San Diego CityBeat • Aug 5, 2015

2 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Politics creep into Ethics Commission

T

HERE’S A POWER STRUGGLE going on nominated are being put forth for political reasons.” for control of the city of San Diego’s Ethics Advocacy groups are calling for change in the Commission. The injection, and even just nomination process, and believe amending the the perception, of politics into the appointcity’s municipal code to allow, for example, a panel ment of new board commissioners is a bad seed. of retired judges to somehow choose commission The unfolding drama focuses on three commisboard members would help eliminate political sioner nominees who have either received Ethics gamesmanship.

Commission fines (Republican Bill Baber, DemoFormer city councilmember Donna Frye made a crat Xavier Martinez) or argued in court against the similar suggestion years ago. commission on behalf of a politician (Republican “I saw this coming,” says Frye, now president Bob Ottilie, defending City Councilmember Marti of Californians Aware. “And now this high level Emerald in what was an epic battle). of drama has got to stop. It’s causing harm, and it Ethics Commission Executive Director Stacey doesn’t serve the public interest. Get rid of the mayFulhorst recently took the highly unusual step of or and city council participating in the appointment criticizing Ottilie during a meeting with the San of people who are going to provide enforcement acDiego Union-Tribune editorial board. She said she’d tions on you. That is not the best thing to do.” quit if Ottilie was named to her board, and she added The Ethics Commission had managed to remain that staff and other board members would quit, too. largely apolitical for the first decade of its existence.

No one should argue that the com(However, two former board chairBENGT NYMAN / FLICKR mission hasn’t done what it was creatmen, including Gil Cabrera, currently ed to do. The independent entity was running for City Attorney, were denied formed in 2001 following a scandal reappointment to the commission althat saw City Councilmember Valerie legedly due to “politics.”)

Stallings resign after pleading guilty The municipal code states that the to receiving unreported gifts from formakeup of the seven-member board mer Padres owner John Moores. must include at least one person who Led by Fulhorst, the Ethics Comhas run for office/worked at a high mission has since provided assidulevel in a campaign, two lawyers in ous oversight of campaign disclosures good standing with the bar, and not filed by politicians and candidates. more than three members of one Fulhorst does not report to the mayor political party (meaning at least one or the city council. However, councilmember must not be a Republican or Donna Frye a Democrat). members individually nominate her board members. The mayor picks his nominees “When this was first set up, the point was to from the council’s long list. The whole council then not allow people to use the commission for politivotes to confirm the mayor’s choices. cal vendettas,” says Frye. “It couldn’t ever look like Is politics in play? It sure looks like it. A growfines were issued because of political payback. If ing chorus of observers and candidates who’ve that becomes a reality, or even a perception, that is a problem.” run for elected office believe the Ethics CommisA change in the way nominees are brought forsion focuses too heavily on minor clerical errors ward can only come from a member of the city on campaign disclosures that should be considered council. Councilmember David Alvarez is proud mistakes and not ethical breaches. It’s feared that of his four current nominees but is “willing to cona nominee who’s previously been in a dispute with sider reforms.” the commission might opine that it’d be prudent to The public, emphasizes Frye, needs to let all coungo easier on somebody (or even a political crony) cilmembers know San Diego doesn’t want politics in flagged by the commission for campaign violations. play within the independent Ethics Commission.

Frederick Kosmos, a Republican lawyer who was nominated for commissioner by City Attorney —Ron Donoho Jan Goldsmith, is “concerned some of the persons Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com This issue of CityBeat is made out of farm-raised, grass-fed rat meat.

Volume 13 • Issue 52 EDITOR Ron Donoho MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich ARTS EDITOR Kinsee Morlan STAFF WRITER Joshua Emerson Smith WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza

CONTRIBUTORS David L. Coddon, Seth Combs, Beth Demmon, Andrew Dyer, Tiffany Fox, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Peter Holslin, Jessica Johnson, Scott McDonald, Jenny Montgomery, Susan Myrland, Chad Peace Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Tom Siebert, Jen Van Tieghem, Amy Wallen PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse PRODUCTION ARTIST Rees Withrow MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia

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San Diego CityBeat is published and distributed every Wednesday by Southland Publishing Inc., free of charge but limited to one per reader. Reproduction of any material in this or any other issue is prohibited without written permission from the publisher and the author. Contents copyright 2015.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

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Up Front | Letters

PRO ON POT “Banking on Bud” [July 15], and “Dispensary Daze” [July 8] in CityBeat’s Upfront News section personify the social and legal barriers marijuana advocates still face in the wake of national support. A Pew Research Center survey found 53 percent of Americans now favor legalization. Yet, as you reported in the former article, Zachary Lazarus of A Green Alternative, our city’s first permitted dispensary, can’t write company checks and has to take extreme security precautions because of bankers’ fears of federal drug laws’ fiduciary implications.

In “Dispensary Daze,” a budtender’s soliloquy about working in unsanctioned dispensaries as told to Alex Roth, neither the speaker’s name nor any of the business’ names are revealed, presumably out of fear of retribution.

In a country where, if legally obtained and not tied to a crime, it is legal for a Los Angeles resident to own 1,200 guns and 2 tons of ammo and beer drinkers don’t have to feign medical need, I am an outlaw for smoking a joint purely for recreational purposes? Reportedly, alcohol is involved in 40 percent of violent crimes and 75 percent of spousal abuse incidents.

Lunatics like Dylan Roof are free to openly purchase weapons and ammunition. A recent University of Texas at Dallas study found no link between pot smoking and violent crime. Since Colorado legalized marijuana consumption, The Denver

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Post has published articles citing decreases in burglaries and robberies to that city’s dispensaries.

Of the 47 percent of Americans favoring continued criminalization of cannabis, the most popular justification is the danger marijuana poses to people and society. Hello, I’m not Jesse James; I’m your neighbor.

Gerald Vanderpot, North Park

MORE INTERRUPTING Thank you Aaryn Belfer for writing such an amazing article on how to be an “interrupter” [A white person’s guide to activism, July 22]. I am a 56-year-old AfricanAmerican woman and saw your article posted by a friend on Facebook. I have found very few written pieces as powerful as yours over the last year of never-ending cases covered in the media of police brutality, corruption and racism. Of course, I know these crimes against humanity are not new but I am glad that voice has been given by people like you to those who can no longer speak for themselves.

Your article touched on so many important ideas of how people can make a difference in their behavior, their speech, their awareness and their efforts to teach others. I was just overwhelmed at the clarity and the necessity of this “guide.” You cut through a lot of distracting language and cloudy ideas that even the most well meaning people hide behind to present the most cogent and

direct suggestions on how to make a real difference now and in the future.

I could go on...in gratitude...about how your piece touched my heart. But I mostly want to say “thank you” for taking the time to think about, recognize and synthesize these most important ways to contribute awareness, sensitivity and human decency to the national crisis at hand.

Cecelia Hobbs Gardner Teaneck, NJ

THIS ONE HIT HOME I normally do not enjoy Aaryn Belfer’s Backwards And In High Heels, column because I just simply do not understand her writing style. It’s either over my head or under my feet. I can’t tell which.

Her [“A white person’s guide to activism”] column on July 22 really hit home for me. I remember, year by year, throughout the ’80s and into the early ’90s watching Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have A Dream speech in mid-January every year. I even own a copy of the speech on a pamphlet that was given out to anti-war protesters in San Francisco in 2003.

I took it for granted as a child that this speech was as important and taken as seriously as any great speech from any American throughout U.S. history.

Sadly, as I learned as I grew older, few white adult parents of children sit and distill this kind of wisdom to a younger generation. I’m grateful to my parents for doing

so. When was the last time anyone broadcast that speech on T.V. or radio?

I also want to quickly comment on the “Hooked On A Hook Up” letter from July 15. Randy, man, I also do not enjoy Aaryn’s column but your ranting letter is so close to the hate-speech that Belfer has dedicated her column to that one has to wonder if you’re just another racist, woman-hating, half-brain sporting a Trump for V.P. tshirt. You Suck. You are just a mean person.

Benny A. McFadden, Downtown San Diego

On the

Cover RACE GAINS I just wanted to personally thank Aaryn Belfer for “getting it.”[A white person’s guide to activism,” July 22]. I could go on This week’s illustration forever on this photo topic, but suffice towas say I pulled the together CityBeat artand directhought articleby was insightful most tor Carolyn Thepeople creation of certainly couldRamos. help give a path concept that illustrated ifathey sincerely want to see“misundera more just stood foods” was not an easy task. But America. armed with herFacebook drawing page materials, a I went your and was camera and some freshby pastries, Ramos even more encouraged the things I saw cooked up a winner. there in reference to race and how to en-

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

UP FRONT | NEWS

Battle for the spoils of downtown development

by Joshua Emerson Smith

Y

OU DIDN’T EVEN come say ‘Hi,’” Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez goaded former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders last month as the two sat in front of the state Senate’s Governance and Finance committee.

Sanders, president of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, looked over his shoulder and flashed a tightlipped smile back at the former labor leader. She chuckled; the mood was icy.

Traveling with Sanders to the state Capitol was a group of San Diego’s politically powerful and business elite, including representatives from Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s office and the Downtown San Diego Partnership.

The group had flown up for the committee hearing with one goal: to kill ��������� Gonzalez����������������� ’s Assembly Bill 504, ������������������ which, if approved, would increase oversight of Civic San Diego, the nonprofit to which the city has outsourced its permitting and planning authority for downtown.

The most recent version of the bill would require projects approved by Civic San Diego to be appealable to the City Council if a development includes at least 25,000 square feet of commercial space or at least 50 residential units or hotel rooms.

“The passage of this legislation will not only eliminate the process that’s incentivized billions of dollars of private investment in our urban center,” Sanders said at the committee hearing, “it will put our downtown at a disadvantage to the rest of the city.”

Efforts to thwart Gonzalez’s bill have been nothing short of aggressive. The M��� ayor’s office has gone so far as to suggest the

6 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

bill could put basic city services at risk.

“If passed, this proposal will result in a more onerous project process,” said Charles Chamberlayne, the mayor’s press secretary, “and it will hurt communities who deserve park improvements, fire and police upgrades and much-needed economic development.”

From May 15 to the end of June, the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown San Diego Partnership paid Mercury Public Affairs $21,250 to lobby specifically against AB 504, according to disclosure reports.

By comparison, from January through March, the chamber spent roughly $24,000 lobbying on 37 different bills and resolutions—or an average of $650 per item. In that same quarter, the Downtown San Diego Partnership spent nothing on Sacramento lobbyists.

“It’s a huge mistake to put up obstacles and create uncertainty in a development process that has worked exceptionally well for the downtown community, but that’s exactly what AB 504 will do,” ������������� said Kris Michell,���������������������������������� the Downtown Partnership’s president and CEO. Despite opposition, the bill sailed smoothly out of committee. After the Legislature resumes session in mid-August, it will go to a vote by the full Senate. The deadline for the Legislature to pass bills is Sept. 11.

San Diego is the only city in California that outsources permitting and planning functions to a nonprofit. The city not only funds Civic San Diego, the mayor appoints its president as well as eight of its nine board directors.

Followed by supportive testimony from regional union leaders, Gonzalez argued

before the Senate committee that the bill was necessary because Civic San Diego had frozen labor, and other members of the public, out of its planning process.

“What I want in San Diego is what all of you have had already in your own cities,” she said at the hearing. “To suggest that San Diego’s development somehow… would stop because it could be appealed to the City Council is almost ludicrous when you look at the downtown development in Los Angeles, subject to community benefits agreements, subject to appeal of the City Council.”

Right now, major landuse decisions made by Civic San Diego are often only appealable to its board, which deals almost exclusively with design aesthetics. Wider discussions around things like labor practices, job quality and increasing affordable housing are considered outside the agency’s purview.

Brigette Browning, president of Unite Here Local 30, a labor union representing thousands of immigrant hotel workers, said she wants to be able to discuss major downtown projects at the City Council.

“If tourism is one of the biggest revenue generators in the city of San Diego, it makes no sense to me that we have a process where we can’t even talk about the kind of jobs that we’re creating,” she said.

At the same time, the Downtown Community Planning Council, which routinely Write to joshua@sdcitybeat.com or follow works with Civic San Diego on projects, him on Twitter @jemersmith.

“

...we can’t even talk about the kind of jobs that we’re creating.

“

Legislation would subject Civic San Diego to city appeals process

has opposed the appeals process laid out in the bill. Chair Pat Stark said Civic San Diego has been “responsive” to community needs.

“I could see how someone could feel they don’t have the opportunity to change a project and impose some condition,” he said. “I just think there should be a different mechanism it ought to go through to get there.”

Rebranded in 2012, Civic San Diego— formerly known as the Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC)—was tasked with winding down redevelopment after the program’s dissolution under Gov. Jerry Brown.

In an effort to avoid phasing out the new agency with redevelopment, officials successfully applied for federal new-market tax credits and proposed expanding Civic San Diego’s planning authority into several economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, including City Heights and Encanto.

However, during embattled Mayor Bob Filner’s short term in office, in 2013, he appointed several left-leaning community leaders to Civic San Diego’s board of directors. Previously dominated by land-use attorneys working for developers, the nonprofit’s board quickly became embroiled in a fight over its fundamental mission.

Director Murtaza Baxamusa, who works for the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council’s Family Housing Corporation, was part of a board coalition that argued any project receiving public tax credits should be subject to a so-called community-benefits policy to guide development.

After a failed effort by the coalition and social-justice groups to impose a binding benefits policy on the agency, Baxamusa filed a lawsuit, funded by labor, demanding increased oversight of the agency and calling into question the legality of outsourcing the city’s planning authority.

“For [the Chamber of Commerce] to take such a hardline position on not touching Civic San Diego, it raised the question, what is the precious deal they got under the current setup?” he said.

The staunch opposition to a community-benefits policy by Civic San Diego leadership caught Gonzalez’s attention. In early March, she announced plans to regulate the agency in a way that would move the discussion over community benefits and labor deals into a more public arena.

“If a local government wants to outsource its permitting process or any other inherently municipal responsibility…there have to be additional checks and balances to ensure accountability,” Gonzalez told CityBeat.

“Every other city and county in California has hired professionals in-house to carry out permitting, and development continues to happen up and down the state,” she added. “So it’s unclear what Mayor Faulconer and the Republicans who defend Civic San Diego are really concerned about.”

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UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

JOHN R. LAMB

JOHN R. LAMB

CYCLE Poll-apalooza!

Don’t worry about polls, but if you do, don’t admit it.

—Rosalynn Carter

Y

ou have to hand it to Mayor Kevin “All Smiles” Faulconer. He could be standing on a freeway with a hornblasting 18-wheeler bearing down on him, and you’d still expect him to beam while proclaiming, “Isn’t this a beautiful day in can-do San Diego!”

Of course, the Republican mayor who avoids the Republican label as if it were an odiferous pair of horse-stable boots has been on a roll of late, most notably the thick rolls of re-election campaign cash that have cascaded since June over the so-far unchallenged incumbent—to the tune of nearly $1.25 million in direct and indirect largesse.

Nothing says “Stay outta this race!” to opponents quite like

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a big, scary chunk of political Benjamins in the bank, as City Councilmember Todd Gloria demonstrated when he chose the smoother route to a seat on the state Assembly rather than wage war with Mayor Warbucks.

Several Democratic sources confirm that state Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, who terms out next year, is conducting field polls to determine Faulconer’s potential weaknesses in a June primary, but whether she jumps in is anybody’s guess.

It was the appearance of Atkins at the much-analyzed meet-up last week between National Football League officials and city and county leaders that generated the most buzz about San Diego’s prospects for keeping the Chargers from bolting to more lucrative pastures to the north.

In a press conference Atkins did not attend following

the three-hour huddle at the U.S. Grant, Faulconer called the speaker’s presence “a big shot in the arm.” He later released a statement quoting Atkins as saying, “We want the Chargers to stay in San Diego if the right agreement can be reached. As I have said before, if an agreement is reached, I am committed to making sure San Diego can benefit from state legislation that is consistent with what other cities have received for their sports facilities.”

