San Diego CityBeat • Aug 26, 2015

2 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

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Up Front | From the editor

What’d you do this summer?

F

or this past Back-to-School weekend, some San Diego families chose the demonstration against Planned Parenthood in Little Italy as one of their last summer outings. Elementary- and middle-schoolers were there, not far from street vendors selling crafty wares and the farmers with their over-sized organic vegetables at the Little Italy Mercato. There’s this one slideshow picture from the rally that’s posted on The San Diego Union-Tribune’s website showing a couple of kids holding a sign that reads: “Thanks MOM, For My LIFE.” The young girl, who seems to have her blonde hair in a pigtail, smiles in the direction of a photographer. The boy sitting next to her is wearing a baseball cap and sucking on a lollipop. It’s idyllic, Noman Rockwell Americana—save for the surrounding pro-life chanting, a sermon about people going to hell and those colorful poster-board images of bleeding fetuses.

Teacher: “Timmy, what’d you do this summer?

Timmy: “Well, I didn’t sleep so good…”

The downtown rally this past Saturday was part of a nationally staged gathering by a coalition of abortion opponents. Rallies took place in 47 states and more than 300 cities. The director of the Citizens for a Pro-Life Society told USA Today this type of a coordinated effort was unprecedented.

Spurring renewed debate over abortion was the release of a set of undercover videos that purport to show Planned Parenthood executives discussing costs related to donated fetal tissue. Some Republican presidential candidates have gone so far as to argue that these highly edited videos are cause for the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

The illogical thought process behind that notion is, here, a moot point. Planned Parenthood, according to a statement from the organization, has administered high-quality care for nearly 100 years.

Last year in San Diego County it provided more than 100,000 people with services including birth control, life-saving cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment and other preventive health care services.

It also provided comprehensive, medically accurate and age-appropriate sexual health education to more than 15,000 people last year in the county.

But the question that was being asked was whether it is appropriate to bring kids to an abortion-related rally.

“We don’t have a statement for those questions,” emailed Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest’s digital marketing manager Jessica Logan.

After recent press reports about the videos, the organization appears gun shy to talk to media.

There was no reply to a phone call and an email about kids at abortion rallies directed to the pro-life Center for Medical Progress.

Not afraid of this multi-faceted question was Deborah Pontillo, director of San Diego Kids First in Carmel Valley. Pontillo is a pediatric psychologist who graduated from UCLA and works closely with UC San Diego.

“This comes down to the judgment and objecpeacearena / flickr tivity of the parents,” she says. “Images of fetuses can be very disturbing—it’s not something you’d see in a G-rated movie and it’d be a concerning image to explain to a child under seven years old.”

Pontillo says it’s always wiser to wait until children are older. “The later the better,” she says. “These things can be emotionally distressing even for adults. Probably the safest general age would be midToo soon? to late-adolescence [15-years-old and up].”

An abortion rally is a contentious environment.

Pontillo makes the comparison that you don’t take kids into a divorce court proceeding because of that fact; isn’t an abortion rally worse?

She concedes that all children mature at different levels, emotion runs high in this arena and that a desire to impart a parent’s belief onto a child comes into play.

“You know, some kids play violent video games and are not affected by it,” Pontillo says. “It’s how they interpret what they see. But most media agree that graphic images are not good for children.”

A newborn baby holstered in a carrier at a prolife rally is probably seen as evidence of the cause.

And a toddler likely doesn’t know if he’s at a carnival or a clambake. The troubling sight is the elementary school kiddo with a Choose Life sign slapped into his hands by a parent.

Mom: “You choose life, right Timmy?”

Timmy: “I’d rather choose kickball.”

And kickball is what he ought to be doing instead.

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com

—Ron Donoho

To avoid pregnancy, hold this issue of CityBeat between your knees.

Volume 14 • Issue 3 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.

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August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Up Front | Letters

SKID MARKS Thanks for the editor’s letter [“Caring about bike sharing,” Aug. 19]. However, you have one major thing wrong. There was extensive engagement with the community of Pacific Beach about DecoBike locations but what was agreed to during that engagement changed without the community being notified or included in those changes.

It appears obvious to most who were involved in the discussions that the community leaders/groups were just told what we wanted to hear and then the company did what they had agreed on with the city. So, all the engagement was disingenuous and a scam on the community.

Scott Chipman, Pacific Beach Planning Group Member

So this plan to blow up the old Qualcomm after the new one is built is absolutely crazy [Spin Cycle, Aug. 19]. I know this sort of thing is done in Las Vegas and elsewhere.

This is just another bizarre idea the “planners” have? This made for a good laugh.

Are they all nuts? Our city leaders reach new heights with this one. I am so against the waste of $2 million-plus on last ditch ideas to keep the Chargers in town. Meanwhile some neighborhoods are in need of services. What happened to the great mayor’s plans to put in sidewalks in disadvan-

Dianne Obeso, University Heights

LET ’EM GO Regarding the “Pro football = crack” editor’s letter from Aug. 12: The City of San Diego is already saddled with debt; some of it due to previous “good” deals with the Spanoses/Chargers. That some of the people’s representatives seem willing to again get in cahoots with those who are so unscrupulous and callous that they would saddle the taxpayers with even more debt in order to make themselves even richer speaks to the degree to which our representatives can be bought. The voters/taxpayers need to wake up. All the happy talk about team spirit, being competitive, America’s Finest City, your team, win-win, etc., is nothing but propaganda to enable the Spanoses/Chargers to have their cake and eat yours, too. If the choice is the taxpayers get fleeced or the Chargers leave; let ‘em go.

Dan Jacobs, Mira Mesa

PARDON THE INTERRUPTING I have been graced and rewarded by [Aaryn Belfer’s] insightful writings for years.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

Thank you for being such a prophetic voice in the wilderness [“A white person’s guide to activism,” July 22]. You are perceptive and insightful in your understanding of issues that most people would prefer to avoid (or, worse yet be ignorant of, namely racial issues). I am often reminded of the Roman Empire’s prescription for managing the masses: “Bread & Circus.” Truly our society has been fully and completely narcotized by that same template.

I am a 66-year-old black man who holds two doctorates and yet I feel no further removed from summary judgment at the hands of (pick one): Law enforcement; pseudo law enforcement (security guards, neighborhood watch, unaffiliated vigilantes); or random racism, than any other random person of color.

As if to underscore this reality, my wife (who is white) and I were recently enjoying a drive down the coast in our red convertible when we were threatened by a pick-up driving, swastika covered skin head intent on doing us harm. Fortunately for us, a friend happened along at the time and their very presence deterred our would-be assailant. Believe me that in my 66 revolutions around the sun, I have never felt that the U-S-of-A has ever achieved anything close to “post racial.”

In any event, I just wanted to say “thank you” and to wish you continued success in your writing endeavors.

Jon Connor, Temecula

On the

Cover When film critic Glenn Heath Jr. gave us the head’s up that he’d reeled in an interview with risingstar filmmaker Noah Baumbach, we decided a cover was in order. Heath talked with m ar Baumbach about am os .c his latest effort, the om screwball comedy Mistress America, starring “fizzy” actress Greta Gerwig. CityBeat art director Carolyn Ramos—a huge fan of the last Baumbach/Gerwig offering, Frances Ha—knew a movie still wouldn’t be good enough for the cover. Ramos created a portrait of the director and his leading lady, first with pencil, which she then scanned and colored. The story behind Baumbach’s stories begins on page 22.

so

NOT DA BOMB

taged areas…how is that going? Please give us an update. I pick up CityBeat just to read the editorials and articles in the front.

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August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Up Front | News joshua emerson smith

In Hillcrest, a biker and pedestrians cruise through the neighborhood.

At the intersection of cycling and commerce Hillcrest Business Association rehires lobbyist to fight bike lanes, preserve parking

A

re bike lanes good for business, even at the expense of parking spots?

The question has created tension between cycling advocates and businesses in Hillcrest, the neighborhood at the center of a multi-million-dollar plan to improve bicycle access in the city’s Uptown region.

Both bike advocates and business-community representatives recognize studies showing that while cyclists spend less money than drivers each time they visit a local business, over time, they spend more.

However, the two sides disagree over whether that’s good for the neighborhood, a hot-button issue as Hillcrest faces adopting bike lanes that will inevitably displace some parking.

“I think the piece that’s missing for a lot of bicycle advocates is business might be better, but it’s not the businesses that are here now,” said Benjamin Nicholls, executive director of the Hillcrest Business Association, “and those businesses that are here now might just go out of business.”

The types of businesses that flourish in a more bike-friendly atmosphere, studies show, are inexpensive cafes and gastropubs, not fancy sit-down restaurants or the higher-end shops that have long populated Hillcrest.

“Hillcrest has always had good homewares retail, but you can’t buy a rug or a

lamp on a bicycle, and so those businesses will suffer,” Nicholls said.

Bike advocates counter that cyclists’ spending habits are fast evolving and that more people biking would mean fewer people fighting for parking spaces.

“It’s not going to get any better using the same tools that they’ve used, because right now, it is heavily impacted by a lack of parking,” said Kathleen Ferrier, director of advocacy with Circulate San Diego.

“Instead, they may just die a slow death because North Park and all these other communities around them are adopting the change.”

Still reeling from the recession, many in the Hillcrest business community aren’t ready to take that chance, even if they serve the types of folks most likely to jump on a pushbike. The idea of trading parking for bike lanes is less than appealing for Larry Malone, owner of Empire House, which serves reasonably priced comfort food.

“If there was some kind of guarantee, I’d be all for it,” Malone said, “but I don’t think I’m going to have 25 cyclists parked out in front of my shop because of a bike lane.”

“It’s not just hipsters,” he added. “You have elderly. You have families. You have the whole nine yards here.”

At a board meeting this month, the Hillcrest Business Association rehired one of the state’s most powerful lobbying firms, California Strategies and Advocacy, to continue to fight bike lanes that threaten parking.

6 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

While there’s room to discuss how to mitigate lost parking, lobbying won’t remove bike lanes from the approved plan, said City Councilmember Todd Gloria, who chairs the SANDAG Transportation Committee.

“I have to think that these are good for communities as a whole and businesses specifically,” he said. “But I recognize that many businesses have yet to be convinced. Part of my job is to put forth the best project possible to convince them.”

Still, Nicholls and the business association seem determined to fight, especially since the plan will be rolled out over the next five years, long after Gloria leaves office.

“If your livelihood is based on it, it’s extremely scary,” Nicholls said. “We basically have to go a political route.”

That strategy has worked in the recent past.

In June, after lobbying by the business association and California Strategies, SANDAG’s Transportation Committee removed a significant stretch of bike lanes planned for Hillcrest. The change to the Uptown Regional Bike Corridors Project, Write to joshua@sdcitybeat.com or follow which consists of about 12 miles of bike- him on twitter at @jemersmith

“

If your livelihood is based on it, it’s extremely scary.

“

by Joshua Emerson Smith

lane improvements, preserved roughly 50 on-street parking spots between First and Ninth avenues along University Avenue.

Officials with SANDAG faced criticism from bike advocates, who argued that University Avenue is one of the most heavily trafficked and accident-prone bike corridors in the city. After CityBeat reported that Supervisor Ron Roberts, a Transportation Committee member who championed the change, failed to disclose a financial partnership in a prominent local eatery, advocates unsuccessfully called for a revote.

This time around, lobbying efforts will focus on improvements to bike lanes along Fourth and Fifth avenues, said Nicholls, who estimated roughly 130 parking spots could be lost.

“So we are continuing with California Strategies,” he said. “The Fourth and Fifth corridor is the big picture for us now. We got a good compromise on University that the business community likes.”

While the two streets, which connect downtown and Hillcrest, currently have bike lanes, the project would push parking away from the sidewalk to use parked cars as a barrier between riders and moving vehicles—a so-called protected bike lane.

