Up Kid, Candy Hearts, Driver Friendly, With Age, Short Stories. Sat: SCION, Blackcast, Until The Sunrise, Full Moons Eve. Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: ‘IDGAF’ w/ Deniz Koyu.

Sat: DJs Sid Vicious, Rico De Largo.

Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave, Ocean Beach. 619-222-5303. Wed: Trunk Slammers. Thu: King Scha Scha. Fri: Full Moon Fever, DJ Arox. Sat: CJ’s Rock n Roll Explosion. Sun: Cool Band Luke.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown. henryspub.com. Wed: Johnny Tarr, DJ Christopher London. Thu: Mark Fisher, DJ Yodah. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: ‘Rock Star Saturday’. Mon: ‘Kinetic Soul’. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Wed: ‘Doug Loves Movies’ w/ Doug Benson.

Thu: The Aquabats. Fri: Garfunkel and Oates. Sat: Say Anything, The Front Bottoms, The So So Glos, You Blew It!. Tue: Tye Tribbett.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Wed: Maztek.

Thu: ‘DeepHaus’. Fri: ‘Return of Hype’.

Sat: Artificial Intelligence. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave, Kensington. 619-284-2848. Fri: Tribula-

38 · San Diego CityBeat · July 23, 2014

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. numberssd.com. Thu: ‘Varsity’. Fri: ‘Uncut’. Sat: ‘Club Sabbat’. Sun: ‘Joe’s Gamenite’.

Onyx Room / Thin, 852 Fifth Ave, Downtown. onyxroom.com. Fri: ‘Rumba Lounge’. Sat: ‘Play Saturday’.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: The Rayford Brothers. Thu: The Bill Magee Blues Band. Fri: The Hit List. Sat: Mystique Element of Soul. Sun: Trey Tosh. Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Walter’s Chicken Jam. Porter’s Pub, 9500 Gilman Dr., UCSD campus, La Jolla. porterspub.net. Thu: Vince staples, Audio Push, Skeme. Fri: Jason Cruz and The Howl, The Darlings, The Pullmen, Plane Without a Pilot, Nothinghead. Sat: Kevin Gates.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed-Thu: DJ Kiki.

Fri: DJs Marcel, QooLee Kid. Sat: DJ Taj. Sun: DJ QooLee. Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave, La Mesa. rivierasupperclub.com.

Thu: Chickenbone Slim. Fri: Three Chord Justice. Sat: Lightning Train. Sun: Lightning Train.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd. Wed: Gilbert Castellanos Jazz Jam w/ Bruin. Fri: Soul Organization. Sat: Jimmy Ruelas.

Tue: Miss Tess and The Talkbacks, Cleopatra Degher.

Shakedown Bar, 3048 Midway Drive,

Point Loma. theshakedownsd.com. Thu: Timothy H, Fish Tacos. Fri: Never Pass Go. Side Bar, 536 Market St, Downtown. sidebarsd.com. Wed: ‘Super Hero Party’. Thu: ‘Divino Thursday’. Sat: DJ Slowhand. Sun: ‘Five/Ten’.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: Birds of Chicago, The Lovebirds. Thu: Sir Daniel, Third Eye Command, DJ Woody the Homewrecker. Fri: Guttermouth, Western Settings, The Dirty Nil, Skipjack. Sat: Hills Like Elephants, River City, Soft Lions. Sun: The Tontons, Tiger and the Teller, Marqay.

Mon: Moonshine, The Major Minus, China Clippers. Tue: AAN, Des Ark, Citrus.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Fri: A Distant Calm, Kardashev, Roar Like Me, Resomation.

Sat: Irieality, Project Out Of Bounds, Sound Lupus, Seedheads, Revival, Melapelus.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St, Midtown. spinnightclub.com. Fri: ‘Invaded by Unicorns’.

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

Fri: Disco Pimps, DJ Slynkee. Sat: Hott Mess, DJ Miss Dust. Mon: Karaoke.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego, Normal Heights. sycamoreden.com.