The problem, of course, is San Diego has only the bare framework of a stadium plan to show off so far. Eric Grubman, who a San Diego Union-Tribune sports columnist once described as the “NFL vice president in charge of stadium ramrodding,” said as much following the meeting in a brief interview with The Mighty 1090 sports-radio reporter Marty Caswell.

“We’re at the concept stage,” Grubman told Caswell, “so the basic architecture has been put in place—the basic outline, I should say—and we really dealt with those aspects this morning for a couple of hours. We didn’t negotiate, so I really can’t tell you that concrete progress has been made or not made. We’re not at that stage yet.”

To the mayor’s continuous point that the Chargers need to

It’s rubber-meets-the-road time for Mayor Kevin Faulconer and the Chargers. return to the negotiating table after turning its nose to Faulconer’s expedited plan for environmental review of the Mission Valley site, Grubman’s response to Caswell seemed contradictory.

“What’s encouraging is that all the parties are at the table,” he said, adding later, “So what I’m encouraged about is that the Chargers are open-minded and they’re at the table. As to the specific points of view that they may have, I’ll refer to the Chargers. We don’t speak for them. We speak with them.”

Regarding next Monday’s meeting with a group of NFL owners in Chicago about relocation plans to Los Angeles, Grubman said he expects the city will “present the key elements of the outline of a plan and how they’re going to bring that outline to the goal line.”

San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts, who attended last week’s meeting, said as an architect he was most excited about the two hours of the gathering spent detailing the physical nature of a proposed stadium, details of which he did not provide.

When the San Diego City Council recently approved the expenditure of $2.1 million in state reimbursement money to fast track the environmental-review process (the draft environmental-impact report is scheduled for release next Monday as well), $200,000 of that was dedicated to “conceptual” stadium-design work.

That role is now in the hands of Kansas City-based Populous, an architecture firm known for its stadium and arena designs. Spin Cycle requested from the mayor’s office the contract for that work, and while a spokesman said on Friday he was “working on getting” a copy to release, communications after that went dark.

Mark Fabiani, special counsel to Chargers honcho Dean Spanos, told Spin Cycle that he requested

a copy of the PowerPoint presentation given by Populous during last week’s meeting, but was turned down.

Fabiani said City Attorney Jan Goldsmith declined the request because “they wanted to leave it in the hands of Populous in the event of PRA [Public Records Act] requests.” A Goldsmith spokesman denied the claim, adding, “The City Attorney believes that the PowerPoint should be produced.”

Whether true, such publicscrutiny fears would not be unprecedented. As Spin Cycle reported last February, the administration of former mayor Jerry Sanders did veritable backflips to avoid releasing the contents of the so-called Lazard Report from a New York financial consulting firm in 2012 that suggested $500 million in city and county general funds would be required to build a new stadium, a notion the Chargers determined was “politically impossible to achieve.”

In November 2012 emails obtained by Spin Cycle in a publicrecords request, Sanders’ thenchief of staff Julie Dubick, when asked by the incoming chief of staff for newly elected mayor Bob Filner for a copy of the report, replied, “We never received a final report from Lazard, and there are no drafts on the 11th floor.”

When the chief of staff, Vince Hall, then asked where the draft report could be found, Dubick replied, “In NYC with Lazard as we don’t have a copy. It’s been reviewed by our office in meetings with Lazard but not retained. I am sorry I didn’t make that clear.”

One thing is clear: Concepts, like polls, are fine and dandy, but they provide little assurance that anything is certain—no matter how big your bank account.

Spin Cycle appears every other week. Write to johnl@sdcitybeat. com.

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | Opinion

Aaryn Belfer

Backwards & in

high heels

Getting over a viral experience

I

n nearly 10 years of writing this column I’ve never had a piece go viral. To say I’m stunned by the reach of this last one is an understatement in the same way that “all lives matter” is a myth, but more on that in a minute. My shock is in no small part due to the incredible email, PMs and comments I’ve received in response to “How to be an interrupter,” and I have to address this.

When I filed that piece, I braced myself for the usual burst of hateful email that predictably follows my columns on race, racism and white privilege.

I’ve tackled these issues a lot over the years, and I did get the standard four or five confederate-flagdraped, woman-hating emails. (I resisted the urge this time to write back with nothing but the original content corrected for grammar and punctuation.)

What I hadn’t anticipated were the many deeply moving emails that left me ugly-crying multiple times. The largest percentage of messages were from black readers who openly shared the most personal stories and rawest pain that is a fundamental, if invisibleto-most-white-people, part of the black American experience. It’s such a privilege, I think, to be let in like that. I am humbled.

My editor has seen these emails, and I’ve explicitly urged him (twice) to run them. I don’t know if he can do that, as space is limited in what is first and foremost a print publication. Whatever he chooses to do, make no mistake: There is not any fair and balanced in these emails; no equal amounts pro and con. There is PRO and there is con.

I intend to answer all of those emails, but I’ve felt like I’ve been tossed from a boat into a Class VI rapid. I’ll get to them, though, because you, who wrote of shielding your daughter a little longer, while doling out the reality pills to your older son; you, who wrote of the awful night you were assaulted in a crowd and not a single person stopped to ask if you were okay; you, who worries each time your husband leaves the house that he may not come back; you and you and you who have degrees and social status and respectable tone and appropriate deference white America demands above all else and none of it matters a damn; you, who sent me a simple cyber-dap—you all deserve a thoughtful response. Your tears brought me to tears. You, good people, are my compass points, and why I’m not going to devote 850 precious words to a fluff piece right now.

Instead, and finally to my point from paragraph one, I’m going to question why the Boston Globe devoted 839 words to the story of a funeral for a white girl named Baby Doe, an unknown child whose body was found in a trash bag on Deer Is-

land, Mass., in June. Accompanying the story is a computer-photo of a glassy-eyed, chubby-cheeked cherub as adorable as the ubiquitous, white heteronormative Disney princess or Pixar heroine. (How hard is it, animators, to make a brown protagonist?

Is the imagination only so big?) According to the Globe article, this invented image has been viewed more than 56.3 million times, just slightly more than the number of people demanding justice for Cecil, because #AllLionsMatter.

Lots of people apparently care deeply about Baby Doe. In fact, the Massachusetts Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and the State House Speaker all attended last week’s memorial mass.

The Governor, in guiding the mourners through their grief, said that “this story in particular has bothered me,” and he went on to ask rhetorically, “…did she have those moments of…joy and support that is so important to kids? Did she have people who she really believed were in her corner up until that horrible, violent, tragic death?”

The House Speaker humanized Baby Doe: “…this little girl was somebody.”

A reverend claimed her: “She’s our little girl. This nameless one is a daughter of the Commonwealth. She belongs to us.”

The problem, of course, besides the painful smacking of my hand to my forehead, is that few in our society bother to consider the horrible, violent, tragic deaths of so many non-white people with so much as an ounce of the same compassion. Few care to question (was there joy and support?) or humanize (this boy was somebody) or claim (they belong to us) any of the black and brown Americans who are being routinely otherized. I think of Aiyana Stanley Jones. I think of Tamir Rice. I think of Sam DuBose and Sandy Bland. For anyone who cares, they all had people in their corners and yet, their value falls somewhere below that of an unknown dead girl and a lion. How insulting.

This right here, along with plenty of other examples, is why “all lives matter” is a fairytale, a farce, a unicorn, a lie. All lives should matter. But all lives don’t matter. If they did, then governors and other hoity-toits would be doing two-a-day memorial services, mourning equally, thoughtfully for those many particularly bothersome stories of black and brown somebodies who belong to our communities.

“

When I filed that piece, I braced

myself for the usual burst of hateful

“

email....

8 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aaryn@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

10 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

#SDCityBeat

S

ome items found on menus are simply misunderstood. Anchovies. Crab cakes. Durian fruit. Gluten. Macarons (not macaroons). In this installment of our annual Food Issue, MasterChef Junior winner Nathan Odom demonstrates how macarons are done. Our other offerings aim to show that anchovies are delicious, authentic crab cakes are nearly impossible to find, malodorous durian fruit is actually tasty, and you don’t have to be gluten-free unless you’ve genuinely got a medical condition. So eat, drink and be educated.

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

T he Food Issue

by Michael A. Gardiner

JEFF CORRIGAN

I

The champ shows off his macarons.

12 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

T HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH not lik- cism, that comfortable old shoe, told me that was a load. ing food competition reality shows: I did Unscripted? Sure. Reality? Not a bit. and do. It had nothing to do with not likWhen it comes to Nathan it became apparent the truth ing MasterChef. I did, do and had filled was somewhere in between. In many ways this was the out my application for the show, then it occurred to same kid I’d seen on the show. He was, as he’d seemed, reme I’m in no position to quit markably composed and well-spoMICHAEL A. GARDINER my day job(s) for a couple of ken for his age. But in discussing his months. No. The reason I hadn’t fellow competitors it became clear watched MasterChef Junior was that his reading of interpersonal that I thought the level of cooking dynamics was sophisticated. Then would make for boredom: Worst again, how many 13-year-olds speak Cooks in America, only cuter. another language fluently (French) Then I found out San Diegan Naand are well on their way to a third than Odom had reached MasterChef (Japanese)? And his Spanish was Junior‘s final. I watched—and I was better than mine. impressed. His appetizer and entrée The appetizer course was Plan were striking, sophisticated. But it A for that purslane: a lightly seared, was his dessert—Earl Grey tea tart spankingly fresh fillet of Popotla with blood orange coulis—that put fish on a bed of puréed purslane. it and him over the top.

As we walked by table after table of I figured there was one way to vendors selling gorgeous fish—yelreally get a clear picture of this kid: lowtail, corvina, halibut, red snapcook with him. per, sharks and more—we found a Saturday morning at Tijuana’s gorgeous “white sea bass” (hardly Mercado Hidalgo is always a riot the most precise of descriptors) of sight and sound organized in a that looked like a good candidate. way only an anarchist could love. It Nathan volunteered to break Nathan Odom portioning white sea bass might, on reflection, not have been down the fish, a relief considering the best place to meet Nathan and his parents, Rebecca and it’s one of my dodgier skills in the kitchen. It did not go Beau (who works for CityBeat’s parent company). My first well: The “white sea bass” had some odd anatomy, bones impression of him—other than the rather substantial hair- appearing where they should not be. We ended up with cut he’d received since the show’s filming—was a shyness way too few nice filets. Was Nathan fazed? Not a bit. I’ve I’d not expected. seen line cooks in high-end restaurants wilt when ingreThat shyness went away the modients or circumstances did not coMICHAEL A. GARDINER ment we were dealing with ingreoperate. Nathan, in contrast, looked dients. Nathan’s eye was drawn to up at me and asked: “Do you have the purslane in one frutería. “What any fish stock?” is it?” he asked. “A succulent veg“No,” I said. “But I have some etable with a tart flavor,” I said, “but lobster stock in the freezer.” He I haven’t figured out what to do with touched his hand to his chin, thinkit.” Nathan looked up at me, barely ing, and in moments the picture in hiding the suggestion of a grin, and his mind went from Plan A to a very put a bunch of the purslane in my French-style potage d’homard et la basket. “What are you going to do poisson avec la pourpier au jicama Lobster and fish soup (lobster and fish soup with purswith it?” I asked. He shrugged and with purslane and jicama lane and jicama). Nathan blanched replied: “I don’t know.” the purslane in the lobster stock, puréed it all, added in That really did not seem to bother him.

From the Mercado Hidalgo we headed south toward some of the fish (finely diced) and cooked it down before Popotla to acquire seafood for our appetizers. One of the enriching with a bit of milk, garnishing with batons of jienduring appeals of reality television is the sense it gives cama and orange zest.

Adding fish after puréeing? Cooking down with milk that we get to know the characters, get to see the real them. After all it’s reality television. It’s unscripted. Cyni- (not cream) and fish? It should not have worked, but it did.

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T he Food Issue

NANCY GARDINER

Michael Gardiner, the MasterChef Junior (no, that’s not wine in his glass) and Rebecca and Beau Odom The tartness of the purslane—echoed by the orange zest garnish—cut the richness of the stock. Remarkably, the milk brought it all. It was delicious, nothing short of a triumph. And a triumph born of adversity.

The following morning, Nathan and I walked out to the bluff overlooking the beach, sat and did a post mortem on the meal: what worked, what did less so, what might have been done differently. Afterward, I asked him what— if anything—he planned to do in the culinary world having won MasterChef Junior. It was a question to which I thought I already knew the answer. Again, he surprised me. “Have you heard of the Concours des Meilleurs Ouvri-

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ers de France—the MOF?” He asked. I told him I hadn’t.

The MOF competition, it turns out, is a quadrennial contest to find “the best craftsmen in France.” Though co ntested across over 100 different trades ranging from pastry to plumbing it is primarily known as a culinary competition with pâtissier (pastry chef ) perhaps the most famous and grueling, requiring years of preparation. There is no financial award given the winner though winning pâtissiers tend to do quite well.

“Pastry,” Nathan said, “is my favorite part of cooking.”

Macarons, he explained, are his specialty. Macarons—not to be confused with “macaroons” (the ground almond or

coconut cookies more familiar to Americans)—are French meringue-based cookies sandwiched around a filling such as ganache, buttercream or jams. Devilishly difficult to make, they’re a traditional test of a pâtissier’s skill. The moment Nathan made them on MasterChef Junior may well have been the moment we all should have known he’d win.

In the MOF competition, however, there is no Junior category. It would be easy, based on his age, to doubt Nathan. Based on what I saw, though, it might well be a mistake to count this fearless young man out.

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

A

nchovies get a bad rap. The small fish— which occasionally visit our shores in massive schools—evokes a strong, pungent flavor that can be a bit intense in heavy doses. The very visual of a serving of anchovies, soaked in oily brine and packed tightly in little tins, is one that few people find appetizing. To paraphrase Bart Simpson: You don’t win friends with anchovies.

I have my suspicions, however, that many of the anchovy naysayers simply haven’t given them a proper chance. For years, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ran a smear campaign against them (look Michelangelo, they don’t just come standard on pizza—you can drop the tough guy act). But I get it: Out of context, they look a little gross. Sometimes that psychological block can do a lot to get in the way of enjoying something.

With all due respect to those who say they don’t like anchovies, I humbly suggest giving them a second chance. For starters, there are the health benefits: Anchovies are a rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids, which can help prevent heart disease. And contrary to many other fish that we eat in large quantities, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports no threat of overfishing or damage to habitat, so the sustainability factor should also be appealing for those who’d prefer to minimize consumer guilt.

The most important reason to give anchovies a second chance, however, is that they’re delicious. A little bit of anchovy can go a long way toward adding a lot of flavor to a dish, and there are a lot of restaurants in San Diego that offer a unique presentation that’s well worth seeking out.

Here are some of my favorites.

On a pizza: The delivery device for anchovies often

14 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

T he Food Issue

candice eley

comprises a bed of a crust, cheese and sauce, and San Diego’s pizzeria offerings are no exception.

Yet I’d suggest bypassing the New York-style pizza joints, or thick-crust ‘za slingers and instead get your little fish fix at Urbn (3085 University Ave.) in North Park. A margherita pizza topped with anchovies is the way to go; thin, crispy crust provides a better complement to the anchovies than a dense layer of dough, and the anchovies are flavorful enough without the need to overcomplicate matters with other meats.

In a salad: You’re probably expecting me to talk about Caesar salads here, since many variations on the classic Caesar do, indeed, feature anchovies. And you can get a fine anchovy-full Caesar at both Blind Lady Ale The Sardine Salad at Buona Forchetta features white anchovies.

House in Normal Heights and Bleu Boheme in burger (among other toppings such as Fritos, sauerkraut Kensington. But the best use of or jalapeño). As it turns out, they complement each other anchovy in a salad goes to the well, the anchovies giving a nice salty burst of flavor after sardine salad at Buona Forchetta the initial bite of beef. It works surprisingly well, though (3001 Beech St.) in South Park. The it’s best shared between two people.