SANDAG has yet to release an official estimate of how much parking is expected to be lost under the project.

In an effort to win over the local business community, BikeSD and the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition have proposed using parking spaces along University Avenue in Hillcrest for a temporary bike lane—a pilot project that, they argue, would provide convincing data showing bike lanes benefit local businesses.

“Hillcrest as a whole, as a business community, is losing out to other business communities neighboring them in terms of being attractive to all types of customers and patrons,” said Samantha Ollinger, executive director of BikeSD. “The idea of putting together a temporary test case to see how people respond to it is a really good interim step.”

However, rejecting the pilot project as a distraction, Gloria said, the city and SANDAG would focus on the approved bike lanes.

“That’s where the conversation is and where the advocates and those who are skeptical ought to spend their time, rather than advocating for additional projects or trying to stop them,” he said.

“Once this is implemented, people will see that this is a good thing, and my hope would be that they’re going to ask for more,” he added.

In 2017, construction is expected to start on protected bike lanes along Fourth and Fifth avenues between B and Upas streets.

Following that, bike lanes are scheduled for University Avenue east of State Route 163 and between the Washington Street Trolley Station and University Avenue.

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Up Front | opinion

divided state of

chad peace

america Perpetuating the leftversus-right narrative

A

t one point, Rand Paul was well positioned to be the “candidate of a new generation.” His foreign policy and civil rights positions, for example, could unite constituencies otherwise driven apart by opportunistic partisan political operations.

Instead, he appears to be hedging his positions to gain approval from Republican base voters and pandering to ideological purists.

What politicos have misunderstood—and apparently Paul has, too—is that the young voters who were attracted to the policies of his father, Ron Paul, had their support rooted in a confidence that Ron Paul said what he truly believed.

Ron Paul was himself. Authentic. And what he had to say was guided by his own perception of importance—not what the polls or the media told him was important.

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Did this authenticity win Ron Paul a presidential election? No. But it did lead directly to Rand Paul’s election to the United States Senate.

Rand Paul, however, has lost the mantle of authenticity so critical to his father’s appeal.

Why write about Rand Paul?

For those of us who conducted the Draft Rand Paul for Senate campaign in 2010 from right here in San Diego, Rand’s unraveling is both a disappointment and an important life lesson.

Those of us who came together to start that campaign had many different viewpoints and ideologies. What we had in common was a deep concern for civil rights and a fear that the power of government, and the big businesses that are in bed with it, were crushing freedom and opportunity.

In short, we shared an outlook more than we shared a philosophical ideology. And we were not drawn to Ron Paul because we

believed that a particular political philosophy would save our country.

Rather, we were concerned about the future and were drawn to the “Ron Paul Revolution” because he appeared to be the only national candidate that spoke candidly, intellectually, and directly about the realities we faced in America.

Sure, other politicians had something to say. But what they said was framed to fit within the shallow, two-sided debate that surrounds the national discourse.

What all other candidates said seemed preprogrammed by pollsters and political consultants to win the debate set by the two-sided national narrative.

I will never know whether Rand Paul really understood the diversity of the young people who drove the “revolution” that culminated in his election to the U.S. Senate. But from filibustering our mass surveillance programs

to leading the charge for criminal justice reforms, the beginning of his career as a senator seemed to imply that he did. Even in the early stages of Rand Paul’s presidential campaign, he spent time speaking to, and about, constituencies that Republicans have long ignored.

But as the pressure has mounted and other candidates have flexed their “I’m the most Republican” credentials, Rand Paul’s rhetoric appears to be directed at the same old crowded gutter already occupied by fellow Republicans pandering to a narrow base.

It’s hard to put a finger on what happened between the Ron Paul revolution that was and the Rand Paul Republican presidential candidate that is.

We’ve all heard the expression, “it’s not what you say; it’s how you say it.”

So when Sen. Paul says things like, “the tea party erupted over dissatisfaction with false conservatives,” he revealed more than his perspective (how the tea party started) but he also reveals who his audience is—the people who don’t believe the Republican Party is conservative enough.

In 2009, when I stopped identifying myself as a tea partier, I wrote: “Slowly, I’ve lost some of my unrealistic idealism. As I pull back the blinders, I try to look at the tea party from the eyes of an outsider, the average American. What I see is a bunch of people reciting partisan political sermons, coddling fears and perpetuating a superficial battle between ‘left’ and ‘right’; drowning the well-intentioned idealists that remain.”

The more Rand Paul’s campaign continues, I can’t help but feel like he is perpetuating a leftversus-right narrative that we should all reject. Sure, he brings his own ideological narrative to the Republican primary, but that’s not the point.

When you start reframing what you say to pander to a small segment of voters, you lose your authenticity. And when there are 15 other candidates vying for that same partisan base, you do things like take a chainsaw to the tax code to try and get attention. Or act like defunding Planned Par-

enthood should be at the top of the president’s priority list.

For those of us once hopeful that Rand Paul would crack through the Republican orthodoxy of partisan politics, our takeaway today is that our time is better spent working on more fundamental issues like nonpartisan voting rights, because true reform requires systemic change.

Today, we have an election system that says Republican and Democratic Party voters are more important than everyone else.

That’s why the presidential candidates pander to them.

As a self-described champion of individual liberty, Rand Paul should be the first person to recognize that government is about representing individual people, and not the Republican Party.

Interestingly, Rand Paul is in a tough position today because Kentucky law does not allow a person to run for President and Senate at the same time. So, in the interest of his personal pursuit, he has pushed for Kentucky to move from a binding primary to a nonbinding caucus system, to circumvent the rules. In doing so, he is advocating for a voting process that transfers power from individual voters to activists within a political party.

He’s also said, “We think there is going to be a constitutional argument that the states all have to have the same rules for a federal election.” Constitutionally, states have wide latitude under Article II to design the manner in which elections are conducted. So, coming from a guy who has championed individual rights, state rights, and is a self-described champion of the constitution, his actions seem more than self-serving, but self-defeating.

As I concluded in my 2009 article: “As the battle rages, I have more faith than ever that an independent revolution will come. When the absurdity of our political process rises to the point where tea bags become a right-wing rally cry and the left still manages to drop in the polls, there is a growing opportunity for the increasingly disenchanted to drive a stake right down the middle.”

Rand Paul was on the crest of a wave he either did not understand or did not have the courage to ride.

As a result, the increasingly disenchanted are likely to look elsewhere.

Write to chadp@sdcitybeat.com.

He is the managing editor of San Diego-based website Independent Voter Network (IVN.ius).

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | Opinion

Sordid

Edwin Decker

Tales

Part II: The Kokī Beach vortex of volcanic rock and despair

A

nd so, after two unsuccessful attempts by the Island of Maui to murder me in the face a lot, I grabbed my uninflated blow-up flotation donut and splashed into the beautiful but deadly waters of Kokī Beach.

The plan was to inflate the donut and bask in tranquility once beyond the break. However I just couldn’t get out there. I was in over my head and the waves just pushed and pulled me everywhere I did not want to go. So I abandoned my ill-advised floaty mission and proceeded to swim back to shore.

Upon turning toward the beach, I noticed three things. The first was that I had been swept a considerable distance south. The second was an unknown Hawaiian woman—My Aloha Angel— standing on the jetty like a Hawaiian travel poster, the coastal wind fanning her long, black hair and yellow sarong as she frantically waved at me to get the hell out of there.

The third thing I noticed was a flag protruding from the jetty.

It was one of those, You-BetterNot-Go-On-the-Other-Side-ofThis-Flag, type flags and, oh yes, dear reader, I was on the other side of that flag.

OK, don’t panic, I thought.

Just swim north and everything will be fine. What I didn’t know was that I was already in the vortex. Also unknown to me was that only a few feet below lie a quarry of enormous and jagged volcanic rocks—you know, the kind of rocks at which sirens like to post up.

Being that I was unable to move north, my new plan was to head toward shore in the hope that I would quickly touch bottom and walk to safety. It was an exhausting war of endurance as each wave took a chunk from my stamina, pushing me down and pulling out as if I had no will. As if what I wanted meant nothing to the waves. I mean, what does the sea care about me? Even if Mother Ocean could care about—you know—stuff, my guess is she’d be more worried about increasing acidity levels, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and all those royalties from The Deadliest Catch she isn’t getting.

Don’t panic, don’t panic—are the thoughts of a person who is already panicking, but every time a whitecap took me under, I would emerge to see my Aloha Angel watching and worrying. And even though she couldn’t do anything but wave, her awareness brought comfort.

Mom tells the story of when she nearly drowned, caught in a rip of the coast of Baja. She said she could see the people frolicking on the beach, utterly unaware she was fighting for her life and how isolating and depressing that felt. In that moment I understood. It was like my Angel was my last remaining connection to humanity; to life.

And so I went, three feet forward and two feet back, for a seeming eternity, until I finally did touch bottom. But it wasn’t sand on which I landed. It was a rock. A giant, plutonic, igneous, ultrapotassic, rhyolite rock—serrated and insolent like Ty Cobbs’ cleats.

Oh, and get this! I was still hanging on to the floaty. Did you forget I still had that? Yeah, me too.

And when I became aware that it was still in my hand, I had this whole, panic-addled conversation in my head about whether I should let it go. Because this particular uninflated plastic inflatable floatation device, which couldn’t have cost more than 5 dollars, belonged to my good friend, and host, Donna B. Then I thought, Fuh-uck that noise! If I get out of this mess I’ll buy Donna a hundred inflatable donuts; a thousand! Christ oh Lord in Heaven, if I get out of this jam, I’ll buy a plastic inflatable flotation donut for every underprivileged kid in America who lives near a body of water but doesn’t have anything on which to bask, the poor bastards! But then I had another, more jarring, thought. Now, hold on a minute. If I get swept out to sea I might need this thing!

The scariest moment came when my right foot lodged between two boulders. I thought I was done-for. The avalanche of waves (aqualanche? Naaah.) kept pushing my femur against the angle of the wedge to its breaking point and making it difficult to keep my head above water, which I was now swallowing at an alarming rate. But then, by some miracle—perhaps Mother Ocean received her first royalty check and her heart softened a bit—there came an uncharacteristic lull in the swell that lasted exactly long enough to break free.

Then, a mad dash for the beach! It is all waves and rocks and inhaling water—like I am in a washing machine loaded with salt and bricks—getting closer now, pulling myself across the quarry on my hands and knees and stomach and brain and soul and face—closer, closer—crash-boom-bang and gulp-gag-choke then, amazingly, I am in kneehigh tide.

My body is trembling as I whip the donut up to the sand. My knees give out and my buttocks freefall face first onto yet another igneous rock. As I’m sitting there in a wading pool of volcanic rubble— my buttocks, bones and body throbbing as these laughable, little pussy waves impotently slap at the small of my back—I think, You know, I really need to call my parents more often.

“

What I didn’t

know was that I was already

“

in the vortex.

8 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

Sordid Tales appears every other week.

Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com.

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Up Front | Food

by michael a. gardiner

the world

fare

Bracero is a game changer

H

eavy sits the yoke of expectations. Just ask a tiger mom’s child or a first-round draft pick. Or you might have asked Javier Plascencia before the opening of Bracero Cocina de Raiz (1490 Kettner Blvd.) in Little Italy, easily the most celebrated restaurant opening of the year.

It was not Plascencia’s first San Diego-area restaurant; he’d opened Romesco in 2005.

But that was then—before the New York Times and New Yorker articles, before TV appearances on No Reservations and The Taste. It was before Plascencia became the face of the new Baja cuisine (aka “BajaMed”). Now the stakes were higher, and with Bracero Plascencia doubled down. It seems to have been a good bet.

The best dishes at Bracero are the small plates.