Fri: City Tribe. Tue: Horrible Present.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd, Spring Valley. 619-469-2337. Thu: Le Ra, Bixby Knolls, Tactical Fever, Dead Ghosts. Fri: Pentagrams and Daisies, Fictitious Dishes, International Dipshit, Badabing. Sat: GUIDES, Sound Lupus, Buddy Banter, Causers.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: Matt

Pryor, What’s Eating Gilbert, The Josh Berwanger Band. Thu: Boris, Mustard Gas and Roses. Fri: Flying Lotus, Peaking Lights, Maria Minerva, M Geddes, Mirage. Sat: The Muffs, The Loons, The Touchies. Sun: Municipal Waste, To The Point, WitchHaven, Eukaryst. Mon: Au Revoir Simone, Dresses, The Lower 48. Tue: Griever, Deep Sea Thunder Beast, Pissed Regardless, I Trust You to Kill Me. The Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. thechecafe.blogspot.com. Tue: SPRAYNARD, Sledding With Tigers, Colossal Wrecks.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. thehideoutsd.com. Thu: ‘Girlz’.

Fri: Bedroom DJs. Sun: Karaoke.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. themerrow.com. Thu: For We Are Friends, Stephen and Zooey, Serovox.

Fri: MC Frontalot, MC Lars, Schˆ⁄ffer the Darklord, Dr. Awkward, Devil’s Playground Burlesque, Chamber Band. Sat: Gotham Vixens Burlesque Show. Sun: Karaoke.

Tue: Kilovirga, Oliver Trolley.

The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: ‘Dub Dynamite’ w/ DJs Rashi, Eddie Turbo. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs Adam Salter, Kid Wonder. Mon: ‘The Rolling Stones: Under Cover’.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Fri: ‘Sleepwalking’. Sat: Marky Ramone, Gizelle, The Black Mambas. Mon: Karaoke.

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

Wed: Hello Penelope, Ranger, Creature and the Woods. Thu: Lazy Cobra, Red Wizard, Supersonic Dragon Wagon. Fri: Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, Sarah Donner, Birdie Rae. Sat: Sensory Station, Pictures of Eden, Opus of Era. Mon: ‘Tin Can Country Club’. Tue: Swim Team, Joyce, Fighting With Irons.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Thu: The Little Kings. Fri: Wild Nite. Sat: Sol Sacrifice. Tue: SD Cajun Playboys.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Fri: Rattle Rockin’ Boys, The Firecrackers. Sat: Nukem, Infernal Conjuration, Memory, Christ Killer.

Tue: Gary Hankins, Michael Dean Damron, Fernando Viciconte, Travis La Brei.

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

Wed: Tomcat Courtney (7 p.m.). Thu: The Jade Visions Jazz Trio (7 p.m.). Fri: Moonlight Miles (4 p.m.); Gabriela Aparicio (6 p.m.); Afro Jazziacs (9 p.m.). Sat: Vera Cruz Blues (4 p.m.); Tomcat Courtney (7 p.m.); Son Pa Ti (9 p.m.). Sun: Sounds Like Four (4 p.m.); Big Boss Bubale (7 p.m.). Mon: Stefanie Schmitz (7 p.m.).

Tue: Grupo Global (7 p.m.).

Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Wed: Hocus, Shady Franco, Glass Spells, DJ Pocket. Thu: Inxec, Jon Dadon, Jimbo James, Mike Lepiere. Fri: Lee Churchill.

West Coast Tavern, 2895 University Ave, North Park. westcoatstavern.com. Wed: DJ Este. Thu: DJ Qenoe. Fri: Billy the Kid. Sat: DJ JLouis. Tue: DJ Decon.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: Erika Davies, Midnight Pine. Thu: ‘Astro Jump’ w/ Kill Quanti DJs. Fri: Gloomsday, Shiva Trash.

Sat: ‘Yacht Rock’ w/ DJ Claire (5 p.m.); ‘Booty Bassment’ (9 p.m.). Sun: DJ Handsome Skeleton.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Vagabond Swing. Fri: Banyan. Sat: DJ Logic, The Earful. Sun: Smokey Hoof.

Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band.

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