Reclaiming salad is simple: Arugula, white anAs an accent: A little anchovy can go a long way, and if the anchovy’s chovy, parmesan, lemon and olive oil. you’re not quite ready to devour these tiny fish whole, then The anchovies are amply arranged, yet maybe it’s best to tread lightly at first with an anchovy-acgood name without the heavy brine that can turn cented appetizer. Tidal (1404 Vacation Road) in Mission Bay

by Jeff Terich some eaters off. It’s bright and refresh- offers just such an option, specifically roasted cauliflower ing, perfect for a summer evening. with anchovy butter. The anchovy is subtle, and it compleIn a burger: Anchovies have a pretty big flavor as it is, so ments the roasted cauliflower, rather than overpowers it. when you combine that with a massive, grilled patty of beef, That being said, the cauliflower is served in a shallow pool you’ve got a pretty indulgent meal in (and all over) your of that butter, so if you’re inclined to slather it on and make hands. In fact, I even had my doubts about this at first—I that light savory touch into a slightly more powerful one, the love a good burger, and anchovies as well. But smooshed to- delicious, glistening goo takes a simple dish and makes it ingether between two buns? At Slater’s 50-50 (2750 Dewey credible. It’s a little dangerous—the more anchovy flavor you Road #153) in Point Loma, you can add anchovies to any get out of it, the more you’re likely to crave.

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

T he Food Issue

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illions of Americans have some sort You might think Duarte would be bitter about all the of sensitivity to gluten, a protein found in gluten-free posers, but she’s not. In fact, she’s thrilled that wheat and other grains. However, many over recent years hating on the gluten has become so fashmore have cut down on eating gluten-filled ionable. As a result, many eateries today offer gluten-free dishes, some with whole menus sans gluten. foods for more ambiguous reasons.

Only about 1 percent of people suffer from celiac dis“I’m thankful that media has told people ease, an intestinal condition brought on by gluten. Some about and educated the public about it,” she said. people have severe allergies that prevent them from eating “It’s actually made it easier for me to go to restaurants, so I can socialize with my friends.” foods with gluten in them.

Still, she’s very careful when she goes out to eat, often But, a whopping 11 percent of households in the country maintain a gluten-free lifestyle, with roughly one in four letting managers and staff known she’s not just avoiding consumers believing that avoiding the protein would be gluten for kicks. At restaurants, cross-contamination is a big healthy for everyone, according to a study last year by NPD issue, she said, such as gluten-filled soy sauce at a Chinese Group, a market research company. restaurant inadvertently making its way into For the majority of these gluten boyher supposedly gluten-free dish. cotters, the stakes are relatively low.

“How the manager responds More than half of gluten-free conwill determine whether I feel comfortable to stay in that ressumers polled said they have taurant and eat or not,” she said. considered abandoning the “I never push myself onto a restaurant diet simply because of the because if they are not comfortable with taste and high prices of such the situation, I’m not going to feel comproducts. fortable with the situation.”

That’s not the type of luxury that San Diego resident Donna DuFor all the glutophobes and legitiBest local eateries with mately gluten-intolerant folk out there, arte has. Now 50, she was diagnosed gluten-free options with a wheat allergy about 10 years ago.

CityBeat asked Duarte to run down her That means that she’s had to dramatitop five eateries that offer gluten-free

by Joshua Emerson Smith cally change her eating habits to avoid eats. Here’s what she came up with: most products containing gluten.

Stacked (7007 Friars Road) in the Fashion Valley Mall “I do know the gluten-free diet is something that many offers a customizable menu of Americana favorites—such people have embraced as the latest fad,” she said. “I wish it as burgers, wings and fries—boasting more than 150 glutenwas a fad for me, but it isn’t. I don’t have an option.” free ingredients to choose from. stacked.com/san-diego For her, exposure to gluten-laden vittles could be fatal, Boll Weevil 53 (9621 Mission Gorge Road) in Santee causing her throat to swell shut and suffocation. She carries is a hamburger joint with a separate gluten-free menu, epinephrine and over-the-counter antihistamines with her which includes burgers, fries and beer. The restaurant at all times. She’s had more than a couple dozen exposures, has a dedicated deep fryer for its alternative menu. bollincluding a handful of scary and costly ambulance rides. weevil53.com

Sushi Freak (5175 Linda Vista Road) just north of Old Town is a build-your-own-roll sushi house, which offers gluten-free soy sauce, rolls without rice and steamed chicken sans gluten-tainted teriyaki sauce. sushifreak.me Blaze Pizza (5604 Balboa Ave.) up in Clairemont Mesa offers affordable build-your own pies with gluten-free thin crust. While the restaurant doesn’t have a dedicated gluten-free oven, the staff is aware of issues relating to cross contamination. blazepizza.com Woodstock Pizza (6145 El Cajon Blvd.) in the College area does customizable gluten-free pies, featuring a thickercrust experience. The eatery also offers a robust selection of salads and gluten-free beer. woodstockssd.com.

16 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

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T he Food Issue

’m not a food snob. But I do get uppity place stands out over others. It’s a chain eatery that was when “Maryland-style crab cake” is written on founded, of all places, in Minneapolis. The Oceanaire Seaa San Diego menu. I’m a Baltimore-born boy. food Room (400 J St.) in the Gaslamp Quarter is legit.

Nearly all the crab cakes served in Southern This is where celebrity chef Brian Malarkey got his California are not Maryland-style. You might enjoy the start. Executive chef Adam Gunderson currently oversees crab cakes served to you in seafood restaurants here on the kitchen. He’s been at the downtown location for seven the Left Coast. If diners could do side-by-side compari- months but has been with the company for five years.

“The very essence of the crab cake lies in the meat itsons, though, they’d see it’s like ordering a filet mignon self,” says Gunderson. “It’s Maryland blue crab jumbo lump and being brought a slice of bacon.

Maryland blue crabs come from the Chesmeat. That’s all it is. There isn’t any filler, just a apeake Bay. There’s a debate roiling those little bit of bread that we dice up quickly.” waters right now with Virginia Gov. Terry It’s served with a slice of lemon and a musMcAuliffe claiming the crustaceans as natard-mayonnaise dressing on the side.

“Other crab cakes are breaded and use tives of his state. He recently told the Washshredded meat, and are fried, or done reington Post: “All the crabs are born here in Virginia and they end up, because of the ally quick on the grill,” says Gunderson. “We current, being taken there [to Maryland]. bake ours. It’s really nice, huge chunks. We So really, they should be Virginia crabs.” brush it with a little bit of Old Bay butGasp! Scientists agree. However, ter. It goes into the oven for about seven the majority of the commercial catch to ten minutes. And it’s good to go.” is by Maryland watermen. And, chefs Shipping costs for the good stuff can in Maryland traditionally prepare be prohibitive. At Oceanaire, the jumbo Authentic dishes are few and lump crab cake appetizer is $18; the encrabs more deliciously, by steaming them. Virginians tend to boil the crabs, far between in San Diego trée version is $35.

Crab cravings are not cheap. And while which takes away flavor.

by Ron Donoho In Baltimore, you’d buy a bushel of Oceanaire stands above the San Diego pack for steamed crabs, dump them out on butcher paper on the crab cakes, there are other restaurants that have standout backyard table and work for hours on cracking open the crab-featured dishes, most using Dungeness or stone crabs shells and the claws to dig out the delectable meat. There more readily available in the Pacific Ocean. Here are five used to be one restaurant in downtown San Diego that options worth shaking a claw at: tried to reproduce the Maryland crab feast, Johnny M’s Truluck’s Seafood Steak & Crab House (8990 Uni801, but it’s long gone. versity Center Lane). The five-ounce crab cake here is one When it comes to proper preparation of crab cakes, the of few in town made with genuine Maryland jumbo lump authentic recipe calls for using the best meat…and little else. meat. It’s also seasoned with Old Bay. If you gotta have a crab Breading is the enemy. There shouldn’t be saltines, Ritz cake, this will do. The appetizer version is $18. Of note: on crackers or any large amount of bread products in the mix.

Mondays through the summer you can chow down on unIn all my searching in San Diego for such a dish, one limited crab claws (Dungeness) for $79/person.

18 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

The Oceanaire crab cake Amaya (5300 Grand Del Mar Ct.). Fairmont Hotels and Resorts recently took over the Grand Del Mar. There are two primary restaurants at the resort, and Addison overshadows Amaya, but at such a high level it’s like saying Michael Jordan is a better basketball player than Scotty Pippen. Anyway, Amaya has a fantastic Dungeness Crab Benedict ($21), served for brunch with tomato, avocado and chipotle hollandaise.

Blush Ice Bar + East-West Kitchen (555 Market St.).

This spot just opened downtown, on the border of the Gaslamp and East Village. I’m going back soon for the blue crab-stuffed mushroom appetizer ($13), that comes topped with kale and Humboldt Fog goat cheese.

Lou & Mickey’s (224 Fifth Avenue). It’s called crab bisque (but it’s more like a tomato-based chowder), with Dungeness crab, carrots, celery, red pepper and basil. A bowl is $10.50; a cup is $8.

The Fish Market (re-opened at 750 N. Harbor Dr.).

How about a (Dungeness) Crab Louie salad? This light dish has been on the menu here for three decades. The crab comes on a bed of field greens and iceberg lettuce, accompanied by tomato, cucumber, radish and a sliced hardboiled egg.

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

T he Food Issue

The exotic fruit is stinky but scrumptious

by Kinsee Morlan

I

smell propane.”

What my worried coworker doesn’t know is that I’ve just opened a package of durianflavored wafers and left them by his desk. It takes a few hours before I can find anyone in the office daring enough to try a bite of the various durian-flavored snacks I’ve brought in. After two of my more open-minded colleagues finally do brave a taste, they quickly suggest I move the treats to my own desk and tape up the package of wafers so the odor can’t escape.

Durian smells like turpentine, baby diarrhea, rotten fruit, dirty feet—the list of stenches the exotic fruit emanates goes on. But if you can get past the pungent odor, the taste is thrilling. My husband describes the flavor as garlic-banana-cream pudding. It’s the most adequate account I’ve come across yet.

Native to Southeast Asia, the massive, thorny fruit has a smell so notorious, it’s been banned in hotels and public transit in Singapore and other countries in the region. I, too, was originally so put off by the smell that I refused to try a durian-flavored shake when my husband offered me a sip. That first date with durian was years ago, though, so I finally decided to give the poor, reeky, misunderstood fruit another go.

My durian discovery quest started at Saigon Restaurant (4455 El Cajon Blvd.) in City Heights. When my husband ordered the durian shake, our waiter was flabbergasted.

“Who told you about durian?” he asked, impressed at my bearded beau’s Asian-insider request.

One of our dining companions, a ballsy New Zealander, was the first after my husband to take a sip. She described it as “off watermelon” and “not bad.” I swallowed the frosty mixture next and was surprised by my lack of gagging.

Durian does taste a bit like garlic and even onion, two flavors I firmly believe to be the heart and soul of a recipe. The flavor is so strong it sticks around inside your mouth, dancing on your tongue for minutes—some might say hours—after you swallow.

The secret to a durian shake for newbies like me, I’ve decided, is to order it with boba—tapioca pearls—and

20 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

kinsee morlan

ask for ample whipped cream on top. Pro tip: Try to keep the straw filled with the shake mixture at all times so you’re not sipping up the acrid fumes.

I dug the durian shake, which meant it was time to go right to the source. I needed to rip into a fresh, thorny, full-sized fruit so I headed to 99 Ranch Market (7330 Claremont Mesa Blvd.) in Kearny Mesa.

Even frozen, durian still stinks. I paid more than $15 for it and left it in my car as I drove around looking for other interesting durian options. I called Pho Convoy Noodle House (4647 Convoy St.) in Kearny Mesa and almost toppled over A friendly waiter at Saigon Restaurant shows off the durian shake. with exciteMira Mesa Blvd.) in Mira Mesa where I was promised a ment when I heard it had durian-flavored curry. When I durian pastry and other durian-flavored delights. I picked got to the restaurant, though, they looked at up the wafers, durian-adorned Thai coconut rolls and two me like I was nuts and said they only pastries made fresh by Huy Ky Bakery (4568 University had a durian shake (I’m a half-deaf Ave.) in City Heights, which also makes a durian-flavored idiot and totally misunderstood the mooncake during the mooncake season, which runs from mid August through September. phone conversation).

At this point, I realized I’d gone nose blind during the I sat in my car and called around looking for durian gelato or ice drive. When I got back in my car to head down to Huy Ky cream but didn’t have much luck Bakery to check out their offerings in person, I was oversave for Flavaful Yogurt (6937 whelmed by the stench of the quickly thawing durian. I Linda Vista Road) in Linda Vista. The had to drive home as quickly as I could to get it out.

The durian spent the night on our front porch. In the person who answered the phone was excited by my request and told me he’d make morning, we cracked it open, dug our spoons in and thormy durian smoothie so thick it’d taste like ice- oughly enjoyed the somewhat slimy, garlicky flesh. I did have to put my foot down when my hubby said he wanted cream.

The Fruit Shop (4619 Convoy St.) in Kearny Mesa to put the uneaten portions in our refrigerator. Durian promised me an excellent durian smoothie, too, but I took is good, but not good enough to let it stink up my entire a gamble instead and drove up to Lucky Seafood (9326 fridge.

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

ron donoho

Shell out for oysters, turducken hot dogs and other food news

by Ron Donoho

O

ysters are rumored to be an aphrodisiac.

Since Wednesday, August 5, is National Oyster Day, prepare for a shucking good time. If you like oysters served in a test tube, get downtown to Zymology 21 for $5 oyster shooters mixed with vodka, tequila or gin. Matt Gordon’s Solace & The Moonlight Lounge in Encinitas is offering a half-dozen oysters and a rosé to celebrate the day. If you can’t make it for Oyster Day, Solace is starting a daily Happy Hour bargain with $1 bi-valves, which can be topped with some Gringo Bandito Hot Sauce Mignonette, created by Dexter Holland of The Offspring. *** Fighting Cock. Dry Fly. Lock Stock & Barrel. Temperance Trader. Monkey Shoulder. These are just a few of the more than 600 whiskeys available at The Whiskey House, new in downtown at 420 Third Avenue, site of the former

22 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

T he Food Issue 100,000 to 350,000. Before being delivered scorpion wings, patrons are asked to sign a waiver. *** A dynamic duo of restaurants opened earlier this year on the corner of 14th Street and Island Avenue in East Village: Halcyon (breakfast and lunch) and Stella Public House (dinner). This month, the view from the tables at both eateries gets upgraded when Fault Line Park opens.

Yes! That’s the name that was chosen for the 1.3-acre park, which has a pedestrian walkway above the actual Rose Canyon fault line. *** The San Diego Burger Battle happens Saturday, August 8, at 1144 Los Vallecitos Blvd. in San Marcos. Chefs expected to compete in this World Food Chamionship qualifier include local Hanis Cavin (Carnitas Snack Shack) and national luminaries like Andre Morris (Rockhouse Bar in Las Vegas) and Dennis McGrath (Porketeers). The judging team includes CityBeat food writer Michael A. Gardiner. Get ready for more competitive cooking on August 18 when the Fried Chicken Challenge starts to sizzle. Look for chefs Karen Blair (Small Bar), Jason Gethin (Table No. 10), Jason McLeod (Ironside), Karl Prohaska (Culinary Freight Train), and Rich Sweeney at Local Habit.

Just a few offerings at The Whiskey House *** Candelas. The menu includes house-made sausages, fresh Always wanted to be belittled and yelled at by an arground burgers and charcuterie plates. The place has flown rogant Englishman? An open casting call for MasterChef under the radar, but it’s got a dark, woody, beautiful inte- happens Saturday, August 15, at downtown’s San Diego rior, especially if you consider hundreds of bottles of bour- Westin Hotel. Application forms are online at masterchefbon, whiskey and blended scotch a pretty sight. casting.com. Leave your self-esteem at home. *** *** Counterpoint in Golden Hill does eats to its own beat.