The carrot aguachile, for example—ahi tuna and calla de hacha (think scallops) with ghost pepper, and smoked steelhead trout roe—is an elevated play on a classic mariscos dish tied together by carrots two-ways: shaved and juiced. Plascencia plays adventurously with a similar concept presenting beef tongue as a tiradito with toasted eggplant purée and a decidedly Mediterranean flavor profile.

In his shrimp and bone marrow sopes, Plascenscia refines one of Romesco’s best offerings.

Without the drama of the bone towers on the plate the focus shifts to the sopes themselves—crisp exterior, soft inside—and interplay of the shrimp and marrow. Plascencia again plays with the concept (masa offered in less familiar forms) with a

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dish of corn masa cups holding eggs cooked sous vide sitting over a potato foam with cascading raw diced beef and a cipollini onion. At its base this is the elements of a sope dish combined with the deconstructed—and recombined—components of a classic tartare.

There’s more. Five-dollar street tacos may seem hard to swallow until you’ve experienced the deep flavors of the lamb neck barbacoa tacos emerging from the combination caja china/ Santa Maria BBQ rig designed for Bracero by local craftsman Gustav Anders Rooth (the key to an entire class of roast-meat-and-fish main courses).

BraMichael A. Gardiner cero’s menu is long. But it is not the length of the menu that makes it a standout, but rather the ambition—more than Romesco or Finca Altozano, if slightly less than Misión 19.

It is, however, a different kind of ambition. One part of the eager anticipation for Bracero was the Corn masa crispy perfect egg quiet, slightly embarrassed whispers that Bracero might be transformational.

There was a sense, before, that San Diego’s dining scene might not yet be ready for BajaMed. Maybe this would be different. Maybe this would make it different.

And the proof may lie in a dish that’s no longer on Bracero’s menu. Repeatedly I heard diners at neighboring tables bemoan the fact the butter fried escamoles (ant larva) dish that’d been on the opening menu was gone (supply issues). Ant larva? Who would have believed San Diego diners would lament the unavailability of ant larva?

Bracero may actually be the game changer even those who most anticipated its arrival did not dare fully expect. It does not speak down to us. It does not play it safe. Bracero is the new Baja cuisine without compromise.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

Up Front | Food

by ron donoho

urban

eats

I’ll be in the Garage

I

f you live downtown chances are you don’t have your own garage. Condos and apartment buildings usually have massive underground parking areas for everybody’s cars. Those aren’t man-cavetype spots where you’d want to chill with a cocktail. Garage Kitchen + Bar (655 Fourth Ave.) is.

Garage is a local’s hangout, but not in a beach bar, local’s-only fashion. It’s not hard to find this Gaslamp Quarter restaurant/bar, but it is tucked into an unusual location. Next door to the south is The Shout!

House, home of the unexplainably popular dueling pianos. Garage and Shout are under the same management, and share a kitchen, albeit with different menus. On the north side of Garage is bar/ restaurant/music venue Tin Roof.

That space used to be a Rock Bottom; in fact, Garage’s split-level interior used to be Rock Bottom’s banquet hall.

There’s always a new restaurant opening up downtown, and I’m always looking to pop into the latest offering. Garage is one place that keeps drawing me back.

It’s almost never packed, and the upstairs is mostly in play on weekend nights. On a recent Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. I was the lone patron for about 10 minutes. It wasn’t ideal ambiance, but there are plenty of reasons to try to be the one who starts the party, and, every server/bartender is genuinely friendly.

A price-point draw is the seven-day-a-week happy hour. From 4 to 7 p.m. all drinks and appetizers are 51 percent off. Yes, more than half off. No apps are more than $13 at full price. That means $6-$7 at happy hour gets you a medium sized bowl of mussels and clams (with chorizo, fennel, saffron white wine sauce and Sadie Rose bread, or three fresh ceviche tostadas (halibut, salsa fresca, Napa cabbage, queso Oaxaca, el pato sauce and cilantro crème).

10 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

The signature app is the artistically awesome ahi tartare nachos. Triangular wonton crisps are propped up on their sides, with ahi squares, avocado, tomatoes and siracha aioli packed between them. The dish appears to be spicy, but it’s not.

That light green ingredient that looks like wasabi is actually edamame puree.

For dinner, try the stuffed free-range chicken breast, filled with pine nuts, spinach and goat cheese. It’s a really big portion for $16, and comes with garlic mashed potatoes.

I also recommend the plate of seared ahi and sesame brown rice ($15). It’s a gluten-free entrée, served with wild mushrooms, broccolini, avocado and a soy vinaigrette. No matter what your fork picks up it all mixes palatably. ron donoho

The ahi tartare nachos Like many garages, Garage doesn’t have a defining motif. There’s a wall that pays homage to San Diego music acts (Eddie Vedder, Slightly Stoopid, etc.) that started as garage bands before making it big. But this isn’t a music venue. When the NFL season kicks off in a few weeks, new flat-screens will be up on the wall. But this isn’t a sports bar.

Garage is an escape. A casual, yet stimulating, place to go when you just need to get out of the house.

Urban Eats appears every other week.

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

Up Front | Drink

final

draughT Planning adventures over pints

by beth demmon

beth demmon

I

’m all for continuing education, especially when the teacher encourages drinking during a discussion of effective techniques for keeping bears away from your food.

That’s what makes the newly launched Hoppy Adventure Club such an attractive proposition for beer lovers and outdoor enthusiasts.

Calling those who “thirst for adventure,” REI and Green Flash Brewing Company (6550 Mira Mesa Blvd.) have partnered up to host a monthly Hoppy Adventure Club meeting at Green Flash Brewing lecture series that will cover topics like paddling, climbing finest taps pouring (ranging from classics like and every wilderness exploration opportunity 30th Street Pale Ale, newer offerings like the in between. The inaugural meeting—on August Soul Style India Pale Lager and the much-de17—was called to order at the freshly renovated bated Alpine offerings).

Green Flash tasting room. During the course of Future club meeting topics are still in the his hour-long presentation REI instructor Sam works, but if you’re interested in participatAlexander covered everything an aspiring traving next month, I recommend RSVPing online eler would ever need to know about lightweight once the date is announced via Green Flash’s backpacking, including the 10 essentials you email list; space is limited to 100 attendees. The should never leave home without (which much only prerequisite for joining the Hoppy Advento my chagrin didn’t include beer). ture Club is having passed your 21st birthday, More experienced backpackers may have but a healthy dose of curiosity for exploration found the overall presentation to be fairly encouldn’t hurt, either. try-level. The only bone I had to pick was that Too often, we tend to dream about “getwhile I’m (obviously) a huge fan of breweryting away from it all”, only to drown our sorsponsored activities, the fact that Green Flash rows with one (or several) craft beers without is brewing seemingly around-the-clock means ever taking the opportunity to explore the wild that unless you have a front row seat to the next world around us. Here’s hoping that the Hoppy meeting, you might have a hard time catching Adventure Club will encourage would-be adeverything the presenter says over the sounds venturers to take the first step outside to disof forklifts beeping and release valves hissing. cover what awaits, without having to leave your Still, the unbeatable price tag of free—minus beers at home. the beers themselves—along with multiple gear giveaways during the meeting more than made Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com and follow her on up for auditory shortcomings. That, plus thirsty Instagram at @thedelightedbite. attendees have more than 20 of Green Flash’s

12 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | books

The floating

by jim ruland

library Punk is dad

M

y daughter and I have a game that we like to play.

We’ll be listening to some music on the tape player in the car—lately it’s been the psychedelic garage rock of Ty Segall, the brutal street punk of Belgium’s Cheap Drugs or the thrash metal band from Virginia, Iron Reagan— and over the din of the crunching guitars and wailing vocals I’ll ask her how she likes it.

Usually, she’ll say that it’s too loud, but I never actually hear what she says because I cut her off and yell, “What? Turn it up?” and jack the volume up even louder to levels pleasing to my perpetually 15-year-old brain.

This game never gets old, at least not for me.

Of course, it’s not really a game. More like a taunt and probably a counter-productive one at that. If the goal is to indoctrinate my daughter to punk rock, this is probably not the best way to go about it.

Right now one of her favorite bands is Imagine Dragons. I’d like to make fun of Imagine Dragons but I don’t know anything about them other than their music is everywhere: commercials, video games, the radio, etc. I do know that making fun of Imagine Dragons will only ensure that my daughter doubles down on her devotion to the band, so that’s not an option.

My daughter and I have a lot in common.

She shares my passion for eating chicken wings, watching pro football and reading books. It’s too soon for coffee (she’s only 12) but it’s the perfect time to introduce her to punk. I’ve exposed her to a wide and deep variety from the classics to the contemporary, but it doesn’t seem to be taking and I’m not sure I understand why.

Perhaps What Is Punk? by Eric Morse and Anny Yi from Black Sheep/Akashic Books can help. What Is Punk? is a picture book for kids that tells the story of punk through rhyming couplets and three-dimensional images of clay figures. Think Wallace and Grommet with liberty spikes and anarchy patches.

Though it’s hardly comprehensive, Morse’s rhymes touch on the punk scenes in New York, London and Los Angeles, with a few detours along the way: Out West in sunny LA, they live close to the beach.

#SDCityBeat

Bands like X and Black Flag had a punk gospel to preach.

Catchy right? But it’s Anny Yi’s figures that steal the show. While the images of Johnny Rotten and Henry Rollins are cute, they’re presented as live action dioramas that are adorable, accurate and engaging.

I don’t know if What Is Punk? is propaganda for kids or nostalgia for parents, but I’m giving it to my daughter anyway.

But do I really want my daughter to love punk rock? After all, punk rock and substance abuse go hand-in-hand. You could say that about any kind of music scene but I don’t think my friends who listen to country (oh wait I don’t have any friends who listen to country) or other genres have been to as many funerals as I have. I really don’t want my daughter dropping f-bombs and calling me a fascist when I tell her to make her bed.

Punk rock has been one of the most positive influences in my life. Punk didn’t just give me an outlet for my anger and aggression; it helped me understand it. Punk taught me that rebelling against the status quo was not only acceptable, but essential. Punk helped undo 12 years of Catholic school mind control and dictatorial discipline. Punk taught me that being out of step with society didn’t make me a bad person, it just made me different, and in a school/town/ nation full of sheep, different was the only way to be.

Punk rock also gave me skills. Interviewing bands and reviewing records for punk zines taught me how to write for an audience—something that was never discussed during my six years of college. And because I’m collaborating on a book with Black Flag cofounder and Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris about his life in punk rock, punk has even contributed to my livelihood. Most importantly, punk has given me my best and oldest friends.

I haven’t given up with my daughter. I’ll keep beating the drum and if the message doesn’t get through I’ll just turn it up, but if you see me at an Imagine Dragons concert in the future, please know that I tried.

Write to jimr@sdcitybeat.com.

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

KINSEE MORLAN

BALBOA PARK

DENNIS ANDERSEN

1FOLKSY FUN

In an ongoing attempt to salvage the official Balboa Park Centennial Celebration, the city’s being cool about inviting artists into the park to let them do their thing. Of course, there’s no money to pay anyone, but thankfully those who end up helping out do it out of affection for the park.

Gregory Page, San Diego’s most well-known troubadour, is the latest local talent to step up to contribute. He’s helping organize Gregory Page & Friends, the grand finale of the Summer Centennial Music Series. Happening at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 29, at the Casa del Prado Theatre (1600 Village Place) in Balboa Park, Page says he’s putting together a special night filled with all sorts of entertaining shenanigans.

“It’ll be sort of like vaudeville,” Page says. “A variety show, if you will.”

Page himself will play alongside the likes of actor John C. Reilly (who’s as good as singing and playing music as he is at being hilarious onscreen), the always-entertaining and loveable folklorist Lou Curtiss and singer-songwriter Tom Brosseau, plus a few other surprise guests.

“I don’t know who’s going to show up actually,” Page giggles. “I’ll be surprised by my own surprise guests. I sent my net out to a lot of different musicians.”

GRANT HILL

HBatvisions: The T Lounge, 1475 University Ave., 619-291-8221. Local “pulpcore” painter Davis Russell Talbot debuts new works that spoof ‘60s-era Batman characters. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 27. davidrusselltalbott. com

Gregory Page While Page is confidently comfortable leaving some of the night’s events open-ended, he says he does have some elements planned out.

“Lou will be pontificating—humorously perhaps—about the year 1915,” he says. “And I’ll play a few songs from the era, but not everything will be from 1915. Overall, though, the night will have the feel of an old-timey acoustic variety show. Everything will be centered around one microphone.”

The concert doesn’t cost anything, but folks should show up early to get a seat.

“A lot of people have asked what’s the catch?”

Page says. “Like I’m going to sell them on sort of pyramid scheme when I get them in there. But it’s truly just a free community concert. There’s no catch. We just love the park and this is a way to give back.” gregorypage.com

CARLSBAD

2MOVING FORWARD

HCommune San Diego: Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., 619-284-6784. Artists, designers, musicians and people take a stand against tobacco corporations at this monthly event. Musicians include The Kabbs, The Soaks and DJ Mike Turi. Includes a pop-up shop by Honey Lavender and photos from Nicole Espina. From 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26. jointhecommune.com

3SEASIDE SERENADE

Soul and R&B singer Goapele is headlining the second annual Imperial Avenue Street Festival happening from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. She’s a fitting performer since “Goapele” means “to move forward” in Setswana, which is exactly what the fest is attempting to do. The nonprofit host of the event, BAME Renaissance Community Development Corporation, wants people to see the greater Logan Heights community— Grant Hill, Logan Heights, Memorial, Sherman Heights and Stockton—as a corridor filled with unique cultural and culinary experiences. From Colombian to Cajun dishes, plus plenty of local arts and crafts, the free family event celebrates the diversity of the neighborhoods by bringing it all together between 28th and 30th streets on Imperial Avenue, L Street and Commercial Avenue in Grant Hill. bamecdc.org

The Carlsbad Music Festival has quickly made a name for itself as one of the best single gatherings of diverse, avant-garde musicians in Southern California. Sure, it’s right next to the beach, which often competes for our attention, but since there’s music in all manner of unconventional venues throughout the town, the element of surprise and interaction is enough to keep it interesting. Pianist Vicki Ray, sitarist Kartik Seshardri and violinist Todd Reynolds headline the mainstage, while artists such as Euphoria Brass Band and Inspired and the Sleep perform in the village. It’s less a festival, and more of a walk into a unique musical world. Carlsbad Music Festival takes place at various venues in Carlsbad, Friday, Aug. 28, through Sunday, Aug. 30. Mainstage event passes start at $40. All other performances are free. carlsbadmusicfestival.org

LANCE GROSS

TOMMY MCADAMS

HLow & Slow: New Children’s Museum, 200 W. Island Ave. A new art installation from Noè Olivas featuring a lowrider-inspired ‘67 Chevy delivery truck he outfitted to become a kid-friendly mobile art experience. Space is limited so RSVP to aforma@ thinkplaycreate.org. From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 27. thinkplaycreate.org.

HEphemeral Objects: San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado. An exhibition of post-material art that includes software and algorithmic art, sound art, video art, social sculpture and more. Features the work of 34 regional artists including Andrea Chung, Margaret Noble and Sheldon Brown. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. Free-$5. sandiego-art.org Future Timeline: TJ in China Project Room, Av. Revolucion, No. 1332, Tijuana. A group show of new mixed-media works from contemporary Mexican artists Javier Ramirez, Annalisa Furnari, Julio Orozco and Ernesto Walker. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. tjinchinaprojectspace.com Summer Musings: Sergott Contemporary Art Alliance, Rancho Santa Fe, 858-756-2377. This exhibit will feature new works by San Diego artists including paintings, sculptures and installations.

Artists include Anna Stump, Jack Wade and more. Held on a private residence.

RSVP to receive location. Opening from 2 to 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. sergottart.com HArt from the Collection of Jonathan Green and Richard Weedman: SDSU Downtown Gallery, 725 West Broadway.

A collection of paintings and sculptures from a variety of African-American, Caribbean and Latin American artists. Opening from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. facebook.com/sdaamfa HArts & Amps: Karl Strauss Pacific Beach, 5985 Santa Fe St. The quarterly event features live performances from Little Hurricane, a new brew called “Deux Amis” and a pop-up art show from Thumbprint Gallery. From 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. karlstrauss.com HArts and Trees Festival of Music, Art and Gastronomy: A DIY urban festival featuring artists from multiple disciplines exhibiting and marketing their creations in the fields of music, food and visual art. All artists are welcome to set up shop. Takes place on Avenue Ocampo between Boulevard Aqua Caliente and Calle 11. From 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Saturday, Aug. 29, and Sunday, Aug. 30. polen-live.blogspot.com El Selfie: Border X Brewing Tasting Room, 2196 Logan Ave., 619-787-6176. A group art show exhibiting self-portraits of 46 local artists including Angelica Medina, Heather Ybarra, Ricardo Islas and more.

Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. borderxbrewing.com Self-Impressionism: Unearth the Spirit: Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, 619-544-1000. A collection of more than 50 paintings, graphic designs and pho-

Goapele

14 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

H = CityBeat picks

tographs from students at Platt College’s San Diego School of Multimedia Design.

Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. facebook.com/SanDiegoREP HShots Fired!: La Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave. A photography exhibition in a variety of styles from local shutterbugs like Vanessa Ceceña, Brittni Leigh Cute, Kyunghwa Moon-Brannan and more. Includes music from Alec Tramlife and Frankie Odessa Kane Quiñones. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29.

Jennifer Richards and Marilyn Shayegan: Off Track Gallery, 687 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, 760-9423636. Enjoy wine and refreshments and meet featured artists, Jennifer Richards (oil painter) and Marilyn Shayegan (watercolor painter). Opening from 3 to 5 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 30. offtrackgallery.com

BOOKS Wendy L. Patrick: Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave. 858-454-0347. The San Diego Deputy District Attorney will sign and discuss her new nonfiction book, Red Flags: How to Spot Frenemies, Underminers, and Toxic People in Your Life. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26. warwicks. indiebound.com.

Megan Feldman Bettencourt: Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave. 858454-0347. The journalist and writer will sign and discuss her new book, Triumph of the Heart: Forgiveness in an Unforgiving World, which attempts to teach the practical benefits of forgiveness. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. warwicks.com HCharles Connor: D.G. Wills Books, 7461 Girard Ave., 858-456-1800. The original drummer for Little Richard and the creator of the unique “Choo Choo Train” style will sign and discuss his memoir, Keep A Knockin’: The Story of a Legendary Drummer. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. dgwillsbooks.com Antonio Vianna: Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., 858-454-0347. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals program, Vianna will discuss and sign his novel, Far From Ordinary. At noon Sunday, Aug. 30. warwicks.com HChristopher Moore: Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, 858-268-4747. The comic book and graphic novel writer will sign his latest long-form Charlie Asher novel, Secondhand Souls. At 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30. mystgalaxy.com.

Juliet Blackwell: Bagatelle Cafe & Bistro, 7094 Miramar Rd., 858-577-0081.

The New York Times bestselling author will sign and discuss her new novel, The Paris Key, over a Parisian-themed dinner. At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sep. 1. $40. adventuresbythebook.com Writers to Watch: Glen Vecchione: Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., 619-236-5800.

The local author, poet and illustrator of 38 science books for young adults stops by to discuss his writing and promote his debut novel, The Dream Box, which was recently optioned for a film adaptation. From 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30. sdfocl.org HSteven Druker: La Mesa Community Center, 4975 Memorial Dr., La Mesa, 619667-1307. The attorney and writer will present his book, Altered Genes, Twisted Truth: How the Venture to Genetically Engineer Our Food has Subverted Science, Corrupted Government, and Systematically Deceived the Public. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sep. 2. $5 suggested donation.

DANCE HDamaged Goods II: White Box Live Arts, 2590 Truxtun Road, Ste. 205, 619-

#SDCityBeat

EVENTS 225-1803. San Diego Dance Theater’s Jean Isaacs, in partnership with San Diego Writers Ink, presents this new show that weaves together dance, text and spoken word. From 8 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. $20. sandiegodancetheater.org Michael Jackson Dance: Culture Shock Dance Center, 2110 Hancock St., 619299-2110. Michael Jackson impersonator Devra Gregory is presenting a dance workshop that teaches the moves of The King of Pop. From 7:45 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. $20. cultureshockdancecenter.com HPGK Dance Project: Sherman Heights Community Center, 2258 Island Ave. A sneak peak of PGK’s new show featuring works by 12 choreographers from across the U.S. and abroad. RSVP suggested.

From 12:30 to 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. $5. thepgkdanceproject.org

FOOD & DRINK Herradura Family Tequila Dinner: Estancia La Jolla Hotel, 9700 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, 858-550-1000. A four-course dinner during which guests will have the opportunity to try the hotel’s exclusive Double Barrel Reposado by Tequila Herradura. From 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. $90 HBrew & Food Festival: Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Highway, 858-6943030. Choose from over 200 craft beers, enjoy live music and sample food from a variety of chefs and restaurants at this annual fest benefiting San Diego Coastkeeper. From 2 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. $20-$55. brewandfoodfest.com Cork & Draft Classic: Embarcadero Marina Park South, 206 Marina Park Way, 619-686-6200. Enjoy unlimited tastings of wine and beer from multiple vendors at this inaugural beer and wine fest. Includes food trucks and live music from Tribal Theory. From 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. $60. corkanddraft.com Let’s Go Clandestino Craft Beer and Culinary Tour: Thorn Street Brewery, 3176 Thorn St. Take a trip to Ensenada to try food from seafood restaurant Muelle Tres, beer from Cerveceria Wendlandt, and street eats from Taqueria El Trailero.

Price includes round-trip transportation from Thorn Street Brewery and en-route libations. From 10:15 a.m. to 8:15 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 29. $100. letsgoclandestino.com

wine pairing selections that includes a Foie gras pate, a seared scallop dish, duck confit and more. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. $59. fiftysevendegrees.com Kitchen 4140 Wheatless Dinner: Kitchen 4140, 4140 Morena Blvd., 858483-4140. Kitchen 4140 and Duck Foot Brewing Company will join together to debut one of the city’s first completely gluten-free prix-fixe dinners. Price includes six courses. From 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. $79. kitchen4140.com

MUSIC HFaithfully: A Symphonic Tribute to the Music of Journey: Embarcadero Marina Park South, 206 Marina Park Way, 619-686-6200. Relive the ‘80s with Journey’s hit songs “Open Arms,” “Who’s Crying Now” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” as performed by the symphonic tribute band Faithfully. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. $22-$79. sandiegosymphony.org

Poetic Libations V: Border X Brewing Tasting Room, 2196 Logan Ave., 619-7876176. A monthly open mic poetry series organized by Semillas Cenyeliztli and featuring San Diego poet/professor Michael Cheno Wickert. From 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27.

SPECIAL EVENTS HBike In Cinema: UnReal: Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., 619-2962101. This New Belgium Tour de Fat warm-Up event includes an urban bike ride followed by a showing of the new

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

HGregory Page & Friends: Casa Del Prado, Balboa Park, The grand finale of the Balboa Park Summer Centennial Music Series will feature the local singersongwriter performing a variety show with the likes of actor John C. Reilly, folklorist Lou Curtiss, and fellow troubadour Tom Brosseau. Saturday, Aug. 29. At 7:30 p.m. gregorypage.com Tribute to Alice & Phil Cohn: Temple Emanu-El, 6299 Capri Drive, 619-2862555. Jonathan Valverde and a full band will play a full concert of jazz, pop, Hebrew and even a few mariachi tunes in honor of the family behind The Cohn Family of Restaurants. From 7 to 9 a.m.