Foodies who don’t want to leave their couches can The menu usually favors fried food—cheese curds, olives, download a new food delivery app called OrderUp, fried chicken and waffles benedict, and a signature bolo- which was acquired by Groupon in July. Pacific Beach’s gna sandwich, just to name a few fried items. Now, The Andrew Kootman is the local owner/operator. In beta Dog Days of Summer have betesting in the College Area and Paron donoho gun at Cam Fomby’s bar/rescific Beach, OrderUp filled more taurant, featuring turducken than 30,000 orders, reportedly hot dogs every Sunday afterin about 30 minutes, from Backnoon. As if such a dog wasn’t yard Kitchen & Tap, Leilani’s unique enough, you can order Cafe, Bare Back Grill, Kato Suthem two ways: Chicago style, shi, Miller’s Field and more eatwith tomato, pickle, mustard, eries. The official launch is set for onion, banana peppers and Monday, August 17. celery salt; or Kraut Style, with *** house-made sauerkraut and Want to win a cooked meal beer mustard. prepared by Little Italy dining *** magnate Joe Busalacchi? The The Scoville scale measures proprietor of half a dozen San DiSolace & The moonlight Lounge the spicy heat of chili peppers ego restaurants (Café Zuchero, and other spicy foods. If you go to Regents Pizzeria in UTC Trattoria Fantastica, etc) has a contest running throughand get a New York- or Chicago-style pie you won’t need to out the month of August. Find him, snap a selfie with him worry about capsaicin concentration. Ask for the scorpion and post it on Instagram along with #ChefJoeBusa. Word chicken wings, however, and prepare for a jolt that measures to the wise: Don’t go for the selfie while he’s in the kitchen 2 million on that Scoville scale. Some perspective: a banana stirring hot spaghetti sauce. pepper ranges from 100 to 900; Habanero chili ranges from

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

T he Food Issue

the world

fare

Nom nomming at Nosh Deli

S

an Diego’s ethnic dining options have grown exponentially. We attract brand name chefs from across the country and across borders, and field more Top Chef alumni (including a winner) than any but the top food cities in the country. But there’s one way in which our current scene is no better— and possibly worse—than it once was: deli. There’s the expense of Milton’s, the lack of excitement at Elijah’s and the uneven quality of D.Z. Akins.

Enter Nosh Delicatessen (670 West B St.) in downtown San Diego. Nosh isn’t new—a La Jolla location closed last year—but it is a welcome addition to the downtown lunch scene. The terms “Jewish Deli” and “New York Deli” have become interchangeable. That’s mostly because distinct delicatessen heritages—the word derives from German and French and roughly translates as “delicacies” or “delicious things to eat”—merged into a more standardized Greatest Hits collection of Eastern European Yiddish staples. Nosh offers most of those.

The chopped liver sandwich is a good place to start. It’s simple: chopped livers (both beef and chick-

24 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

Michael A. Gardiner

by michael a. gardiner

warmly spiced, the acidity of the sauerkraut set it off perfectly and the hit of mustard pulled the whole thing together. There was nothing wrong with this sandwich.

While Nosh’s meat quality products are good, the availability of those products was less so. On four trips over three weeks I tried to order the beef tongue sandwich only to be told the tongue hadn’t arrived. The story was the same with pastrami on two occasions.

Nosh’s meat is good but it does no good to order good meat if you don’t get it.

On the occasion I couldn’t get a pastrami Reuben sandwich I made the mistake of being talked into getting a turkey pastrami Reuben sandwich. Don’t make the same mistake. It was more like a turkey Reuben than a turkey pastrami Reuben and it was fundamentally tasteless. When I finally got to try its pastrami it was excellent. There is no more direct delivery system for deli than a pastrami sandwich.

But the best sandwich at Nosh, its entry in the best sandwich on the planet sweepstakes, had to be the whitefish sandwich. A play, siPastrami sandwich multaneously, on both a tuna salad sandwich and the classic whitefish deli platter, this was en) and bread, though the schmaltz (chicken fat) is an nearly a perfect sandwich. The rich meatiness of the important flavoring ingredient. That very simplicity fish, the smoothing qualities of the mayonnaise and the is what makes it a deceptively difficult sandwich to acidity of the tomato yielded a sandwich that is worth make and Nosh’s was quite good: rich to the point of going back for repeatedly. overload with broad savory warmth.

It is deli at its best (at least, in San Diego).

Good deli is dependent on the quality of the meats.

Nowhere is that clearer than the stack of meat that is The World Fare appears weekly.

Nosh’s corn beef sandwich. It may not hit the dizzying Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com. level of classic New York delis but the meat was rich and

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

26 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

T he Food Issue

north

fork Sweet nirvana

C

roissants are magical. I don’t care how many conchas I gobble from the various lovely pastelerías around town, they just can’t match the buttery, delicate wonders of French pastries. Darshan Bakery & Café (949 2nd St.) in Encinitas is the latest eatery serving up my beloved baked goods in the Gallic tradition. The more traditional French pastry café menu fits right in with the Swamis vibe of south Encinitas village, calling their offerings “Pastries to Reincarnate For.” And indeed, the owners of Darshan also run Sitaram around the corner, a wholly organic and vegetarian Indian restaurant I’ll be covering in the future.

Darshan creates all its baguettes, pastries, quiches and more in house, and the modest kitchen and intensive baked good selection means you should get there earlier rather than later. Although it is open until 4 p.m. daily, the front-of-the-house bakery case starts to get pretty sparse after 2 p.m.

You can’t go wrong diving into one of the classics; my preference is the chocolate, but the tasty almond croissant is a popular selection. And as packed with tradition as its baked goods are, this is 2015, so you’ll find a healthy selection of gluten-free items. The almond cake with raspberries, baked into the sweetest heart shape, is moist and decadent without drifting into a disintegrating crumble, a problem that often plagues baked goods lacking the struc-

28 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

Jenny montgomery

ture of gluten. This is a great little cake. Chocolate easily lends itself to flourless baked goods as well, so don’t miss out on the various luscious chocolate cakes and tortes that change daily.

Lunch is quite lovely, with soup, sandwiches and velvety quiches. I loved the wild mushroom quiche, creamy with cheese and speckled with assertive fennel seeds. The mushrooms were toothy and savory and melted into the smooth custard. The asparagus-andegg sandwich sounded intriguing, with braised asparagus tips, hard cooked eggs, manchego cheese and a house remoulade.

I found the version I ate to be disappointing. The foccacia it came on was wonderful, but the rest of the sandwich was dry and lacked seasoning, and had hardly any sauce to jazz things up.

I have one other nit to pick: This place is cash-only. (Yes, I understand the fees charged by credit card companies. Harumph.)

Darshan does make a mean cup of coffee or chai, but do check out one of its specialities, the Bombay Latte.

A double shot of espresso gives this drink a nice punch, but the house-made cardamom syrup adds gentle warmth and spice without going over the top.

If we’re comparing North County French pastry shops,

by jenny montgomery

Darshan’s chocolate cake French Corner, just a click up the road in Leucadia, still reigns supreme in both the sweet and savory baking game.

But Darshan is delicious as well as charming, with a peaceful energy you would, of course, expect from a place right next door to the Self Realization Fellowship worship hall.

However you get there, I think a buttery baked good and a hot cup of coffee is a sweet way to get to nirvana.

North Fork appears every other week.

Write to jennym@sdcitybeat.com.

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

T he Food Issue

the

beerdist It’s an art at Border X Brewing

N

estled among the art galleries on revitalized Logan Avenue is Border X Brewing (2181 Logan Ave.). From the antique tin ceiling to the wall-to-wall art, Border X is more than just a drinking destination.

The tasting room is spacious, warm and inviting. Countertop seating open to the street adds to the sense of place, perfect for sipping pints and people watching.

There’s a gallery space, which was host to this year’s Chicano Con, an event held as an alternative to Comic Con and in response to a lack of outreach to Barrio Logan. The gallery also showcased local artist Junco Canché and his provocative political cartoons sending up various characters on the American right.

The beer at Border X is distinct, and management has done an admirable job separating itself from the crowded San Diego market. The Gran Hefe Hefeweizen and Abuelos Pale Ale are true-to-style, crushable brews.

Abuelita’s Chocolate Stout strikes a nice balance at 8 percent ABV, allowing the Mexican chocolate and roasted coffee notes to take center stage.

The most distinct offerings at Border X, however, are the Blood Saison and Golden Horchata Stout.

Blood Saison, brewed with hibiscus and agave, looks as menacing in the glass as a serving of cherry Kool-Aid, but don’t be deceived. It is a flavorful medley of tangy fruit and just-there sweetness. It was a real crowd pleaser, and seemed to be the most popular beer during my short time holding down a barstool on a recent Friday night.

Then there’s the unique Golden Horchata Stout. San Diego beer geeks are familiar with Stone Brewing’s Master of Disguise golden stout, but a shared hue is where the similarities end. Border X’s Golden Horchata is an interesting take on the style, and considerably sweeter than

30 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

by andrew dyer

I’m used to in a stout. I was disappointed on a return visit when they had temporarily run out; this brew and the Blood Saison belong on any shortlist of must-try San Diego beers.

In addition to their own beer, Border X reserves a number of taps for craft beer from south of the border. These nano-breweries have limited distribution, so it’s rare to be able to try so many outside of Tijuana’s Plaza Fiesta. andrew dyer

Border X Brewing Border X also has a kitchen, serving a limited menu that includes barbecue wings and lengua. A stop here won’t bust your budget. A flight of beer is only $5, and each of its menu items hover around $10.

Border X wears the spirit of art and activism on its sleeve, and is solidly ensconced in the vibrant culture of this transitional neighborhood.

The quality of the beer is enough to command a visit, but the culture and community stays with you long after the last pint is poured.

The Beerdist appears every other week.

Write to andrewd@sdcitybeat.com.

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Up Front | books

The floating

library

by jim ruland

Weird science

M

usic for Wartime is Rebecca Makkai’s third book but her first collection of short stories, which is unusual considering her short stories have appeared in four consecutive editions of The Best American Short Stories, the annual anthology that collects the best literary short fiction published the previous year.

Twelve years in the making, Music for Wartime operates in three modes: stories that take place in a contemporary setting, stories that are set in the past and those that blend the two together. The stories also cohere around the book’s titular themes, though I would argue that while some stories expand beyond the realm of music into other genres of art, war looms in a past that feels neither distant nor forgotten.

In “The Worst You Ever Feel,” a masterful violinist has a finger cut off by his jailers. And in “The Briefcase” a political prisoner, who’d worked all his life as a chef, assumes the identity of a physics professor to escape the firing squad.

The story opens in medias res: “He thought how strange that a political prisoner, marched through town in a line, chained to the main behind and to the main ahead, should take comfort in the fact that all this had happened before…

He thought of mankind as a line of miserable monkeys chained at the wrist, dragging each other back into the ground.”

Makkai’s stories serve as an urgent and artful reminder that oppression strives but never quite succeeds in stifling the creative spirit. *** Rivka Galchen’s second book and first collection American Innovations presents narrators who are slightly out of step with reality.

Whether it’s the expectations of well meaning but overbearing parents or the creeping suspicion that the object of one’s desire is a time traveler, these characters are hemmed in by forces beyond their control.

Though published last year, the paperback was released earlier this month. The jacket copy reveals that these tales “are secretly in conversation with canonical stories.” For example, “The Region of Unlikeness” is informed by Jorge Luis Borges’ “The Aleph” but given a contemporary setting and a female protagonist.

In this story a woman befriends a pair of gregarious philosophers in a café. Stymied by her in-

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ability to decipher their relationship, she insinuates herself in their lives, which gives her great pleasure until the younger, more handsome of the two disappears.

Because each of the stories in American Innovations has an analog in literature, one could say their fates are predetermined by authorial constraints. But the stories are also in conversation with one another. Themes repeat, motifs recur, opening up worlds within worlds. Reading Galchen is not unlike surveying the work of MC Escher, both baffling to the eye and pleasing to the imagination. *** Gutshot is Amelia Gray’s fourth book and third short-story collection. Her stories are uncompromisingly edgy and urgent in tone. They are often marked by their direct delivery and the best of these are like miniature monologues. In “These Are the Fables” a woman informs her boyfriend that she is pregnant.

Her lover’s response is mixed: “Your folks are dead. And I have a warrant out for my arrest. And you’re forty years old. And I am addicted to getting tattoos. And our air conditioner’s broke. And you are drunk every day. And all I ever want to do is fight or go swimming.

And I am addicted to keno. And you are just covered in hair. And I’ve never done a load of laundry in my life. And you are still technically married to my dealer. And I refuse to eat vegetables. And you can’t sleep unless you’re sleeping on the floor. And I am addicted to heroin.

And, honest to God, you got big tits but make a shitty muse.”

And what is her response to this catalog of horrors, this litany of endless woe: “These were minor setbacks on the road to glory.”

While Gray’s stories are often distinguished by their darkness, they are buoyed by a sharp sense of humor. In “Go for It and Raise Hell” a Camaro driving New Mexican terrorizes his patch of desert with his pitiless worldview: “Carl is coated in the filth of the world. Carl does not believe that the meek shall inherit. He knows that you never know what is enough until you find out what is more than enough.”

When he isn’t “flipping endless J-turns” or hitting on waitresses, Carl imagines the movie of his life that he calls, GO FOR IT AND RAISE HELL, and when is that ever not excellent advice?

Write to jimr@sdcitybeat.com.

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

DOWNTOWN

COORDINATED BY

KINSEE MORLAN COURTESY OF GRAYMASS

HPaul and Denise Strahm at San Diego History Center, Balboa Park. The plein-air painter (Paul) and photographer (Denise) will talk about their creative process and inspirations at the Noel-Baza Fine Art pop-up gallery inside the History Center.

From 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6. 619232-6203, noel-bazafineart.com

1 CROSS BORDER BAZAAR

The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) is doing all sorts of cool things these days. It has a pay-what-you-wish program that allows you to dish out whatever dollar amount you want every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday through Sept. 4. It recently came up with a sensible (read: cheap!) membership plan, added a whole new gallery and its “Late Night Thursdays” events have been intriguing.

If MOPA’s trying to cater to the cost-conscious, younger, hipper crowd, they’re doing a fine job. And the upcoming Art Bazaar event is no exception.

From 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, MOPA will transform into an international marketplace featuring artists, crafters and designers from San Diego and Tijuana. There’ll also be popsicles by Viva Pops, Brazilian street food by Do Braza, DJs and a cash bar.

“I’ve been wanting to do something like this forever,” says Heather Thomas, the assistant store manager at MOPA who helped organize the event. “We wanted to reach out to the local creative community and give them a chance to showcase their work here at the museum.”

The market will include the mid-centurymodern concrete planters by the Tijuana designer known as Graymass, the unexpectedly racy

DEL CERRO

Bountiful Art Show at Sophie’s Gallery, 109 Rea St., El Cajon. The annual juried show featuring local artists. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. 858-729-8483, stmsc.org Ronnie Bautista and Ricardo Ales at Graffiti Beach, 2220 Fern St., South Park.

New pieces by the two San Diego artists.

Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7.

858-433-0950, shopgraffitibeach.com

Planters by Graymass embroidery work by San Diego artist Jaclyn Rose, nostalgic tintype portraits by photographer Anton Walker and other one-of-a-kind-type stuff.

“People will be able to see a really good variety of products at the market,” Thomas says. “And it really ties in well with the 7 billion Others exhibition showing at MOPA right now. The exhibition is really about the story of humanity and what people’s experiences are across the world—how they’re similar, how they’re different…The show is a nice portrait of the rest of the world, so the international art mart definitely fits that global theme.” mopa.org

HILLCREST

2 WHAT’S UP, OPERA?

Opera can be a difficult art form to get into for those not already indoctrinated in the works of Puccini, Strauss or Verdi, unless you’ve seen Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd’s interpretation of Wagner. But for a more highbrow, albeit accessible form of opera, there’s another option, in the form of Opera NEO, which places opera in a new context for a new audience, with performances in outdoor venues and a less traditional take on staging. This year’s program features glimpses of Mozart’s lesser-known Impresario, Bizet’s Carmen and Handel’s Rinaldo. Performances of The Impresario and Carmen take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, and Saturday, Aug. 8, and Rinaldo shows at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14, and Saturday, Aug. 15, at the Palisades Amphitheatre (6301 Birchwood St.) in Del Cerro. Tickets start at $12. operaneo.com GARY PAYNE

HHats Off to Dr. Seuss! at Legends Gallery, 1205 Prospect St., Ste. B, La Jolla. A traveling exhibition of Dr. Seuss’ never-before-seen hat collection exhibited alongside his little-known Secret Art, a series of Ted Geisel’s original drawings, paintings and sculpture. From 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Aug. 24. 858-456-9900, legendsgallerylajolla.com

3 GO INTO THE NIGHT

Street fairs all tend to look identical.

Vendors work the circuit and the same folks show up every time a community shuts down its streets. The annual Hillcrest CityFest, though, is a bit different. Yes, most of the same 250 vendors will be there alongside the requisite food options, beer garden and carnival rides, but organizers have added some flair, including a petting zoo and an all-out dance party featuring some of the region’s best DJs including Cumbia Machin, Perro Bravo, Saint Diego and Taj playing music until 11 p.m. CityFest starts at noon Sunday, Aug. 9, at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and University Avenue.

While admission is free, the vendors will surely suck some of that hard-earned cash out of your hands. fabuloushillcrest.com HILLCREST BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

Our 50th @ SDWS at San Diego Watercolor Society Gallery at NTC Promenade, 2825 Dewey Road, Point Loma. The group show celebrating the 50th anniversary of the San Diego Watercolor Society features dozens of local artists. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. 619-8764550, sdws.org HBarrio Art Crawl A self-guided tour consisting of the open studios, galleries, and local businesses of the Barrio Logan Arts District. Spaces include include Bread & Salt, The Glashaus, Chicano Art Gallery and over a dozen more. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. 619-366-9006, facebook.com/barrioartcrawl HBloom at Visual, 3776 30th St., North Park. A solo exhibition from local artist Bryon Tipton featuring figurative works and female nudes. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 08. Free. 619-5015585, visualshopsd.com HPerfect 10 at La Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan.

The third-annual group art show featuring more than 100 local artists working in the medium of their choice on a perfect square of 10-by-10 inches. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. facebook. com/Bodega619 HThe Selina Calvo and Chikle Show 2 at Chicano Art Gallery, 2117 Logan Ave., Ste. 1, Barrio Logan. The married artist couple will show off new works as well as new pieces from their two children, Sparrow and Princess. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. 619-792-2815 HChula Vistan at Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., North Park. New mixed-media paintings by Anna Stump, in which the artist explores her relationship to her hometown and the Mexico/U.S. border region. By appointment. On view Saturday, Aug. 8, through Sept. 20.

619-584-4448, artproduce.org Small Images at Escondido Municipal Gallery, 262 E. Grand Ave., Escondido.

A new exhibition centered on the theme of “think big and work small.” Features new works from Pat Hunter, Paula Poole, Marjorie Weaver and more. Opening from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8.

(760)480-4101, escondidoarts.org HReconfigured at Thumbprint Gallery, 920 Kline St., Ste. 104, La Jolla. A group exhibition featuring local painters Kelly Vivanco, N.C. Winters and Tom Haubrick.

Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. thumbprintgallerysd.com

Opera NEO's production of Agrippina last year

32 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

Sensation at Hess Brewing North Park, 3812 Grim Ave., North Park. New works

H = CityBeat picks

by local artists Armando Núñez, Joni Nuñez, Guillermo Valenzuela and Bat Brain.

Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, August 12. artbykami.com

BOOKS Dr. Jessica Vogelsang at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla.

The author and veterinarian will sign and discuss, All Dogs Go to Kevin: Everything Three Dogs Taught Me (That I Didn’t Learn in Veterinary School). At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6. 858-454-0347, warwicks. indiebound.com HRahul Mehta at Malcolm X Branch Library, 5148 Market St., Valencia Park. The Multicultural LGBT Literary Foundation hosts the Lambda-award-winning author who’ll be promoting his debut collection of short stories, Quarantine. At 7 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 7. 619-527-3405, sdliteraryfoundation.org HEstelle Gibson Lauer at Lemon Grove Library, 8073 Broadway. The local author will discuss her comedic memoir, Maturation Rites, a coming-of-age portrait of her life in the ‘50s as a student at the College of the Pacific. At 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. ci.lemon-grove.ca.us Kevin Brass at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s Weekend with Locals Program, the local author will sign and discuss The Cult of Truland: A Tale of Fame, Murder and Man’s Quest for the Perfect Talk Show Host. At noon Sunday, Aug. 9. 858-4540347, warwicks.indiebound.com HJudy Reeves at Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 16, Point Loma. The author will sign and discuss her book, Wild Women, Wild Voices: Writing from Your Authentic Wildness, as part of the Women’s Museum’s Second Sunday Author Series. At 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. 619-233-7963, womensmuseumca.org HJ Ryan Stradal and Gallagher Lawson at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The two debut novelists will present their books, Kitchens of the Great Midwest (Stradal) and The Paper Man (Lawson). At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11. 858454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com Victor Milan and Melinda Snodgrass at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The two fantasy authors will sign and discuss their new books, The Dinosaur Lords (Milan) and The Edge of Dawn (Snodgrass).

At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12. 858268-4747, mystgalaxy.com William Wellman, Jr. at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The author and actor will sign and discuss Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel, a biography about his director father. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug.12. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com

COMEDY HJon Lovitz at Hotel Del Coronado, 1500 Orange Ave., Coronado. The comedian and actor is best known for a five-year stint on SNL and his many cameos on comedy classics like The Wedding Singer and Three Amigos. At 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, Friday, Aug. 7, and Saturday, Aug. 8. $35-$45. 800-468-3533, laughfactory.com Family Reunion at Across the Street, 4603 Park Blvd., Normal Heights. Sidestage Improv presents a brand new show of improvised comedy by the Specs Allstars, Black Sheep, as well as We Crooked Swedes (your favorite crazy uncles). At 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. $10.

500-1683, sidestageimprov.com

#SDCityBeat

EVENTS DANCE HMOVE at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. The sibling dance duo of Derek and Julianne Hough, of Dancing with the Stars fame, stop by for a show that combines dance and theatre.

At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6. $39.50. sandiegotheatres.org Me to We at Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, Downtown. This teen dance performance is the result of a summer-long exploration of young voices and personal storytelling through modern dance. Pieces are accompanied by live music and original media content. At 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, and Saturday, Aug. 8, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. $10-$25. 619-544-1000, tdarts.org

FASHION HHand Meets Sky Trunk Show at Pigment, 3827 30th St., North Park. Peruse hand-crafted jewelry from the designer specializing in authentic Native American accessories from New Mexico. From noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. shoppigment.com

FOOD AND DRINK HShuck-a-Thon at Ironside Fish & Oyster, 1654 India St., Little Italy. To celebrate National Oyster Day, six area chefs take a turn behind the raw bar to shuck oysters for a buck apiece. During each chef’s hour, 100 percent of the proceeds from oyster sales will go to the chef’s chosen charity. From 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5. 619-2693033, ironsidefishandoyster.com Farms, Friends and Fishermen Dinner at The Red Door, 741 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. The Red Door’s executive chef Karrie Hills and owner Trish Watlington will host the fourth in a seasonal series of meals with a cocktail reception and a five-course dinner paired with beer provided by Urbn St. Brewing Company.

From 5:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5. $80. 619-295-6000, thereddoorsd.com Honey Hefeweizen Release at Kilowatt Brewing, 7576 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Kearny Mesa. Enjoy Latin American food and beer pairings at Kilowatt Brewing, along with the release of Kilowatt’s Honey Hefeweizen. Abu’s Kitchen will be onsite from 5 to 9 p.m. From noon to 10:30 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 7. 858-715-3998 HFarm to Bay Food & Wine Classic at Living Coast Discovery Center, 1000 Gunpowder Point Dr., Chula Vista. Some of San Diego’s top restaurants will offer drink and food samples during this event supporting LCDC’s programs that educate locals on ways to protect and sustain coastal wildlife. From 4 to 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 8. $80. 619-409-5900, thelivingcoast.org Western Regional Chili Cookoff at Del Mar Racetrack, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd.

Receive free chili samples from cooks throughout the day in the concert area west of the grandstand and select your favorites in the People’s Choice category.

Free with Racetrack admission. From 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. Free-$10. 858755-1141, dmtc.com 19th Anniversary Party at Coronado Brewing Company - Tasting Room, 1205 Knoxville St., Linda Vista. Enjoy some beers, food trucks and music from Ron’s Garage Band at this anniversary event.

Ticket price includes a pint of Anniversary IPA and a special commemorative glass to take home. From 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. $10. 619-275-2215, coronadobrewingcompany.com

MUSIC HSummerFest Under the Stars at Scripps Park at La Jolla Cove, La Jolla. The

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La Jolla Music Society kicks off its annual SummerFest Series with a free outdoor concert featuring selections from Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Moszkowski and more.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5. Visit ljms. org for the full SummerFest lineup.

B-3 Four Band Happy Hour at Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., North Park.

The B-3 Four Band will perform live with featured vocalist George Brittenham. Patrons must be 21 or older to attend. From 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6. $10.

619-296-2101, jazz88.org HA Rodgers & Hammerstein Celebration at Embarcadero Marina Park South, 206 Marina Park Way, Downtown. A veteran Broadway cast performs the songs of the creative duo. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, and Saturday, Aug. 8. $20-$85.

6192350804, sandiegosymphony.com

PERFORMANCE HThe Impresario and Carmen at Palisades Presbyterian Church, 6301 Birchwood St., Allied Gardens. An Opera NEO double-bill production of Mozart’s lesserknown Impresario and Georges Bizet acclaimed masterpiece, Carmen. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, and Saturday, Aug. 8. $12-$45. 619-582-0852, operaneo.com

POETRY AND SPOKEN WORD On the Road Storytelling at Rebecca’s Coffee House, 3015 Juniper St, South Park. Members of Storytellers of San Diego will host an evening of stories born of traveling experiences near and far. From

7 to 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5. 619284-3663, storytellersrofsandiego.org

Thursday, Aug. 6. $20-$25. 619-2327931, sdmart.org

SPECIAL EVENTS

HFriday Night Liberty at NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. This monthly gallery and studio walk features open artist studios, galleries, live performances, shopping and entertainment throughout NTC’s Arts and Culture District. From 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. 619-573-9300, ntclibertystation.com

HArt Bazaar at Museum of Photographic Arts, Balboa Park. Inspired by MOPA’s global video exhibition 7 billion Others, a night-time shopping pop-up event at MOPA’s Late Night Thursday featuring dozens of local artists from Tijuana and San Diego. From 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6. 619-238-7559, mopa.org HCulture & Cocktails: Coney Island at San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park. Enjoy themed snacks, desserts and SKYY Vodka-infused signature cocktails, as well as DJs, live musical performances and special activities during this artsy, carnival-themed party. At 6 p.m.

HPaper Theatre Festival and Exhibit at Geisel Library, UCSD campus, La Jolla. The 14th annual festival will display several model theaters made of paper during the Victorian Era. Patrons can also catch a few performances held at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. 858-822-5758, library.ucsd.edu

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 35

HSan Diego Pro Arte Voices at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Part of the annual San Diego Summer Choral Festival, this event includes a concert and silent auction benefiting the San Diego Pro Arte Voices. At 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. $5-$20 suggested donation.

609-937-6619, sdproartevoices.org Jazz on Cedros at Carruth Cellars, 320 S. Cedros Ave. #400, Solana Beach. Jazz favorite Anna Danes performs a set of Latin music backed by Allan Phillips on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, Duncan Moore on drums, Derek Cannon on trumpet and Monette Marino on percussion. From 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. $20. 858-8479463, carruthcellars.com HThe Gregory Page Show at Grassroots Oasis, 3130 Moore St., Old Town. A concert from the acclaimed local singer-songwriter at the new Oasis House Concerts venue, complete with songs, storytelling and humorous poetry. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. $20-$25. 858-945-6273 HA Balboa Park Expose at Zoro Garden, El Prado, Balboa Park. As part of the Balboa Park Garden Cabaret Series, The Barely There Players will present a performance based on events at the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. 619-235-1169, outdoorssandiego.com Villa Musica Summer Orchestra at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. The community ensemble will perform Mendelssohn’s “Sinfonia No.1 in C Major,” Philip Lane’s “Pantomime” and Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op.48.” At 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9.

619-236-5800, sandiegolibrary.org KAABOO Discovery Tour Battle of the Bands at Quartyard, 1102 G. St., East Village. Four bands—Jet West, KI, Stranger Band and Grizzly Business— will play sets in hopes of getting to perform at the KAABOO Del Mar music festival in September. At 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. $10. 714-392-8565, kaaboodiscoverytour.brownpapertickets.com HLindsey Stirling at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. The classically trained violinist combines electronic big beats and animation in her shows which have garnered her half a billion views on YouTube. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10. $38.50. sandiegotheatres.org HGordon Turk at Spreckels Organ Pavilion, Balboa Park. The Organist and Choirmaster of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Wayne, Pennsylvania plays a special concert as part of the Centennial International Summer Organ Festival. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Aug.10. spreckelsorgan.org Jackson Browne at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. The iconic singer-songwriter stops by in support of his new album, Standing In The Breach. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12. $49.50. sandiegotheatres.org

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

EVENTS JIM COX

THEATER

man Ally is Watson, and Andrew Kober, Blake Segal and Liz Wisan do quick-change duty as multiple characters, sometimes before your very eyes. The versatile Segal and Wisan in particular would fit nicely in a Mel Brooks ensemble.

Left to right: Blake Segal, Usman Ally and Euan Morton Silliness carin Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery ries the day, and Baskerville barks up the right tree Doyle purists might harrumph. ir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound But there are enough spooky visual and of the Baskervilles is an ingenious sound effects to satisfy that contingent. mystery story, but Sherlock Holmes’ For everyone else, the swiftly paced witty elucidations aside, it is largely hu- Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery morless. Leave it to playwright Ken Lud- with all its Ken Ludwig signature zaniwig, who previously penned the hilarious, ness is a howl.

Holmesian The Game’s Afoot; or Holmes Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery for the Holidays, to make a madcap romp. runs through Sept. 6 at the Old Globe TheUnder the direction of Josh Rhodes, Lud- atre’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre wig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mys- in Balboa Park. $29 and up. oldglobe.org tery transports Doyle’s sweeping (and *** frequently grim) novel to the Old Globe’s arlsbad’s New Village Arts Theatre little theater in the round. launches its 15th season with the An indefatigable, charmingly costumed likable mishmash that is Return to cast of five brings Ludwig’s farcical whodunit to life. Euan Morton is Holmes, Us- the Forbidden Planet. British playwright

S

C

34 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

Bob Carlton’s jukebox musical mixes the iconic sci-fi flick “Forbidden Planet” with Shakespeare (not just The Tempest, upon which in part that 1956 movie was based, but others of The Bard’s works as well).

Then—who knows why?—it tosses into the goulash of hit pop songs from the ’50s and ’60s.

It’s all rather ridiculous and overambitious. But NVA’s production is distinguished by a deft and fun-loving cast.

Manny Fernandes basks in the Dr. Prospero mad scientist part, Keavne L’Marr Coleman nails the role of the roller-skating droid Ariel, and among the singing actors soloing, Marlene Montes soars highest. If you banish the classic film from your mind and brush up on your Shakespeare a little, you’ll enjoy this excessive but genial extraterrestrial trip.

Return to the Forbidden Planet runs through Sept. 6 at New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. $25-$47.

Newvillagearts.org.

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Breaking Up is Hard to Do: This musical featuring the classic songs of Neil Sedaka is about a woman

left at the altar, but who decides to go on her honeymoon anyway. Directed by Randall Hickman, it opens Aug. 7 at the Welk Resort Theatre in Escondido. broadwayvista.com Legally Blonde the Musical: An entitled sorority girl decides to go to Harvard law school out of spite, only to realize she may have a knack for it.

Presented by Center Stage Productions, it opens for four performances on Aug. 7 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. artcenter.org The Sea Horse: The story of a loner sailor who attempts to court the owner of the bar he’s been coming to for years. Presented by Different Stages, it opens Aug. 9 at the Swedenborg Church Hall in Normal Heights. differentstages.biz Shrek the Musical: A singing-and-dancing take on the movie about an ogre in love. Opens Aug. 12 at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. moonlightstage. com Love Labor’s Lost and The Tempest: High school students participating in the Old Globe’s Summer Shakespeare Intensive program will perform one-hour versions of the two Bard classics. It happens Aug. 10 at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?: Robert Dubac plays multiple roles in this one-man show exploring the differences between the sexes. It happens Aug. 11 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org

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

#SDCityBeat

EVENTS the competition’s over. At 7 and 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. Free-$175. 858534-2701, luauandlegendsofsurfing.org HArt in the Village The Carlsbad Village Association’s monthly event features over 150 local and regional artists, as well as live music and artist demos. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. 858-453-9600, carlsbad-village.com HFestival del Caballo See show horses compete in traditional competitions and more at this family-friendly celebration of horses. Includes food, pony rides, crafts, desserts and more. Takes place at the Charro Canvas Beaches House of Culture in Playas de Tijuana. At noon Sunday, Aug. 9. Free-$12.