Sunday, Aug. 30. freecohnconcert. eventbrite.com

San Diego Bacon Week Brunch & Matinee: Taste & Thirst, 715 Fourth Ave., 619-955-5995. Kick off San Diego Bacon Week with movies from last year’s International Bacon Film Festival and a menu that includes Bacon Krispy Creme Waffles, Bacon Silver Dollar Pancakes, Bacon & Sausage Potato Hash and more. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30. $19.95.

Girl Singers of the Hit Parade: North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach, 858-4811055. A musical revue of some of the most beloved songs and female singers of all-time. Includes hits from Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Peggy Lee and more.

From Thursday, Aug. 20 through Sunday, Aug. 30. See website for times. $38. northcoastrep.org

#SDCityBeat

La Paloma Poetry Summer Poetry Slam: La Paloma Theater, 471 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, 760-436-7469. A semi-regular, slam-style poetry night where anyone can read up to three poems in three minutes. Presented by Full Moon Poets, judges will score poets to see who moves to the next round. At 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. fullmoonpoets.org

HVAMP: Red Flags: Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, 619-284-6784. So Say We All’s monthly live storytelling show will feature local writers sharing tales about gut instincts, warning lights, and that one time we just didn’t listen. At 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. $5. sosayweallonline.com

Geoff Muldaur: Laura R. Charles Theater, 2900 Highland Ave., 619-474-9700.

The influential folk singer and founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band will perform an intimate concert inside the Sweetwater High School theater. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. $25-$35. amsdconcerts.com

HCentennial International Summer Organ Festival Closing Concert: Spreckels Organ Pavilion, Balboa Park.

Spreckels organist Carol Williams plays with special guest singer Clark Sterling in a concert celebrating 100 Years of Broadway. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31. spreckelsorgan.org

Domaine Serene Wine Dinner: 57 Degrees Wine Bar, 1735 Hancock St., Middletown, 619-234-5757. The Oregon-based vineyard presents a four-course menu with

The SoundLot Festival: Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave. A music fest featuring music from over a dozen performers including Noodles (WICVH), Duckwrth, HBK’s Down2Earth and more. Includes live art displays, food trucks and a full beer garden. From 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. $10-$25. thetravelersclubsd.com.

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD

A Night of Classic Rock: Embarcadero Marina Park South, 206 Marina Park Way, 619-686-6200. John Elefante, former vocalist of Kansas, leads a lineup of session veterans through an evening of rock anthems and guitar-driven classicrock. He’ll also perform Kansas classics backed by the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, and Saturday, Aug. 29. $27-$84. sandiegosymphony.org

San Diego Craft Beer Fest: Del Mar Racetrack, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar, 858-755-1141. Sample from more than 200 different brews from all over the world at this annual fest. Admission is free with racetrack admission and it’s $20 for five seven-ounce tastings. From 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. dmtc.com

Tequila Dinner Series: The Patio on Goldfinch, 4020 Goldfinch St., 619-5015090. The Patio’s Chef John Medall is joined by Chef Chad White and Chef Flor Franco for a six-course dinner paired with La Altena Tequilas. At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sep. 1. $100. thepatioongoldfinch.com

HToy Piano Festival: Geisel Library, UCSD campus, La Jolla, Hear new works for toy piano and peruse the “Toy Piano Collection” at the Geisel Library, which consists of actual instruments, audio recordings, extant literature and commissioned works. At 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30, and noon Monday, Aug. 31. library.ucsd.edu

HCarlsbad Music Festival and Village Music Walk: Carlsbad Village, 760-931-8400. The 12th annual fest will feature over 60 performances in a variety of music over three days with concerts in 12 different venues. From 7:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. 2 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. And 1 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30. Free-$80. carlsbadmusicfestival.org.

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

EVENTS

“Fishing Spot” by Jonathan Green will be on view in Art from the Collection of Jonathan Green and Richard Weedman, opening from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, at the SDSU Downtown Gallery (725 W. Broadway).

EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 film by Anthill Films and Teton Gravity Research. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26. tetongravity.com HSuffrage Parade and Rally: Balboa Park. The Women’s Museum of California hosts this 10th annual parade celebrating the anniversary of women’s suffrage. Includes speeches, historic costumes, music and more. At 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. womensmuseumca.org VIP (Very Important Pooches) Party: The Wine Pub, 2907 Shelter Island Dr. Point Loma. A party for man’s best friend with red carpet photos, water bowl bottle service and doggie entrees from their own gourmet menu. Proceeds benefit local dog-rescue organization, The Rescued Dog. From 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30. thewinepubsd.com Passport to India: Encinitas Community Center, 1140 Oakcrest Park Drive, Encinitas. Celebrate folk, classical and pop aspects of Indian culture through food, live performances, dancing with a DJ and visual art from Bhavna Mehta, Preet Srivastava and Sushila Srivastava. From 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. $25-$30. encinitasarts.org Filipino Cultural Event: Balboa Park Recital Hall, President’s Way, Samahan Philippine Dance hosts a half day of Filipino music, dances and food. From 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29.

HSDAF PechaKucha Night: North Park Post Office Space, 3077 North Park Way, San Diego Architectural Foundation semi-regular networking night designed for artists to share their ideas and chat with other creatives. $15. At 7:20 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 29. sdarchitecture.org Pride Night at Petco Park: Petco Park, Park & Imperial, The first-ever officially sanctioned LGBT Pride Night at Petco

16 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

where the Padres will take on the Rangers.

The first 1,000 fans to purchase Pride Night tickets will receive a limited edition Pridethemed Padres hat. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sep. 1. $25-$65. padres.com/sdpride San Diego International Kids Film Festival: Schulman Auditorium, 1775 Dove Lane, Carlsbad, 760-602-2012. This annual fest showcases international films, and gives young, aspiring filmmakers a channel to communicate to an international community. Includes screenings, panels, parties and more. See website for schedule of events. From 1 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. and 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30. $5-$298. sdkidsfilms.org.

Latin Night: La Jolla Community Center, 6811 La Jolla Blvd., 858-459-0831. Enjoy authentic Latin cuisine, musical entertainment, dancing and more. Ticket includes dinner and dance lessons. At 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. $28. ljcommunitycenter.org HImperial Avenue Street Festival: This annual fest celebrating the diversity of Logan Heights features live music and four blocks of local artists, crafts, gourmet food and beverages. Held on Imperial Avenue between 28th and 30th Streets, and between L Street and Commercial Avenue. From noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. imperialavenuestreetfest.com HLeucadiART Walk: Highway 101, ENCINITAS, Now in its 11th year, this quaint-butlively art fair includes over a mile of live music, local crafts and North County restaurants showing off their cooking. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30. leucadia101.com

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS

619-594-6728. The artist discusses the new SDSU Downtown Gallery show, Art from the collection of Jonathan Green and Richard Weedman, which includes paintings and sculptures from a variety of African-American, Caribbean and Latin American artists. From 4 to 6 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 27. downtowngallery. sdsu.edu HCreative Mornings: Misty Jones: Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., 619-2365800. The Director of the San Diego Public Library will discuss why she believes in the strength of libraries is in their ability to redefine themselves to fit public need.

From 8:30 to 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 28. creativemornings.com HAn Artist’s Perspective: Virginia Beahan: MCASD - La Jolla, 700 Prospect St., 858-454-3541. The photographer will discuss the layered history of the Salton Sea and her new MCASD exhibition, Elegy for an Ancient Sea. At 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. Free-$10. mcasd.org Lean In to the Future: San Diego Women Changemakers: Thursday Club, 1224 Santa Barbara St., 619224-5264. Join notable women leaders to discuss mobilization of women in leadership roles in communities through policy, systems innovation, collective impact and investment.

From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31. sdfoundation.org The Great Love Debate Presents: One Night with Chris Soules: Observatory North Park, 2891 University Avenue, 619-239-8836. An interactive town hall-style discussion and debate with the former Bachelor star, along with hosts Brian Howie, author of How to Find Love in 60 Seconds, and dating makeover expert Kimberly Seltzer. $40. At 7 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 28. observatorysd.com

HA Conversation with Jonathan Green: Love Library, SDSU campus,

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EVENTS

THEATER DAREN SCOTT

Promising debut for Backyard company

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or its inaugural production, Francis Gercke and Jessica John’s Backyard Renaissance theater company chose British playwright Jez Butterworth’s Parlour Song. It’s a bittersweet triangle tale involving an Englishman who blows things up for a living (Mike Sears), his sad, disillusioned spouse (John) and a highwired car-wash owner (Gercke). Each in his or her own way is facing the inevitability of middle age and beyond, and not with the so-called quiet desperation generally attributed to the English.

Ponderous though it can be, Parlour Song offers many laugh-aloud moments, most of them when Sears’ pitifully paranoid character, Ned, is on stage, such as his feebly trying to get into shape or getting caught listening to a clinical-voiced sex advice tape. Lisa Berger directs this one-act play with a smart understanding of Butterworth’s more existential messages that underlie the domestic turmoil, and with an appreciation for her cast’s particular talents—Sears’ physical comedy, Gercke’s intense energy and John’s sheer plaintiveness. For Backyard Renaissance, Parlour Song marks a propitious beginning.

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strutting musicians and cast sing-alongs of “Down by the Riverside,” “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Tiger Rag.” Halfway through this Comedy of Errors, everyone in the outdoor theater was letting the good times roll so brazenly you’d never know they were at a Shakespeare festival. The farcical fun aside, that’s kind of a shame.

The Comedy of Errors runs through Sept.

20 at the Old Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. $29 and up. oldglobe.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Mike Sears and Jessica John in Parlour Song Parlour Song runs through Sept. 6 at BLKBOX @ 6th & Penn in Hillcrest. 10$24. backyardrenaissance.com * * * he thinking behind the Old Globe’s Summer Shakespeare Festival staging of The Comedy of Errors must have been either: A.) Let’s do Shakespeare for people who don’t especially like Shakespeare; or, B.) This play is so

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silly and inconsequential we’ll just use it as an excuse to do a “New Orleans in the ’20s” show. Regardless, this production of the one-act (that’s not a misprint) The Comedy of Errors, directed by Scott Ellis, tells the story of two sets of twins and all the ensuing confusion, but becomes a big, loud French Quarter party. Besides Alexander Dodge’s stunning sets and Linda Cho’s period costumes, there are beaucoup jazzy interludes performed by

Moon Over Buffalo: Ken Ludwig’s comedy about two aging theater actors who may get one more chance to perform on Broadway. Directed by Margo Essman, it opens Aug. 28 at the Patio Playhouse in Escondido. patioplayhouse.com Amazons and Their Men: The West Coast premiere of Jordan Harrison’s comically subversive play about German film auteur Leni Riefenstahl. Directed

by Matt M. Morrow, it opens in previews Sept. 2 at the Diversionary Theatre in Hillcrest. diversionary.org

For full listings,

please visit “T heater ” at sdcitybeat.com

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

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Culture

THE FIGHT TO REUNITE Families separated by deportation reconnect through a picture-book project

by Alex Zaragoza

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olanda Varona is kneeling next to her bed, flipping through her weathered diary. It’s filled with her hopes, pains and frustrations, poured from her heart to the page. Scattered on her bed are photos of her daughter, son and grandchildren, with whom she has had next to no physical contact since her deportation. Those photos are kept in a box under her small bed in a 10-by-5-foot concrete room in Tijuana’s Deported Veterans Support House, which is now her home. That box contains the life she’s fighting to get back to, away from her current reality trapped behind an ever-imposing fence.