SPORTS Chargers FanFest at Qualcomm Stadium, 9449 Friars Road, Mission Valley. Meet players and see them in action, get autographs, say hello to the Chargers Girls and more at this annual fan-appreciation day. From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. chargers.com

“These Thoughts” by Bryan Tipton is on view in Bloom, a solo show opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, at Visual Shop (3776 30th St.) in North Park.

HCardiff Dog Days of Summer at Cardiff 101 Main Street, 124 Aberdeen Drive, Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Now in its tenth year, over 200 vendors will be showing off dogfriendly items so you’re bound to find something Fido will like. From 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. cardiffdogdaysofsummer.com HHeiva San Diego at San Diego Concourse, 202 C St., Downtown. A celebration of Polynesian culture that includes dancing, drumming, singing, arts and crafts, specialty drinks and more. From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. $20. heivasandiego.com HVillage Nights at Businesses throughout the La Jolla Village area will be open late and offering specials throughout the evening. Participants include Thumbprint Gallery, Jose’s Courtroom, Ease Art of Healing, and more. From 5 to 8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 8. facebook.com/VillageNightsLaJolla Charity Yoga Event at Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Highway, Little Italy. The One Love Movement’s fourth annual event raises awareness for underprivileged women and youth and will include live music and yoga classes. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. $35-$100. 858694-3030, jointheonelovemovement.org HAutomobile Heritage Day Festival and Car Show at Kimball Park, 12th St. and D Ave., National City. From classic antiques to the latest in electric vehicles, over 200 car owners will compete for awards at this 24th annual car show.

The event will include food, dancing, live music, carnival games and more. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. 619336-4290, automobileheritageday.com HVinyl Junkies Record Swap at The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown.

Vendors selling thousands of collectible and vintage records in all genres, plus DJs spinning throughout the day. In celebration of the DVD release of Records Collecting Dust. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 8. $3. 619-602-9526 HArt in the Yard at Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., North Park. This annual urban art show consists of artists, vendors and performers. Patrons can

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purchase artwork, sample food and enter raffles throughout the evening. From 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. 619-584-4448, facebook.com/sdartintheyard Crossroads Doll and Teddy Bear Show at Al Bahr Shrine Center, 5440 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Creators and collectors of dolls, teddy bears, antiques, miniatures and more will enter contests and host demonstrations. Patrons can purchase some of the materials on display or get expert opinions on items from home. From 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 8. $4-$8. dolls4all.com San Diego Free Press Galastravaganzaversary at Border X Brewing Tasting Room, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan.

SDFP celebrates three years with a night of art, music and poetry. From 5 to 9 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 8. 619-787-6176, sandiegofreepress.org HMiss Balboa Park Drag Beauty Pageant at San Diego Art Institute, Balboa Park. The first-ever pageant will feature some of Southern California’s favorite queens competing for the title of Miss Balboa Park. Includes special guests performances and specialty cocktails. From 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. $10. sandiego-art.org Soldiers and Citizens at Old Town Historic Park, 2454 Heritage Park Row. Part of Old Town’s annual Stagecoach Days celebration, learn about how the military has been part of San Diego since its inception through living history activities, demonstrations, stories, songs and more. From noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. 619-491-0099, parks.ca.gov/oldtownsandiego HCityFest A celebration of community spirit under the iconic Hillcrest sign on Fifth and University Avenue. Includes games, activities, over 250 vendors, live music, a beer garden and much more.

From noon to 11 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9.

619-299-3330, fabuloushillcrest.com Legends of Surfing Invitational and Luau at Scripps Pier, 8648 Kennel Way, La Jolla. Patrons can watch surfers compete in this 22nd annual invitational and attend a luau fundraiser benefiting the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center once

Oddity Wrestling Alliance at Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2125 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. A lucha libre-style wrestling event featuring nearly a dozen matches of mostly masked men throwing each other around the squared circle. At 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. $15. 619-235-6135, odditywrestling.com

TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS Sierra Talks at Joyce Beers Community Center, 3900 Vermont St., Hillcrest.

Professor Michael Golden of Grossmont College will lead a discussion on the importance of being prepared when hiking or backpacking. From 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. 858-569-6005, sandiegosierraclub.org Thinking Shakespeare Live! at Old Globe Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park. Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein offers a 90-minute exploration of a performer’s approach to Shakespearean language so audiences may easily understand the poetry of the Bard. At 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. $10$15. 619-231-1941, oldglobe.org HSummer Speaker Series: Dr. Norbert Streitz at Atkinson Hall Auditorium, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The scientist will give give a talk titled, “Life in Smart Cities and Airports: People-Centered Design for Transient Smart Spaces.” At 2 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10. designlab.ucsd. edu A World Divided/A City United: Military Presence at the Exposition at San Diego History Center, Balboa Park.

Bruce Linder, executive director of the Coronado Historical Association, will discuss the military’s presence at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.

Part 10 of the Balboa Park Centennial Lecture Series. From 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 11. $12. 619-232-6203, sandiegohistory.org HIt Takes a Village: The Global Impact of the United Nations at House of Denmark, Balboa Park. Godfrey Coker will share his perspective on the global impact of the United Nations and his own journey from seeking refuge in the United States during the raging civil war in his home country of Sierra Leone. From 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12. 619-2333970, unasd.org

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 35

Culture | Art

Seen Local

official approval process due to traffic-safety concerns. Open Spaces artist-in-residence Roberto Salas returned to Lincoln Park and, with the help of artist Todd Stands, went through several iterations before the community embraced the final project.

Positive words and phrases written in reflective vinyl in various languages were recently installed around high speed public art our underserved neighborhoods are now homes the notorious intersection and in other prominent to new public art, compliments of The San Diego locations throughout the community.

“They’re just words, but I think once you see Museum of Art’s lauded Open Spaces program. them all together they work,” Salas says. “Of course, Funded by an experimental grant from the James Irvine Foundation, Open Spaces launched in the sum- it brings up that old argument of, ‘is it signage or art?’ mer of 2013 with an aggressive timeline for getting And no, no it’s not signage; it’s art. In advertising public artwork installed in the art-starved neighbor- they’re selling things and in this, they are words of hoods of Logan Heights, Lincoln Park, Lemon Grove inspiration that came directly from the community.”

In Lemon Grove, commualicyn luna and National City. Program nity members are working on coordinator Irma Esquivpainting a large-scale mural ias says the fast-paced projon both sides of the walls of ects were challenging at a freeway underpass (disclotimes, but ultimately demsure: I live in Lemon Grove onstrated how quickly and and attended a handful of successfully communityOpen Spaces meetings). Dedriven art can happen. For signed by Lemon Grove resieach project, SDMA went dent artist Richard Luna, to the neighborhoods with the mural pictures more than a team of area artists and set 15 varieties of locally grown up a series of meetflora and fauna that comings in which attendmunity members say have ees decided exactly The Lemon Grove mural historical or symbolic meanhow they’d spend ing. The large, colorful mukinsee morlan $30,000. The comral is also meant to beautify a munity was also invited to dark, dilapidated underpass hands-on workshops where that’s been used as shelter by they helped create the work. the city’s homeless popula“It was challenging betion and has become an incause people aren’t used to timidating place for kids to that level of involvement,” walk through on their way to Esquivias says. “People are school. more used to the process In Logan Heights, Saof, ‘tell us what you’re planlas and artist Misael Diaz ning on doing and we’ll tell helped the community use you if we like it.’ I think our their $30,000 to get Ramethod absolutely empowered communities to make Patricia Corona (left) and other community dio Pulso del Barrio off the ground. The online station public art.” members in front of a butterfly sculpture National City resident at Butterfly Park in National City (radiopulsodelbarrio.com) is completely managed and run and community leader Paby the community and feacarlos beltran tricia Corona says the peotures programming created ple who worked on the art by locals, including shows by project in her neighborhood members of the well-known feel a definite sense of pride art collectives, The Roots and ownership. Residents Factory and Voz Alta. created a series of butterfly Esquivias says she’s exsculptures currently being tremely proud of the four installed at Butterfly Park, new public-art projects, but Las Palmas Park, Kimball she’s become an even bigger Park and Olivewood Garadvocate of all the behinddens and Learning Center. the-scenes, collaborative Together, the four National work that went on.

City locations are intended Anselmo Juan (left) and Dante Loaiza “I think of the end result to celebrate the beauty of broadcasting at Radio Pulso del Barrio as the physical thing, the the area while also creating a new “Butterfly Path” they hope people will explore. tangible thing,” she says, “but I think about how im“There are around 90 butterflies total,” Corona portant the process was for all of us—that’s where says of the vinyl-covered metal sculptures. “When the real work was. And I think for a lot of people we made them at the community workshops, fami- they became involved in contributing to their own lies tended to work on their own butterflies, so now a community for the first time. Yes, some were already lot of the families say, ‘you know, our butterfly is right highly involved, but others weren’t.”

She says Open Spaces also demonstrated a new, here,’ so they feel very proud of what we’ve done.” more public approach to art projects that local muThe Lincoln Park community originally proposed a projected light sculpture at the dubbed “Four Cor- nicipalities could mimic.

“I hope the different cities were able to see how ners of Death” intersection of Euclid and Imperial avenues, which has been plagued with shootings and important it is to work with the residents closely to other violence. The city of San Diego, though, sent find out what the real concerns are and find out how them back to the drawing board, saying the light to support them with art,” she says.

F

sculpture ultimately wouldn’t make it through the

36 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

—Kinsee Morlan #SDCityBeat

Culture | Film

A serious man Jason Segel explores the enigmatic author David Foster Wallace

The End Of The Tour

checks scholarly essays and open sources (including Wallace’s appearance on Charlie Rose). But

by Glenn Heath Jr. the character ultimately took shape during preason Segel made his Hollywood fortune por- production. “A lot of what I had to do was make traying lanky dude-bros in the Judd Apatow choices, and guesses as to what somebody might be universe. There was Freaks and Geeks and feeling.”

For much of The End of the Tour, Lipsky and WalKnocked Up, where the actor played second fiddle to the likes of smart aleck hucksters Seth Rogen and lace attempt to do just that; many of their awkward James Franco. He finally landed a starring turn in interactions are clumsy stabs at forming a bond.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a loveably lovesick sap, Eisenberg and Segel navigate this tricky dynamic receiving relatively positive praise. He found further with ease. “We had the emotional freedom to explore mainstream success on the small screen with How I what we thought was actually going on between these two guys at any given moment.”

Met Your Mother.

Due credit must also be given to Ponsoldt, an acNow, Segel seems ready for something substantial, transitioning into the realm of drama (well, kind tor’s director who has procured similarly weighty of ) with James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour. It’s turns from Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley (The a talky exploration of flawed genius, jealousy and a Spectacular Now) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead and distinctly American loneliness, one that depends Aaron Paul (Smashed). Segel praises his director’s patience and preparation: “He and I went through heavily on the nuances of performance.

As the author David Foster Wallace, who com- every scene talking about what was underneath, mitted suicide in 2008, Segel gives a measured and what are they really talking about during these conversations.” melancholy turn, encapsulating Subtext ends up defining The a certain conflict of ideology in a End of the Tour, which opens writer deftly aware of his own inThe End of Friday, August 7, most notably securities. He disappears into the the Tour how the American dream has role, wearing spectacles, grungy Directed by James Ponsoldt devolved. “The whole movie is clothes and a bandana that covers Starring Jason Segel, dancing around a single question: his straggly hair.

Jessie Eisenberg, Joan Cusack, When things go as well as you The film takes place mostly and Mamie Gummer ever dreamed they would, why in 1996, when Wallace and RollRated R is it that you still feel the same?” ing Stone writer David Lipsky Wallace twinges at this realization (played by the always squirrely throughout the film, an uncertainJesse Eisenberg) spent five days together at the end of the Infinite Jest publicity ty Segel balances with the author’s obvious superior tour conducting what would become an intimate wit and intelligence.

“There’s something all-consuming about the extended interview. Their dense conversations cover a range of topics, including addiction, de- message we are given here,” Segel says. “We’re told pression and the looming omniscience of technol- you should work hard all day, come home, put your ogy. Undercutting each is a sense of anxiety about feet up, crack open a beer, watch reality televisiona humanity and connection on the eve of the Inter- and do that again. You’ll be just fine. It’s no surprise people don’t feel just fine.” net age.

For an actor whose characters are usually While on a recent San Diego publicity tour of his own (an irony not lost on the actor), Segel looked clouded by bong smoke and booze, Segel’s Walspry, ready to wax verbosely about a subject of which lace sees the contradictions of our society rather he cares deeply. “There’s a reason David Foster Wal- clearly. But seeing and being at peace with this reallace speaks to people in such a personal way, and it’s ity are two very different things. the same thing that draws you to Catcher in the Rye. For a certain amount of pages while you’re on this Film reviews run weekly.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com. journey, he’s saying ‘I am you.’”

Asked how he prepared for the role, Segel name

J

Festival madness

T The Magic Bracelet

#SDCityBeat

hrow a stone in any direction and you’ll probably hit a San Diego-based film festival. Anyone familiar with the local scene knows that our town has a bevy of cinema-induced events ranging in style and scale.

Sometimes, this can mean an overwhelming number of choices for audiences to spend their time and money. These events have to

stand out from the crowd in order to attract, well, the crowds.

America’s Finest Film Festival, a showcase of 20 short films that highlights “the beauty and diversity of America’s finest city,” focuses on local filmmakers and their respective visions of our communities. If the festival trailer is any indication that selection should be

CONTINUED ON PAGE 38 August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 37

Culture | Film CONTINUED from PAGE 37 brimming with surf-heavy product and attitude to spare.

The festival takes place in one night, with screenings occurring at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., Saturday, August 8, at the Irwin Jacobs Qualcomm Hall. While the scope may seem quaint, an event this dedicated to relishing the cultural and social layers of San Diego is worthy of our attention.

Up north, the Oceanside International Film Festival kicks off on Sunday, August 9, at 2 p.m. with a red carpet affair and a special retro screening of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Creator John DeBello will be on hand to shed light on the production stories behind this camp classic. There will also be the San Diego premiere of The Magic Bracelet starring J.K. Simmons.

Screenings will continue throughout the week, focusing heavily on local and international films. Industry panels, including one titled “Deconstructing the Score” featuring Emmy-winning film composer Larry Groupé, will give audiences a behind-thescenes look at the film production process. The event concludes with a closing awards gala on Sunday, August 16.

—Glenn Heath, Jr.

38 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

Opening Fantastic Four: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell play the Marvel super-powered foursome who must save Earth from a former friend turned enemy. Will probably win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Jenny’s Wedding: Kathrine Heigl stars as a young woman who must confront her conservative family’s ideology after she gets engaged to her girlfriend. Plays through Thursday, August 13, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Listen to Me Marlon: Over the course of his life, Marlon Brando recorded more than 200 hours of thoughts and reflections on a tape recorder. Filmmaker Stevan Riley has taken these powerful confessionals and edited them together in what amounts to a striking autobiography from beyond the grave.

Llevate Mis Amores: This fascinating documentary is about Las Patronas, a group of women that prepare care packages for migrants riding a train en route to the United States. Screens at 1 p.m.

Friday, August 7 and Saturday, August 8, and 3 p.m. Wednesday, August 12, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Oceanside International Film Festival: More than 70 films will be showcased at this international film festival that will also feature parties, panels, and educational opportunities. Opens on Sunday, August 9, and screens through Sunday, August 16 at various North County venues. For more information, visit ocaf.info/ oceanside-international-film-festival/.

Ricki and the Flash: Meryl Streep plays a rock musician who left everything to make it big. Now she returns home hoping to make things right with her family.