“Here is where I first wrote that my daughter was a star in the sky that I named after her,” she says as her eyes shimmer with tears.

Varona was deported on Dec. 31, 2010. The former fast-food restaurant manager had crossed the U.S./Mexico border on a tourist visa with her then-fiancé, a U.S. citizen, and his elderly aunt, who asked for a ride to Tecate to be with her family on New Year’s Eve. Even though her son and daughter had begged her to not cross that day, Varona chose to help the elderly aunt get to her family gathering rather than leave her to walk across the border alone. She hasn’t returned since. The only souvenirs she has left from that life-altering trip is a mountain of regret and regular pain stemming from a border agent dislocating her shoulder during her detention.

“In that moment, I felt that I was lost,” she says. “I was thinking, what were my children going to do?”

Deportees like Varona often spend years running in circles struggling against a broken immigration system, attempting to return to their families in the U.S. with legal documentation. Throughout that seemingly endless cycle, they are separated from their children. Some are lucky and are able to get regular visits from their U.S.-born children. Others can only catch a peek and chat with their families through the fence at Friendship Park in Playas de Tijuana. Many go years without seeing their loved ones at all. These parents miss out on the major milestones and moments of parenthood and childhood. Among the moments they miss is reading bedtime stories. A new project, however, is remedying that missing piece from the lives of 10 deportee parents.

The idea for Cuentos Para Dormir (Bedtime Stories) came from youth educator Sophia Sobko after she heard a

18 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

Sophia Sobko (front) with Emma (right), one of the parent-authors, in the Deported Veterans Support House in Tijuana.

Emma’s three kids visit her in TJ every summer. piece on NPR about a summer camp for children of prison children—two bright stars—after she is sent to The Sadinmates. She thought about children of deportees and how dest City in the World. Eventually, her tears create a large they deal with the same pain and anxiety of being deprived wave that gets her closer, then a pink bubble carries the of their parents. mother firefly over the fence to her stars.

“Here’s this population right here that’s suffering,” The pink bubble serves as a metaphor for Varona, who Sobko says. “I had read in the news about [these kids] truly believes it will take a miracle on par with a magical and have known kids whose par- bubble to get to her family. alex zaragoza ents were deported. From there, I “I’m not sure if that miracle will happen,” she says. “But thought ‘What’s something a kid I’m willing to do anything. If I could have my children and is missing when they don’t have grandchildren here with me, I would never leave Mexico, their parent?’ And I thought of but it’s not possible. It’s not natural to be separated from the ritual of reading bedtime sto- your children. With my story, I want to show my daughter ries and how that was a thing in that the tower I’m building is to be with her. I want her to my family, and how much com- know the love I have for her and the guilt I feel for leavfort it gives a kid just to hear their ing her, and I want my grandchildren to read the story and parent’s voice and how these kids know they were always on my mind.” don’t have that.”

Sobko began raising funds for the Cuentos Para Dormir She contacted Enrique Mo- project on Aug. 6 through a crowdfunding campaign on rones of Border Angels, a non- Indiegogo. At press time, they surpassed their $2,000 goal. profit that serves people dealing The money raised will pay for a hardbound copy of the ilwith immigration and deporta- lustrated stories for the children, the authors, DREAMers’ Yolanda Varona tion issues, with her idea. He told Moms/Border Angels archives, Sobko’s own archive and her about a group of activist mothers that meet weekly at a lending library for schools and nonprofits. All additionthe Deported Veteran’s Support House called DREAM- al money will go to creating digital videos of the parents ers’ Moms. Varona founded and reading their stories in English co-runs DREAMers’ Moms with and Spanish so they can share Robert Vivar, who was deported them to an even wider audience. in 2011 by U.S. Immigration and “My goal has always been to Customs Enforcement (ICE). get this to the kids but it’s also im“The first thing that comes to portant to me and the parents to your mind is when you’ll be able be able to use this as an advocacy to see your family again,” Vivar tool,” Sobko says. “That’s a big says of his deportation, fighting thing they’re concerned about; through tears as he sits in the how people vote and raising main lobby of the Deported Veterawareness. I feel like this is a posans Support House. itive way to reach out to people For Vivar and Varona, Cuentos and touch them emotionally. It’s Para Dormir serves as a chance to very easy for people to be jaded tell their stories and hardships to and numb about these issues.”

Illustration by Alejandro from the their children and grandchildren, Sobko says many struggled Sherman Heights Summer Camp for “Mamá with how to end their cuento, who are themselves fighting to Leona Contra El Muro” (Mother Lion vs. survive without their parent and seeing as they’re still stuck in the the Wall), written by Monserrat Godoy grandparent’s much-needed supmiddle of their real-life story unfor her two daughters. port. sure if they’ll get a happy ending.

Varona had been writing her “Half of them used a happy cuento long before Sobko came around, jotting little stories ending where they get reunited with their family,” Sobkko about a star in the sky that she named after her daughter. says. “And the other half left it ambiguous and tried to end In her story, La Ciudad Mas Triste del Mundo (The Saddest on the truth where they’re telling them, ‘I’m not giving up, City in the World), a mother firefly fights to get back to her I’m still fighting for you, but this is how it is.”

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Culture | Art kinsee morlan

Seen Local MONARCH’S CHRYSALIS

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lsie Arredondo is living her dream—sort of.

The former healthcare worker became a gallery owner two years ago, but taking over what was then-called Monarch Gallery on Prospect Street has presented its fair share of challenges.

“We’ve been busy rebranding ourselves for the past two years,” says Arrredondo, who quickly realized the gallery she took over wasn’t what she wanted.

Monarch had a long list of artists of varied styles they represented, says Arrredondo, and the gallery rarely opened new exhibitions or solo shows. The location and reputation also attracted more tourists than serious art collectors, so she eventually changed the name to Monarch | Arredon Contemporary and moved to 7629 Girard Ave., closer to R.B. Stevenson Gallery, Joseph Bellows Gallery and Quint Contemporary Art. “If you’re trying to cater more to art collectors, at least in La Jolla, you want to be here on Girard,” says the Latina mother of two. “I mean, you’ve got Quint next door, Stevenson, Bellows—all great guys.”

“It’s definitely a guy’s club, though,” she adds with a laugh. “But that’s a whole other story…I kind of showed up and knocked on their doors like, ‘Hi, neighbor!’ and I think they’re all kind of watching the clock, like, ‘I wonder how long she’s going to stick around.’”

Arredondo hopes both the location and name change will indeed help her stay. She wants to send the signal that Monarch | Arredon is something completely new and different—a serious contemporary-art gallery that folks need to give a second chance. She’s whittled down the gallery’s list of rep-

contemplating chula vista

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nna Stump is mostly known for her series of oil paintings of “Sexy Jesus,” painterly largescale nudes and flora-inspired pieces done collaboratively with Daphne Hill. Chula Vistan, her solo show on view at Art Produce (3139 University Ave.) in North Park through Sept. 20, reveals a decidedly different side of the artist and educator.

“The work is not specifically about Chula Vista,” Stump says, sitting down behind her cappuccino at a café on Third Avenue in Chula Vista, where she grew up. “It’s work that I’ve done over the last seven or eight years…but it was interesting to kind of realize, ‘oh yeah, I guess all the work is related to a culture of living in the South Bay.’” Stump’s show includes smallbut-detailed paintings of piñatas plastered over ripped-out pages of Spanish-language magazines and books, plus three larger acrylic paintings of piñatas covered in resin. There’s a series of drawings of drones on carbon paper, paintings of eagles that look as if they’re confined inside boxes, a map of the San Diego-Tijuana border recalibrated, paintings of Mexican men lined up in front of Home Depot and a series

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Elsie Arredondo resented artists and launched an ambitious schedule of exhibiting the work of guest artists. Abstract sculptures by Ron Jermyn are currently showing, and his water-inspired works prompted Arredondo to organize two water-conservation lectures hosted by the Water Conservation Garden of El Cajon at the gallery at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, and 2 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 27.

She’s interested in partnering up with other community groups and nonprofits moving forward and says she’s currently on the hunt for mid-career, mostly figurative artists to show in her space. Most of all, she says she’s ready for her gallery to become a bigger part of the contemporary-art conversation.

“I don’t think outsiders see [La Jolla] as a destination for art anymore,” says Arredondo, who sits on the board of the La Jolla Village Merchants Association and has helped organize the new Village Nights art walk that’s been happening from 5 to 8 p.m. every second Saturday of the month since May. “I wanted to get involved because I would love to see La Jolla become more of a vibrant arts district…but it’s toughgoing. It’s been modest beginnings but you have to start somewhere.”

—Kinsee Morlan

of paintings of the back of traditional bust sculptures painted atop Mexican imagery.

“The idea for the bust pieces was dried, old, European culture—white culture—looking at this really vibrant Mexican culture,” Stump says. “So there’s an old bust looking at Ted meyer luchador wrestling masks and a girl in her colorful quinceanera dress…I think that’s really sort of the core of my show—when I was growing up in Chula Vista, I always had this feeling like, I’m so culture-less. I felt this real envy of the vibrancy that I saw all around me.”

The small exhibition communicates that outsider-looking-in feeling, while also commenting on the increased militarization of the border. Stump’s using the show as the setting for her upcoming South Bay Culture Think Tank dinner happening at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2 (it’s a private event, but those Anna Stump interested can contact the gallery, artproduce.org). She says she wants to kick off a conversation about the lack of arts and culture opportunities in the South Bay. “I just want to have a discussion, because I don’t think there’s been many people who’ve thought about it,” she says. “I’ve really been trying to figure out why that is.”

—Kinsee Morlan

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

20 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

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August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Culture | Film

Mistress America

Mistress America is charmed by the Gerwig touch

Noah Baumbach talks about his fizzier new style and vital leading lady

by Glenn Heath Jr.

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oah Baumbach can’t quite find the words tity, Tracy feels empowered after hanging out with to describe his fruitful filmmaking part- Brooke, a kind of modern Renaissance woman who, nership with actress and co-writer Greta as one character puts it, “does everything and nothGerwig. “It’s hard to articulate really,” he ing.” In this sense, Brooke has too many identities to says over the phone from New York City while do- count, shifting between hipster maven and businessing press for their new film, Mistress America. “On woman and back again on a moment’s notice. both of our projects together we’ve schemed the “For Tracy, Brooke is one of those people that same movie from the early stages. I think this is the you meet at the right time. Tracy is kind of vulmost important part of collaborating. It’s essential nerable and open to be rescued,” Baumbach says. that you are on the same page, that you’re writing the “Brooke is exciting and dangerous and seductive. movie in one voice.”

When you’re younger and unformed, meeting new Considering the woozy charm and spitfire charis- people who are older is exciting. They seem to have ma of Mistress America and their previous collabo- it figured out in some way. But after a little bit you ration, Frances Ha, it’s clear Baumbach and Gerwig start to outgrow them.” were made for each other.

The inevitable conflict between “We have something that Tracy and Brooke takes some surclicks that way for us,” Baumbach prising turns. What follows is a MISTRESS says. Tonally, their two comedies nutty and swift double comingAMERICA feel at peace with uncertainty of-age story that bobs and weaves Directed by Noah Baumbach and doubt. This is a far cry from like the best screwball comedies the director’s previous work like of the 1930s and ’40s. Dialogue Starring Greta Gerwig, Margot at the Wedding and Squid unloads like machine gun fire and Lola Kirke, Michael Chernus, and the Whale, both of which view the narrative shifts more than and Heather Lind the world through an anxious and once to accommodate the charRated R cynical lens. acters’ volatile decision-making.