Samba: A Senegalese refugee living in Paris befriends a wealthy businesswoman experiencing a midlife crisis in the new film from those responsible for The Intouchables.

The End of the Tour: Rolling Stone writer Dave Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) visits author David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) at the end of his book tour for Infinite Jest. The two begin an awkward friendship that reveals deeply rooted insecurities in both men.

The Stranger: When a drifter appears in a small town looking for his wife, a horrifying secret is revealed that causes unrest with the community. Plays through Thursday, August 13, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

One Time Only The Short List: Program of short films from a variety of countries and genres.

Screens at 6:30 p.m. August 5, at the Lemon Grove Library.

Jaws: The perfect cautionary tale against skinny-dipping. Screens at 8 p.m.

Wednesday, August 5 at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Back to the Future II: This dark, loony sequel finds Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) trapped in a nightmarish futuristic version of Hill Valley. Screens at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday, August 6, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

When Harry Met Sally: Billy Crystal makes doe eyes at Meg Ryan in this classic romantic comedy from the 1980s. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, August 6 at Athenaeum Music and Arts Library La Jolla.

Harold and Maude: A young man develops a sexual relationship with an older woman in Hal Ashby’s 1970s master-

piece. Screens at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, August 6 and 7, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Outsider: The Life and Art of Judith Scott: This documentary examines the famous artist and her troubled life that featured time spent institutionalized. Screens at 6 p.m. Friday, August 7, at Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park.

Top Gun: Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards are flight bros for life in Tony Scott’s super homoerotic action film about fighter pilots living on the edge. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Friday, August 7, at Portwood Pier Plaza Imperial Beach.

Inocente: This 30-minute Oscar-winning documentary follows a young woman’s dream of becoming an artist despite her undocumented status. Screens at 7 p.m.

Friday, August 7, at the Barracks 17 Conference Room in Liberty Station.

America’s Finest Film Festival: 20 of the best short films from around San Diego county will be showcased in this diverse program. Screens at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, August 8, at Irwin Jacobs Qualcomm Hall in San Diego.

Dial M For Murder: After his plan to murder his wife goes south, an ex-sports star carries out a brilliant plan B. Screens at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, August 8 and 9, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

For a complete

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

under the “E vents” tab.

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 39

Music

social media Circuit des Yeux aims to create community through music by jeff terich

E

very musician has experienced it in some form or other: The audience that just won’t hush up. It can be a real struggle for those whose performances tend toward the quieter side. Some let patience win the audience to their side, like singer/songwriter Angel Olsen, who managed the rare feat of getting a sold-out Soda Bar audience to shut their collective yaps with a performance of her song “White Fire” in March last year. Others, such as Sun Kil Moon’s Mark Kozelek, who called a chatty audience at Hopscotch Festival last year “fucking hillbillies,” prefer hostility.

Chicago-based singer/songwriter Haley Fohr, who records and performs as Circuit des Yeux, took a more contemplative approach after playing before a similarly talkative crowd at Hopscotch, the same festival that yielded Kozelek’s outburst ( just one of many in the last 12 months). Fohr wrote about the experience on her blog, and reflected on how the relationship between artist and audience can sometimes be adversarial, even though it shouldn’t be: “I feel like I am a woman and her guitar against the world. That is a terrible way to feel. I’m pushing my voice in ways that are unhealthy, I’m getting sick on the road, and it’s all to drown you out. How terrible is that? That is not why either of us are here.”

Simply put, the experience changed her. Speaking to CityBeat from her home in Chicago, Fohr says that she’ll forever view live performance through a different lens.

“Before, when I was playing it was pretty easy to zone in on something and I wouldn’t recognize where I was, and it would seem like I was battling the audience,” she says. “But we’re all there for the same reason. My initial

40 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

response would be to go really loud and drown them out.

In Plain Speech is not, however, a pop album. There’s But the more I thought about it, the more I thought, that a brightness and accessibility to it that sets it apart from doesn’t really solve anything. When you’re trying to talk to past Circuit des Yeux recordings, but it’s still a complex and often strange work that finds Fohr building melodies someone, you don’t just scream over them.”

Circuit des Yeux’s new album In Plain Speech, released out of ominous drones (“Dream of TV”), wrapping her in May via Thrill Jockey, is also indirectly a result of Fohr’s songs in peculiar loops of distortion (“Guitar Knife”), own soul searching about the role of an artist and her re- and taking influence from minimalist composers such as lationship to the audience. For one, it’s her most collab- Terry Riley and Steve Reich on the pulsing sequence of orative record to date, featuring musicians such as Cooper “Do the Dishes.”

Crain and Rob Frye of Bitchin’ Bajas, and flautist Kathleen Fohr has a deep and resonant voice, the closest analogue Baird. On a more personal level, however, In Plain Speech of which is probably Scott Walker. And like Walker, Fohr is more than willing to push her is the least inward-looking of Fohr’s releases to date. She songwriting into directions that wrote the album with the intent few other songwriters would for it to be heard, and ideally, for dare. But while her music asks august 15 the audience to process and some patience of the listener, it seven grand interact with. also rewards it, in gently beauticircu itde sye ux . ban dcam p.com “For me, this reful melodies like “Fantasize the Scene.” And Fohr concedes that cord is a message, and it’s the first record I ever even consid- she tried to steer away from some of her more abrasive muered that other people would be listening sical tendencies on this album. to,” she says. “I’ve made a lot of records in “I tried to brighten it up,” she says. “There’s certainmy life, but they’ve all been in my bed- ly a heaviness to the production, but there’s a pretty full room, and I never considered the spectrum. It’s pretty bright—there’s some bright sounds in audience as an integral part of the there that I haven’t really explored before. But my ears, for art form of music. And they’re half whatever reason, enjoy low drones and dark material.” of the cycle. It’s different from other It’s unlikely that Fohr will abandon those low drones forms, like painting...there’s a sort of and dark material as a performer, but In Plain Speech marks dialogue. People receive it and throw a turning point for Circuit des Yeux, and for Fohr as a perback something. It’s the opening of son. And should she encounter a repeat of the overly gara conversation. I hear the audience, rulous audience like that of her Hopscotch performance, I hear the people around me, and she won’t sweat it.

I want to be involved and “There’s always going to be a gig where people are talk about the world and talking over you,” she says. “You have to think about what they’re up to. If someone is working 40 hours a week at a what’s going on.

“I think the spec- shitty job, they’re going to want to have a cocktail and laugh trum of emotions on with their friends. You just have to share that space.” this record, compared to previous Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com or follow him on Twitter at records, feel stron- @1000TimesJeff. ger to me,” she adds. “There’s a bit To hear a track, go to sdcitybeat.com more of an uplifiting message than and search for “C ircuit Des Yeux” previously.”

circuit des yeux

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 41

Music

notes from the smoking patio Locals Only

J

enny Merullo is now playing drums for The Shady Francos. The band’s previous drummer, Cameron Sisti, took a step back from playing music to focus on school.

So when Merullo, who also drums in The Heavy Guilt—which is now on an extended hiatus—heard the band was in need of a new drummer, she jumped on the opportunity to get back behind the kit.

“Since the Guilt kind of stopped playing, I’ve been getting kind of antJenny Merullo, second from right, pictured with The Heavy Guilt sy,” she says in a phone interview with CityBeat.

Shady Francos are a louder, more manic garage rock Merullo heard about the Shady Francos’ need for group, and allows her to change her style a bit when a new drummer through her friend and Heavy Guilt they perform, which is an added bonus. bandmate, Al Howard, who passed on the informa“It’s a completely different animal, coming from a tion, and thought she might be interested in giving six-piece band to a three-piece band,” she says. “[In it a shot. After Merullo got in touch with the group’s the Heavy Guilt] it was more my job to keep that train frontman, Joshua Kmak, everything fell into place on the track. With this band it’s a little louder, there with one rehearsal session. are more cymbals—it’s very splashy. It’s all about the “It started with a text that turned into a jam sesenergy.” sion,” she says. “It kind of clicked from the beginThe Shady Francos’ first San Diego show with ning. I’m a basher. It’s right up my alley.”

Merullo playing drums will be Friday, Aug. 28, at The difference in musical styles was also attracQueen Bee’s, followed by another show on Saturday, tive to Merullo, who had played in a bluesier rock Aug. 29, at The Casbah. ‘n’ roll band with The Heavy Guilt. By contrast, The

—Jeff Terich

A SAN DIEGO FOOD PLAYLIST

S

ince this week is our food issue, I thought it’d be fun to assemble a quick playlist of songs by San Diego artists that are about food, named after foods or have some connection to delicious delicacies in some way or other. In some cases, there are also bands named after foods. Whatever the case, I hope these tunes will whet the appetites of your guests at your next dinner party.

Inch, “Chicharrones”: This ’90s-era track got a little bit of 91X airplay in its day, though it’s not really a song about fried pork skins. Though now that I’m thinking about it, I could go for a crunchy, cracklin snack.

Taurus Authority, “Crab Apple”: I don’t know about you, but I find that funk music makes for great dining atmosphere. This local trio definitely brings the grooves, and while a crab apple isn’t usually a favorite on anyone’s menu, this jam makes it seem that much more appetizing.

Rocket from the Crypt, “Pigeon Eater”: I’ve always thought of Rocket from the Crypt as great playlist fare for a summer barbecue, and this song definitely makes the cut. Though, I can’t say pigeon ever ends up on the grill. However, the culinary minded might prefer the phrase “squab eater,” for those rare cases when it does.

Sledding With Tigers, “The Devil and a California Burrito Are Raging Inside Me”: Maybe the song on this playlist with the best title (actually, not may-

42 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

Tropical Popsicle be, definitely), this spunky folk ditty is short, but it’s just as satisfying as the carne asada and French fries in a tortilla its title conjures.

Tropical Popsicle, “Ghost Beacons”: Okay, this isn’t a food song but rather a band with food in its name. Good enough! And this synth-laden noisepop gem is certainly a tasty one.

Birdy Bardot, “Honey”: For dessert course number two, a rustic and reverb-drenched slice of dreamy Americana lives up to its name with a sweet melody and a rich arrangement of pedal steel and haunting backing vocals.

The Burning of Rome, “Champagne and Cigarettes”: To end the meal, a nightcap. I’m a nonsmoker, myself, but I’ll take a refill on the bubbly.

—Jeff Terich #SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 43

MUSIC

JEFF TERICH

IF I WERE U A music insider’s weekly agenda

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 5

a release show for their Space Jam-themed album, Come on and Slam. Relive the saga PLAN A: Hurray for the Riff Raff, Alana live, at this all ages show.

Amram and the Rough Gems @ Belly Up Tavern. Hurray for the Riff Raff is basically New Orleans singer/songwriter Al- SUNDAY, AUG. 9 ynda Segarra. Her stark, sometimes dark PLAN A: Big Ups, Death Hymn Number folk and bluegrass tunes are both haunting 9, Holling @ Soda Bar. Big Ups should be and tuneful. PLAN B: Beira, Garth Algar, more popular than they are. The New York Blow Me Down @ Soda Bar. I love that punk band combines old school hardcore there’s a band called Garth Algar. But I also punk intensity with the songwriting dylove that Beira plays epic and dark stoner namics of Fugazi, and they were one of my rock/doom metal. It’s meaty, massive stuff, favorite discoveries of 2014. Make them one of your favorites of 2015. BACKUP PLAN: and I approve.

Have Gun Will Travel, Garrett Klahn @ Bar Pink.

THURSDAY, AUG. 6

PLAN A: JOY, Electric Healing Sound, Ocelot, Clean Room @ Soda Bar. I enjoy a little bit of heavy psychedelic rock now and then, and at this show, there will be a lot to go around. Get ready to rock—and freak—out.

MONDAY, AUG. 10

PLAN A: !!!, Icy Demons @ The Casbah. I saw !!! (pronounced Chik-chik-chik, which you probably knew) in 2005 or so at The Casbah, before a sold-out audience. It was one of the hottest, steamiest, sweatiest shows I’ve ever been to, but it was also one FRIDAY, AUG. 7 hell of a dance party. Hydrate! PLAN B: PLAN A: The Muffs, The New Kinetics, Chris Isaak @ Humphreys Concerts by The Touchies, Honeychain @ The Cas- the Bay. Chris Isaak made an appearance bah. The Muffs have been making peppy, in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, but I’ve punky power pop tunes since the 1990s, and always thought of his music more like the frontwoman Kim Shattuck briefly played unofficial soundtrack to David Lynch probass for The Pixies. That didn’t last long, ductions. It’s reverent to classic blues and but that’s fine, since The Pixies’ last album rockabilly, but just a little bit eerie, like Roy was a disaster, yet The Muffs are still a lot Orbison at his weirdest. BACKUP PLAN: of fun. PLAN B: Sleep Terror, Mortuus Ryn Weaver @ The Irenic.

Terror, Fermentor @ The Merrow. If you prefer intense, guttural metal to power pop, TUESDAY, AUG. 11 then you should head here to get your fix of devastating, albeit technical death metal. PLAN A: Amanda X, Spirit of the Beehive, Super Buffet @ Soda Bar. Amanda X is not a person, but a band, and one SATURDAY, AUG. 8 that’s well worth checking out. The PhilPLAN A: Ilya, Soft Lions, Bit Maps, Le adelphia outfit makes noisy post-punk Chateau @ The Casbah. This is one hell with traces of dream pop and shoegaze, of a local music lineup. All four bands are so that checks off a lot of boxes in my CityBeat favorites, and most of them have “yes” column. released new music this year. If you’re looking to catch up on what’s happening in the scene, this is one of the best single showcases of talent all week (or month). PLAN B: Weekend, King Woman, Die Mißbildungen Die Menschen @ The Hideout.

Weekend make a lot of noise—more than one person has told me they’re the loudest band they’ve ever seen live—but beneath that fuzz and feedback are some great rock songs. They can write a tune, just bring earplugs so you can listen to them a second time.

PLAN C: Sledding With Tigers, She/Her/Hers @ Gym Standard. Remember this moment: The elusive Plan C. Sledding With Tigers are playing Chris Isaak

44 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

#SDCityBeat

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Joe “King” Carrasco (Casbah, 8/11), Radkey (Soda Bar, 9/19), The Lemonheads (BUT, 9/24), Luluc (The Loft, 9/26), Halsey (HOB, 9/30), Ultimate Painting (Soda Bar, 9/30), Toxic Holocaust (Til-Two Club, 10/1), Braids (Soda Bar, 10/8), Them Are Us Too (Whistle Stop, 10/9), Conflict (Til-Two Club, 10/9), Ought (The Hideout, 10/20), Strange Talk (Soda Bar, 10/20), Z-Trip (BUT, 10/23), The King Khan and BBQ Show (Soda Bar, 10/30), Sergio Mendes (BUT, 11/1), Collective Soul (HOB, 11/11), Circa Survive (HOB, 11/13).

GET YER TICKETS Metz (Casbah, 8/19), POD, Hoobastank (HOB, 8/22), Savages (Casbah, 8/23), Miguel (Observatory, 9/1), Dam-Funk (Casbah, 9/4), Cat Power (BUT, 9/6), The Psychedelic Furs, The Church (Observatory, 9/9), The Get Up Kids (Observatory, 9/10), ZZ Top (Humphreys, 9/13), Kamasi Washington (Soda Bar, 9/13), Wavves (Observatory, 9/15), Hum, Mineral (BUT, 9/16), Mobb Deep (Observatory, 9/16), Mew (Observatory, 9/17), Glass Animals (SOMA, 9/21), Future Islands (Observatory, 9/22), Shamir (Irenic, 9/22), Titus Andronicus (The Irenic, 9/24), Death Cab for Cutie (Open Air Theatre, 9/25), Duran Duran (Open Air Theatre, 9/27), Beirut (Open Air Theater, 10/6), Garbage (Humphreys, 10/6), Xavier Rudd and the United Nations (Observatory, 10/8), ‘CRSSD Festival’

#SDCityBeat

w/ Flaming Lips, TV on the Radio, Giorgio Moroder, Jamie xx (Waterfront Park, 10/10-11), alt-j (Open Air Theatre, 10/13), Twin Shadow (BUT, 10/14), Florence and the Machine (Viejas Arena, 10/14), Jose Gonzalez (BUT, 10/15), Of Monsters and Men (Open Air Theater, 10/17), Janet Jackson (Viejas Arena, 10/17), The Black Lips, Ariel Pink (Observatory, 10/18), My Morning Jacket (Open Air Theatre, 10/19), Eagles of Death Metal (BUT, 10/21), Red Fang (Casbah, 10/23), Mudhoney (Casbah, 10/24), Natalie Prass (Soda Bar, 10/24), Marilyn Manson (HOB, 10/26), Shakey Graves (Observatory, 10/28), Madonna (Valley View Casino Center, 10/29), Ghost (Observatory, 10/30), No Knife (Casbah, 10/31), ‘Night of the Shred’ w/ Rwake, Torche, Windhand (Quartyard, 10/31), Of Montreal (The Irenic, 11/5), Leon Bridges (Observatory, 11/6), The Menzingers, meWithoutYou (Observatory, 11/10), The Fall of Troy, Kylesa (Irenic, 11/10), Desaparecidos (BUT, 11/11), Yo La Tengo (Observatory, 11/12), Mayhem, Watain (Observatory, 11/13), Youth Lagoon (BUT, 11/14), Minus the Bear (Observatory, 11/21), Sturgill Simpson (Observatory, 11/22), Rise Against (Soma, 11/22).

AUGUST WEDNESDAY, AUG. 5 Hurray For the Riff Raff at Belly Up Tavern.

THURSDAY, AUG. 6 Anthony Raneri at House of Blues Voodoo Room. Echo and the Bunnymen at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Mike Pinto at Belly Up Tavern.

FRIDAY, AUG. 7 Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern. Thievery Corporation at Del Mar Racetrack.

SATURDAY, AUG. 8 Fall Out Boy, Wiz Khalifa at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. Ilya at The Casbah. Idina Menzel at Open Air Theatre. Weekend at The Hideout.

SUNDAY, AUG. 9 Jake Miller at House of Blues. Big Ups at Soda Bar.

MONDAY, AUG. 10 Langhorne Slim and the Law at Belly Up Tavern. !!! at The Casbah. Ryn Weaver at The Irenic.

TUESDAY, AUG. 11 Kevin Costner and Modern West at Belly Up Tavern. Joe “King” Carrasco at The Casbah.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 12 The Alabama Shakes at Open Air Theatre (sold out). Buddy Guy at Belly Up Tavern. Hot Chip at Observatory North Park. La Luz at Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, AUG. 13 Nicki Minaj at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

FRIDAY, AUG. 14 Toadies, Fuel at House of Blues. Whitey Morgan and the 78s at Belly Up Tavern.

Steel Pulse at Del Mar Racetrack. Cold Cave at The Hideout.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 46

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 45

MUSIC SATURDAY, AUG. 15 Jeff Rosenstock at House of Blues.

B-Side Players at Belly Up Tavern. Fu Manchu at The Casbah. The B-52s at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Trapt at Soda Bar. Heaters at The Hideout. Circuit des Yeux at Seven Grand.

SUNDAY, AUG. 16 Dierks Bentley at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. Kelly Clarkson at Viejas Arena. Raekwon and Ghostface Killah at House of Blues. Fucked Up at The Casbah.

MONDAY, AUG. 17 Screaming Females at Soda Bar. Inner Circle at Belly Up Tavern.

TUESDAY, AUG. 18 Marc Cohn at Belly Up Tavern.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 19 George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic at House of Blues. Metz at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, AUG. 20 Rocky Votolato at The Casbah. The Drums at The Irenic. Morrissey at Observatory North Park (sold out). Holychild at The Loft.

FRIDAY, AUG. 21 Arch Enemy at House of Blues. Pepper at Del Mar Racetrack. Morrissey at Observatory North Park (sold out). Tropical Popsicle at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, AUG. 22 Snow tha Product at Observatory

46 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

North Park. POD, House of Blues.

Hoobastank

at

SUNDAY, AUG. 23 Savages at The Casbah.

MONDAY, AUG. 24 Leon Russell at Belly Up Tavern. Diana Krall at Humphreys by the Bay.

TUESDAY, AUG. 25 Jill Scott at Humphreys by the Bay. Nails at The Casbah.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 26 Joe Bonamassa at Humphreys by the Bay. Black Cobra at The Hideout.

THURSDAY, AUG. 27 Los Lonely Boys at Belly Up Tavern.

Melvins at The Casbah.

FRIDAY, AUG. 28 Insomnium at Brick by Brick. Weird Al Yankovic at Del Mar Racetrack.

SUNDAY, AUG. 30 Deftones, Incubus at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

SEPTEMBER TUESDAY, SEPT. 1 Miguel at Observatory North Park. Lee “Scratch” Perry at Belly Up Tavern.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2 Millencolin at Observatory North Park.

#SDCityBeat

MUSIC THURSDAY, SEPT. 3 Pink Martini at Humphreys by the Bay. Marshall Tucker Band at Belly Up Tavern.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 4 Dam-Funk at The Casbah. ‘Awesome Fest’ at Soda Bar. Paul Oakenfold at Del Mar Racetrack.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Ocean Natives.

Fri: Sunny Rude, Raggabond, Dubbest.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Fri: Rhythm and the Method. Sat: Bill Cunliffe.

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

Wed: ‘Breezy Bliss’ w/ DJs Rebellion, Josh Taylor, Volz, Jus Sven, Giana, Viking.

Thu: ‘Dive’. Fri: DJ Junior the Disco Punk.

Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Church’ w/ DJs Bass Exotic, Karma, Vinnassi.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco. com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: David Koechner. Fri: David Koechner. Sat: David Koechner. Sun: Miracle Joke Elixir with Dave Ross.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Wed: DJ Grand Masta Rats.

Fri: ‘First Friday’ w/ DJ Artistic. Sat: The Milkcrates DJs. Sun: Have Gun Will Travel, Garrett Klahn. Mon: ‘Wreckord Mania’ w/ DJ @Large. Tue: ‘Tiki Tuesday’ w/ The Fink Bombs.

Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave, Downtown. bassmntsd.com. Fri: Jack Beats, Erick Diaz. Sat: Ferry Corsten.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla. brocktonvilla.com/beaumonts.html. Thu: Aquile. Fri: Stratos. Sat: Decembers Children. Sun: Daryl Johnson.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Hurray For the Riff Raff, Alana Amram and the Rough Gems. Thu: Mike Pinto, Hi Roots, AOK. Fri: Super Diamond, A Certain Groove. Sun: Casey Donahew Band, Annie Bosko. Mon: Langhorne Slim and the Law, John Moreland, The Wild Reeds. Tue: Kevin Costner and Modern West.

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

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’.

Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA. Sun: ‘Soiree’. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. dirksniteclub.com. Fri: Dr Jak. Sat: DJ Raymond T. Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. dizzyssandiego.com. Fri: Nathan Collins. Sat: Leonard Patton, Lizzi Trumbore, Teagan Taylor, Jennifer Leitham, Matt Falker.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown, Downtown. f6ixsd.com. Fri: Aleks Exact. Sat: DJ Kurch. Sun: DJ Kaos.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: Green Lantern. Fri: Reflex.

Sat: DJ Daddy Kat. Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave, Ocean Beach. 619-222-5303. Wed: Ciarrai. Thu: Animo, DJ Reefah, TRC Soundsystem.

Fri: Nemesis, DJ R2. Sat: KL Noize Makers. Sun: The Reel Deal. Mon: ‘Hip Hop Monday’.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown. henryspub.com. Wed: AOK Musik. Thu: DJ Junior the Disco Punk. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: DJs E, Yodah. Mon: DJ Antonio Aguilera. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Wed: Maldita Vecindad. Thu: As Cities Burn.

Fri: Lil Durk. Sat: Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra. Sun: Jake Miller.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Thu: Psilo. Fri: Memo Rex. Sat: Noise Revolt.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: Goodall Boys.

Thu: Four Way Street. Fri: The Upshots.

Sat: Pat Ellis and Blue Frog Band. Sun: Gene Warren. Mon: Kova. Tue: Glen Smith.

Moonshine Flats, 344 7th Ave, Gaslamp. moonshineflats.com. Fri: Chris Weaver Band. Sat: Chris Weaver Band.

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

Sat: ‘Club Sabbat’. Tue: Karaoke Latino.

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

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: The Upshots. Thu: The Fuzzy Rankins Band. Fri: Redwave.

Sat: WG and the G-Men. Sun: Johnny Vernazza. Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Paddy’s Chicken Jam. Rebecca’s Coffee House, 3015 Juniper St, South Park. rebeccascoffeehouse. com. Wed: On the Road Storytelling.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Thu: DJ K-Swift. Fri: DJs John Joseph, Qoolee Kid. Sat: DJs Taj, K-Swift.

Sun: DJs Paulo Ramirez, Cros.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Fri: Just In Case, Lysolgang, Milo, Geneva, Sad Muffin, From Chaos and Heaven. Sat: Shawshank Redeemed, Impale Thy Neighbor, Hannibal, Sacred Cow, Illuminate.

Somewhere Loud, 3489 Noell St, Midtown. somewhereloud.com. Fri: Abduction.

Tango Del Rey, 3567 Del Rey St, Mission Bay. tangodelrey.com. Sun: The Hep Spot.

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

Thu: ‘Club 80s’. Sat: Geneva Bedlam.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Vinyl Williams (sold out). Thu: Future Age, Subsurfer, Nicely. Fri: The Muffs, The New Kinetics, The Touchies, Honeychain. Sat: Vinyl Junkies Record Swap; ILYA, Soft Lions, Bit Maps, Le Chateau. Sun: Katie Leigh and the Infantry, The Ordeal, Mike Wojniak. Mon: !!!, Icy Demons. Tue: Joe ‘King’ Carrasco, Action Andy and The Hi-Tones.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. thehideoutsd.com. Sat: Weekend, King Woman, Die Missbildunden Die Menschen.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. theMerrow.com. Wed: Happy KO, Flakes, Andrew Zap. Thu: Some Kind of Lizard, Sleeping Ghost, The Slashes, Plastik Deer. Fri: Sleep Terror, Mortuus Terror, Fermentor. Sat: Township Rebellion, Mario Esteban and the Blessed Hellhounds, Aempire. Sun: The Palmer Squares, The Concrete Project, Atlantis Rizing, Dre Trav and Gabonano. Mon: Lotus Crush, Name the Band, The Aura and Ovation. Tue: Smokey Punch, Speaker in Reverse.

The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: Some Kind of Lizard, Bad Vibes, DJ Mike Delgado. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘Nite Moves’ w/ DJ Beatnick. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs Kanye Asada, Gabe Vega.

Mon: David J and Gentleman Thieves, The Midnight Pine, Amerikan Bear, DJ Saul Q. The T Lounge, 1475 University Ave, Hillcrest. tloungesd.com. Thu: Hillcrest Night Bazaar.

The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, Gaslamp. tinroofbars.com/Home/SanDiego. Wed: Pat Hilton and the Mann. Thu: Cassie B Project. Fri: Mic Larry. Sat: Mic Larry. Sun: ‘G Street Sessions’. Mon: Electric Church, Tommy Mitchell Show, The Comeback Kings. Tue: Hello July.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Fri: The Copperheads, Muscle Beech, Tape Heads.

Sat: AJ Froman, Geyser House, Glasmus, Odakota.

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

Wed: Karaoke. Thu: Jason Hanna. Fri: Comedy night. Sat: The Good Mojo Band. Sun: Little Kings.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Wed: Seat Belt. Thu: Mercedes Moore. Fri: Karaoke. Sat: Colour.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd. Wed: Gilbert Castellanos jazz jam. Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Sat: Avenues, Hard Fall Hearts, The Blackjackits, The Limit Club. Sun: Slipping Into Darkness.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Wed: Aro Di Santi. Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joef and Co. Sat: Malamana. Sun: Aire. Mon: Malamana. Tue: Gio Trio.

Side Bar, 536 Market St, Downtown. sidebarsd.com. Wed: DJ Brett Bodley.

Thu: Vince Delano. Fri: Craig Smoove.

Sat: Kyle Flesch. Sun: ‘Five/Ten’ w/ DJ Slowhand.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Wed: DJ Mo Lyon.

Thu: ‘Throwback Thursday’. Fri: Lee Churchill. Sat: Saul Q. Mon: DJ Artistic.

Tue: Karaoke.

Carruth Cellars, 320 S. Cedros Ave. #400, Solana Beach. carruthcellars.com.

Fri: Jazz on Cedros.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: Beira, Garth Algar, Blow Me Down. Thu: JOY, Electric Healing Sound, Ocelot, Clean Room. Fri: The Palace Ballroom, Oh Spirit, Mooncrier. Sat: Cowboy Mouth, Behind the Wagon. Sun: Big Ups, Death Hymn Number 9, Holling. Mon: Valise, Smoke Season, Almost Normal. Tue: Amanda X, Spirit of the Beehive, Super Buffet.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: ‘St. Vitus Dance Party’ w/ DJs Handsome Skeleton, Seth Combs.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Thu: Voxyn, Retribution, Festering Grave. Fri: Gunner Gunner, The No Name Gang, Sectas, Decompression. Sat: Hellbent, The Song Renames The Same, Alice and the Cooper Gang. Tue: Texas Hippie Coalition, Red Sky Mary, 3eighty3, Trailerpark Rockstar, Wicked Tongues.

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

Wed: Ian Tordella Trio. Thu: Rob Thorsen Trio. Fri: Rosemary Watson. Sat: Charlie Arbelaez Bebop Quartet. Sun: Steph Johnson Trio. Mon: Pat Dowling. Tue: Hank Easton.

#SDCityBeat

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Animo Cruz, DJ Carlos Culture. Fri: EN Young and Janelle Phillips. Sat: Midnight North, Spafford.

Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band.

Tue: Cornmeal, The Homesick Hitchers.

August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 47

Last Words

Brendan Emmett Quigley

Focus group Across 1. Raging kegger, say 5. Arthur ___ Courage Award (ESPY) 9. “Head, shoulders, knees and ___ ...”

13. Singing range 14. Bulgarian, for one 15. She sang the hook for Eminem’s “Stan” 16. Emails to others discretely 17. Model’s position 18. Roth no.

19. Vacation home spots 21. Fish with a big bite 23. 90° from Nord 24. Sharpen, as a blade 26. Do an ollie and a shuvit, say 28. Minor prophet of the Bible 30. “I’ve been better” 32. “___ That’s What I Call Music!”

33. Island off the coast of China 35. Brutish D&D type 36. Hit song that shares more than a passing resemblance to Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” ... and a hint for four areas of this puzzle 39. Bread with korma 40. Like a rainy day 41. Go back, as the low tide 42. One locked into mortal combat, perhaps 43. Crew team directors 46. Damascus’s nation 48. Reindeer in “Frozen” 50. Caps Lock neighbor 52. Lou Barlow’s indie band with a gibberish name Last week’s answers

48 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

54. Cold comfort?

56. Church setting 57. Naked archer of myth 59. “The Past is Another Land” musical 60. Indie actress Taylor 61. Tuscan river 62. ___-majesté 63. “___ and Otto and Russell and James” (2015 novel) 64. Some caustic soaps 65. Newspaper website section

Down 1. Talk nonstop 2. Not taking credit?

3. Glued on 4. Basketball trick shot game 5. Snake along the Nile 6. Chairlift’s spot 7. Is totally loaded 8. Unendingly 9. Financial institution that sponsors the home of the Celtics and Bruins 10. Job done every 3000 miles 11. Classy folks?

12. Put into piles 20. Pinky ___ 22. Tip of Newport?

25. Buns, e.g.

27. Animal in many a rebus 29. Totally floor 31. Weave together 34. Group apology 35. Dark black hue 36. Situation in bowling with just the two and seven pins remaining 37. If it’s positive, it’s bad news 38. Caddie’s handful 39. Game system that came with Duck Hunt 42. Virgin overseer 44. Overstock.com, e.g.

45. Debris used to clean up vomit 47. Portugal’s peninsula 49. “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” cable channel 51. Cranks the volume up 53. “I agree to the terms” 55. Speak Spanish?

56. Can-do 58. Brillo rival

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 49

50 · San Diego CityBeat · August 5, 2015

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August 5, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 51