When asked if Gerwig’s influMidway through the film Brooke ence has made him a more hopeful decides to visit a couple from her filmmaker, Baumbach balks: “People have pointed past hoping to guilt them into financing her latest that out to me, but I think all of my movies are hope- business venture. ful, at least relatively so.” Still, there’s no denying the Tracy and her constantly spatting college-age luminescent performer has given Baumbach’s recent friends join Brooke on a journey upstate. They find efforts a spritely quality, or “fizzier,” as he puts it. She themselves at a mansion owned by Mimi Claire embodies this sense of hope more overtly without (Heather Lind) and her wealthy husband Dylan compromising any of the complexity of their char- (Michael Chernus). Here, far away from the hustle acterizations. and bustle of the city, a different kind of mania unMistress America is very much about the way we folds. Multiple romantic conflicts come to a head in use art and language to cope with transition and de- what proves to be one of Baumbach’s most complex flect responsibility. Lola Kirke stars as Tracy, a fresh- sequences. man college student living in New York City whose “In writing it we had to figure out what that scene mother plans to re-marry. The groom has a grown was actually about,” he says. “When we got to the daughter of his own named Brooke (Gerwig) who middle part of the story there were a lot of different resides in Times Square of all places. The two soon- ways it could go. We had to figure out how to make to-be sisters-in-law decide to meet up after Tracy’s the shift seem unexpected but also satisfying.” Difirst semester at college takes a disappointing turn. recting a sequence with so many actors and lines of An insecure upstart writer in search of an iden- dialogue also provided its own logistical challenges.

22 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

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Culture | Film “I wanted to shoot it in a way that it would preserve much of this real timing as possible,” Baumbach says. “I didn’t want to rely on editing to speed it up. I wanted the actors to move and speak as quickly as possible. That’s some of the pleasure of those screwball comedies. You really feel the performers in it.” Expectedly, the actors make the timing look effortless. Gerwig is especially dynamic, exploring her character’s vulnerabilities without ever sacrificing the nuances of Brooke’s larger-than-life personality.

Such a sudden shift in setting and structure is reminiscent of Preston Sturges’ masterpiece, The Palm Beach Story. When asked if the film was an inspiration for Mistress America, Baumbach grows more energized: “I wasn’t thinking about that film consciously but I know what you mean. I love that movie and that kind of twist in setting is true of a few of those screwball movies. Bringing Up Baby has an extended section set entirely inside a house. Structurally those movies almost seem to reinvent themselves as they go.”

As does Gerwig’s Brooke.

Baumbach agrees: “I always saw this character as living outside of time. She’s the kind of character Greta and I recognize from life,

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but also from movies and books.

We saw Brooke as the type of person who was cursed with a bit too much integrity. That’s kind of her tragic flaw in a way. She can’t compromise for the wrong reasons. It’s what’s appealing about her, but it’s also her downfall.”

Mistress America, which opens on Friday, Aug. 28, paints Brooke (and in some respects Tracy) as a walking contradiction. And that’s okay. Both have trouble following through, yet they are also fearless in their quest for fulfillment. Each has a flurry of ideas but sometimes pursues them in the wrong ways.

Life is messy, and so is Baumbach and Gerwig’s lovely film.

Except the key difference between Mistress America and the Baumbach canon of old is there’s very little doubt things will eventually work out. Maybe this is another nod to the classic genre films of Hollywood’s golden age?

Or perhaps Baumbach has been enlivened by Gerwig’s spirited presence? The smart bet would be on the latter. Baumbach finally finds the words. “It was always very pleasurable going down this road with Greta. She inspires me to be better.”

Film reviews run weekly.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

Opening

One Time Only

Digging for Fire: A bickering husband (Jake Johnson) and wife (Rosemarie DeWitt) set off on different (and potentially dangerous) adventures over the course of a weekend getaway.

Touch of Evil: Orson Welles tortures Charlton Heston (playing a Mexican!) in this nasty south of the border noir. Screens at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, at the Mission Valley Public Library.

Drown: Three surfers head out for a night on the town only to experience a boozefueled episode of jealousy and bullying that helps reveal their homophobic fears.

Screens through Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Ken Cinema.

Vessel: This documentary by Diana Whitten focuses on Women on Waves, a Dutch pro-choice organization founded by the Dutch physician Rebecca Gomperts in 1999. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, at the Women’s Museum in Point Loma’s Liberty Station.

Mistress America: A struggling freshman at Columbia meets up with her bubbly future sister-in-law and finds a new lease on life in Noah Baumbach’s lovely screwball comedy.

Sinister 2: The horror continues in this horror sequel that finds a young mother and her twin sons tormented by a demon in a rural house.

Steak (R)evolution: Franck Ribière’s savory documentary goes on a gourmet road trip to sample the best steak in the world.

Screens through Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Ken Cinema.

The Mend: This nasty debut feature by John Magary specializes in bad behavior between brothers. Starring Josh Lucas.

Screens through Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Ken Cinema.

War Room: An elderly woman enters the lives of a stricken family at just the right time to save them from imploding.

We Are Your Friends: A group of aspiring party planners encounter growing pains when one of them begins a career as a professional DJ. Z For Zachariah: After an apocalyptic event hits, two men and a woman become entangled in a love triangle despite potentially being the last people on Earth.

Weekend at Bernie’s: Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman try to save their skins by making it appear their deceased employer is still alive. Hilarity ensues.

Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Run Free: The True Story of Caballo Blanco: In this documentary, ultrarunner Micah True helps the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico preserve their running culture and begin a 50-mile race that combines aspects of culture and endurance. Screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Cultures clash when a young Greek woman falls in love with a non-Greek, causing waves with her traditional family. Screens at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 27, at Althenaeum Music and Arts Library in La Jolla.

For a complete listing of movies, please see “F ilm Screenings” at sdcitybeat.com under the “E vents” tab.

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

Culture | Voices

There she

alex zaragoza

Goz

Women’s fight to have it all

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ou hear the debate pretty often about whether women can have it all. Countless women’s magazines and blogs have argued the case for or against, and whether or not they have an actual shot at attaining this fantastic mythical goal that is “all.”

So what’s this “all” they speak of? It can vary from woman to woman but the general consensus is that having it all means being an attractive, flatbellied woman with a successful career, an equally successful partner, adorable, non-terrible children, an impeccably decorated home and perfect I-wokeup-like-this hair all the time. Basically, having it all means being Beyoncé and we mortal women know that’s impossible.

Still, we strive because that “all” sounds pretty great. I would love nothing more than to confidently check “D) all of the above” on a survey asking me which of those things I have going for me, but sexism, racism, white privilege and difficult hair have put some barriers in my path. Even so, I try, and in the process have made some tough decisions, like working what feels like 700 jobs, ending a great relationship and actually exercising on a regular basis, to get there.

Still, for me, having it all requires at least one more key factor this list doesn’t cover. For women, choice and control over our lives and bodies is essential. Yet we don’t always have a choice, do we? A man decides he wants to have sex with us, sometimes we don’t get the chance to decide whether we do, too. Yeah, I took it there.

And then we have pale-faced conservative goblins who feel entitled to tell us what we do with our bodies. To quote an out-of-control teen, “You don’t know me! You don’t know my life! I do what I want!”

The war to defund Planned Parenthood, and essentially the war on women, is as rampant as ever, but the accusations made by the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress, saying Planned Parenthood clinics are selling fetal tissue of aborted babies for scientific research, is fucking insane and a new low. Investigations into these allegations turned up empty. Side note: Doesn’t “Center for Medical Progress” sound like a group trying desperately to sound smart and official but probably still extols the healing powers of leeches?

Along with these ridiculous allegations, the continued efforts by conservative politicians and groups to strip Planned Parenthood of its federal funding, which provides reproductive health services to men and women, is disgusting and shameful. The fact that it’s largely men (and some equally terrible women) fighting this sickening fight against women, citing moral values, the word of God or ad-

vising us to just keep our legs closed, is repulsive and offensive.

Women are constantly attacked for having sex while these men sit on their high horse, likely about to gallop to the secret apartment they’ve rented for their mistress, high on the boner pills the FDA didn’t think twice about giving them. It’s cool, ladies. We finally have our own pill to enhance our trips to Bone City. It was previously rejected twice, likely because women shouldn’t be encouraged to have sex, much less enjoy it. God forbid! We sluts don’t need any more reason to devour all the dick.

When we make the human choice to control our lives and our reproductive health, we are called whores. When we make the decision to end a pregnancy, we get “murder” added to our rap sheet.

Recently, a few girlfriends and I were chain smoking topless on midcentury lawn chairs in Palm Springs and talking about abortions, as one does. While I’ve never had an abortion, there were scares in my past where I knew for certain that, should I be pregnant, I would have one. Without question. I knew I wasn’t ready, but would be someday. But my experience is mine. Anyone who has been in that situation has made their own decision for their own reasons and felt however they felt about it. And they don’t need to discuss how it happened or why they made their choice if they don’t want to. Women feel the need to provide a valid explanation to avoid being shamed, because inevitably we will be.

What’s worse is that if you do make the choice to have an abortion, you can’t be certain of not being debased by an asshole doctor.

A very close friend of mine, who is already a struggling single mom, made what was for her an incredibly difficult decision to end an unplanned pregnancy. For her, it wasn’t an immediate decision. She weighed everything in her life out like a fully capable adult woman. Crazy, right? At Family Planning Associates (FPA) Women’s Health in Mira Mesa, the doctor performing her abortion yelled at her multiple times, was physically forceful on her even when she told him he was hurting her or making her uncomfortable, spoke down to her and then instructed the anesthesiologist to not speak to her because “she doesn’t understand and doesn’t even care.” She’s been struggling in many ways since her decision, and that experience only made it worse.

This behavior from a doctor, who made the choice to perform abortions, is appalling and inhumane.

Women, we’re at war to protect our own bodies and lives. If having a choice is having it all, then we deserve it all.

There She Goz appears every third week.

Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com.

“

Women are constantly attacked for having sex…

“

24 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

#SDCityBeat

Music

F

FUTURE GROOVE

unk’s not dead.

A lot of time has passed since James Brown first rocked a stage in a sweat-drenched suit, or George Clinton and Parliament’s mothership touched down on an unsuspecting America. It’s taken on many forms since then, be it slathered in bright and shining synthesizers by The Gap Band or Zapp, or sampled beneath gritty West Coast gangsta narratives by Dr. Dre or DJ Quik. And most recently, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ recent single “Uptown Funk” has dominated the Billboard charts.

Funk lives on, generations after its renaissance in the ’60s and ’70s, and few artists have done more in recent years to keep that pocket deep than Los Angeles musician Damon Riddick, better known as Dâm-Funk. Since releasing his “Burgundy City” single in 2008, he’s been on a prolific streak that’s seen the release of his debut album box set Toeachizown—which comprises five separate EPlength records—as well as a lo-fi compilation of his early tracks called Adolescent Funk, and a collaborative record in 2013 with Snoop Dogg titled 7 Days of Funk.

Riddick’s form of funk is a far less commercial approach than what an artist like Ronson does. While Dâm-Funk’s ’80s-inspired synth-funk is a much more eccentric, and far less commercial take on classic grooves, he says in a phone interview from his L.A. studio that he welcomes the mainstream’s acceptance of a sometimes misunderstood genre.

“I always liken [funk] to the cousin, if you will, of metal,” he says. “Metal is like the black sheep of rock, and funk is like the black sheep of R&B and soul. Some of the doors had to be kicked in by some tracks by Mark Ronson and what have you. And I never hated it, because if people are starting to talk about funk again, I’m not going to be that asshole that says, ‘That’s some commercial-ass bullshit.’

You have to start the process somewhere.”

By comparison, Dâm-Funk’s new album Invite the Light—out Sept. 4 via Stones Throw—is a bit avant garde, but a whole lot of fun. Where pop music is about the hook, funk is about the groove, and throughout the album’s sprawling 90 minutes, that groove never ceases. Sometimes it takes on an ethereal form, like the free-floating sound of “Floating on Air.” And sometimes it gets dark and nasty, like on “The Hunt and Murder of Lucifer.” But it’s always—always—funky.

For an album with so much movement in the hips, though, Invite the Light is pretty heavy on emotional content, whether it’s in the melancholy “Missing U” or “It Didn’t Have to End This Way,” or more upbeat and inspirational, as on the verses of “We Continue” (“No matter what life does, don’t give up on your dreams”). For Dâm-

#SDCityBeat

DAm-Funk brings funk to the next generation

BY JEFF TERICH

Funk, Invite the Light is not just a new set of songs, but a summary of five emotionally-charged years.

“I had to deal with a lot of people passing away and different friends that I met along the way, afterwards, were turned into certain types of people. And I gained new friends along the way,” he says. “It’s just a record that’s loosely based on what was going on, but I wanted to keep it more general so it wasn’t just a jerk-off fest for myself.

“Some artists can jerk-off a little bit, though,” he adds, “like singer/songwriters. So I’m just trying to put a little bit of that singer/songwriter vibe into funk music. I’m trying to take funk to a more experimental level, where you can get serious and it’s not some kind of Rick James joke.”

Invite the Light is no laughing matter, though Riddick definitely keeps it light in certain places (see: “HowYouGonnaFuckAroundandChooseaBusta”). Still, with 90 minutes of material, Dâm-Funk’s latest is a pretty colossal set of songs. And that, coupled with side projects and a massive Soundcloud archive comprising dozens of otherwise unreleased songs, accounts for why it took Riddick six years to follow up his equally epic debut album.

There’s also the fact that nothing is looped on the record, except for drum machine beats. When you hear a Dâm-Funk song, you’re hearing it performed live to tape.

“I don’t loop or sample or sequence,” Riddick says.

“That’s one way I feel my sound is a little bit different from some of my peers. If it’s a nine-minute song, I’m recording for nine minutes.

It’s not just a loop that runs for nine minutes. I enjoy playing live. I like to hear the slip of a finger, and notso pristine performances. I grew up in the era of the ’80s and ’90s, so I’m used to hearing human interaction on a song.”

Between his prolific solo output, and collaborations with artists such as Snoop and Ariel Pink, Dâm-Funk is single-handedly keep-

ing funk vital well beyond its first wave. And with Invite the Light, Riddick is on a mission to show people just how alive it is.

“I want people to take away from this album that there’s funk continuing, and not just some retro, slapstick, bootyshaking vibe,” he says. “Funk can continue into new frontiers. Funk never stopped.”

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

DAM-FUNK September 4 The Casbah

Soundcloud.com/damfunk

To hear a track, go to sdcitybeat.com and search for “Dam-Funk”

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

Music

notes from the smoking patio Locals Only

M

r. Tube and the Flying Objects are releasing a new album. No Wrong, No Rights is the first record from the band in nine years, following 2006’s Listen Up, and it’s being released in September, with a pre-order campaign launched via Kickstarter. All of the members of the Flying Objects—led by Black Heart Procession’s Pall Jenkins— have other projects, which is why it took so long to release their second album.

“Everyone involved does a lot of stuff,” says multi-instrumentalist Brad Lee in a phone interview. “We kind of work in fits and spurts. There was this very slow, steady momentum. There was no deadline.”

One of the curses of having as much time as you want to finish an album is that you can always keep changing something if it doesn’t feel quite right.

However, Lee says that eventually they had to know when to start reining it in.

“Two and a half years later, you’re going to feel differently about some songs,” he says. “Some parts changed a lot. Everything took as long as we needed it to. Once we got a little closer to finishing, we started limiting things a bit. We can mess with the shaker on the bridge for three more hours, or we can just leave it as-is.”

Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects, which is a conceptual band based around the recordings of a mythical “Freddie Feelgood,” has added a lot more members on this record, as well as featuring guest appearances by The Album Leaf’s Jimmy Lavalle and Mrs. Magician’s Jacob Turnbloom. However, Lee says that despite the change in lineup, No Wrong, No Rights continues where the first record left off.

“The foundation laid on the first record is very unique, and open ended and well defined,” he says. “I think this is coming from the same place. There are lots of people on this record that weren’t on the first, and on this one I think we dug a little deeper.”

Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects perform at The Casbah on Sept. 12.

—Jeff Terich

TAG IT AND BAG IT f you search for albums tagged “San Diego” on Bandcamp, you’ll find some interesting stuff. In this semi-regular report, we sift through recent postings and relay our findings.

I

the name and title. This is chill-out music, for breezy afternoons, balmy evenings—whatever. Only laid back beats for takin’ it easy.

you pretty much exactly what you need to know in

Kittyflipping, Kittyflipping: One of the tags on Awake in My Dream, Anthony Colon: On the cover this album’s Bandcamp page is “cocaine.” Not sure if art for Awake in My Dream, Anthony Colon is decked that’s the drug they were on when making the album, out in a white tuxedo jacket, sitting on a couch or what it’s supposed to emulate, but Kittyflipping is made of leather, surrounded a hell of a drug. They’re loud, by lit candles. The man looks they’re fast, they’re noisy and smooth, and as an emcee he’s exploding with energy. This got some talents, for sure, but is a fun record, but I’d hate it’s really the album’s producto know what the comedown tion, steeped in eerie, synthfeels like. heavy cloud beats, that ultiGEMSHOP, Mywka: It’s almately sells me on this. ways worth spending some S/T, Basta Basta: Basta time on Bandcamp, streaming Basta’s distorted synth-punk random, unexpected things, seems pretty fun and fizzy for because you never know when the first minute or so, until it you’re going to stumble across turns into a Crystal Castlessomething really interesting. style distorted shout-along Mywka is just that interestfeaturing politically charged ing thing, an electronic music smash-the-system lyrics. Not project that balances the spasMywka’s GEMSHOP that it stops being fun and tic rhythms of IDM, the beatfizzy, but in message and aesthetic, it grows dramati- less atmosphere of ambient and the abrasive noise cally more abrasive. Basta Basta fight the power with of industrial. And to some degree, there’s a little pop danceable beats. in there as well. This is an EP where you don’t always totally know what’s going on, but it’s absolutely vibesetters., MelloSteeze: An artist called Melnever boring. loSteeze, releasing an album titled vibesetters., tells

26 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

—Jeff Terich #SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

28 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

#SDCityBeat

Music

Jeff Terich

If I were u A music insider’s weekly agenda

Wednesday, Aug. 26 PLAN A: Black Cobra, Beira, Dhatura @ The Hideout. Anyone who reads this column with some regularity knows that I dig metal. And when it’s nice and sludgy and brutal, even better. Black Cobra does all that with just guitar and drums, so they definitely get a gold star from me. PLAN B: Be Calm Honcho, AJ Froman, Botanica Chango, Kevin Burke @ Soda Bar. I kind of think the name Be Calm Honcho is terrible, but that’s my problem, I need to just get over it. Their reverb-laden psych-pop sound is good enough for me to look the other way—just this once.

Thursday, Aug. 27

cause the seasonal psychedelic showcase is upon us again, with another solid lineup of Southern California psych-sters, headlined as always by the excellent Wild Wild Wets.

PLAN B: The English Beat, Warsaw Poland Bros, DJ Unite @ Belly Up Tavern.

You can set your watch to The English Beat’s semi-annual shows in San Diego, and here they are, right on time, bringing their deep catalog of ska and new wave jams to our region. BACKUP PLAN: Fartbarf, The Stalins of Sound, Digital Lizards of Doom @ Soda Bar.

Sunday, Aug. 30 PLAN A: On an On, Eliot Sumner, Dosh @ The Casbah. You would think On An On’s name would be pretty much un-Google-able, but Google’s apparently smart enough to know what I’m looking for. They’re a polished, dreamy group with breathy vocals and soft electronics. And on a Sunday night, that actually sounds pretty refreshing.

PLAN A: John Nolan, Little Heroine, Jimmy Ruelas @ Soda Bar. John Nolan is a member of long-running emo outfit Taking Back Sunday, of which I’m not really a fan.

But his folk-tinged solo material is more to my liking. I may be a grown-ass man, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings. BACKUP PLAN: Old Tiger, Little Red Lung, Monday, Aug. 31 Creature and the Woods, Marqay @ The PLAN A: Garth Algar, Oddball, Cryptic Merrow.

Languages @ The Casbah. Not actually Dana Carvey in a wig and glasses, but an Friday, Aug. 28 impressively raw and ass-kicking sludgePLAN A: “Weird Al” Yankovic @ Del metal band that sounds a bit like High on Mar Racetrack. Of all the shows lined up Fire, with some thrash metal elements for after the Del Mar races this year, Weird Al’s good measure. Recommended for fans of all is the one that got me pretty excited. On a things heavy. stage that size, you want to see something with a bit more dazzle than the usual feel- Tuesday, Sept. 1 good, chilltime bands. Not that you won’t feel good watching Weird Al, but his wacky PLAN A: Miguel, Dorothy @ Observaparody-filled set is far more fun than your tory North Park. L.A. R&B artist Miguel average concert. PLAN B: Keepers, Teen- blends sexy soul jams with a rock ‘n’ roll age Burritos @ Whistle Stop. Local label streak, not unlike a certain purple-clad Volar Records is turning six this month, Minneapolitan. His new album, Wildheart, and to celebrate, is hosting an anniversary is on my shortlist of best albums of 2015, and I can only imagine it’ll translate show at The Whistle Stop, which happens well live. PLAN B: Lee “Scratch” to coincide with a new 7-inch release Perry, Subatomic Sound Sysby Keepers. Help ’em blow out the tem @ Belly Up Tavern. Lee candles by rocking out to some Perry’s group The Upsetters good tunes. released a highly influential dub album called Super Ape Saturday, Aug. 29 almost 40 years ago, and PLAN A: Wild Wild Wets, as we near its anniversary, JJUUJJUU, Muscle Perry is taking those atmoBeech, Shady spheric reggae sounds on Francos, Burnthe road. This spaceing Palms @ The age dub platter has Casbah. Has it reaged remarkably well. ally been that long since the last San Diego Freak “Weird Al” Out? ApparYankovic ently so, be-

#SDCityBeat

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

Music

Concerts HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Systems Officer (Casbah, 9/21), The Skull (The Hideout, 9/23), Caspian (The Hideout, 10/9), Neil Young (RIMAC Arena, 10/13), Colony House (The Loft, 10/21), Insane Clown Posse (Observatory, 10/22), Bully (The Hideout, 10/23), Mac DeMarco (Observatory, 10/23), Potty Mouth (Soda Bar, 10/28), Coheed and Cambria (Observatory, 10/29) Gehenna (Che Café, 10/29), Trey Anastasio (HOB, 11/1), Beat Connection (The Loft, 11/7), Tops (The Hideout, 11/11), Keep Shelly In Athens (Casbah, 11/17), Mac Miller (HOB, 11/18), X, Mike Watt (Casbah, 11/27-28), Silverstein, Senses Fail (Observatory, 11/29), Slow Magic (Observatory, 12/20).

GET YER TICKETS The Psychedelic Furs, The Church (Observatory, 9/9), The Get Up Kids (Observatory, 9/10), Kamasi Washington (Soda Bar, 9/13), Wavves (Observatory, 9/15), Hum, Mineral (BUT, 9/16), Mobb Deep (Observatory, 9/16), Shamir (Irenic, 9/22), Titus Andronicus (The Irenic, 9/24), The Lemonheads (BUT, 9/24), Death Cab for Cutie (Open Air Theatre, 9/25), Duran Duran (Open Air Theatre, 9/27), Gaslamp Killer (Observatory, 10/3), Thievery Corporation (BUT, 10/3), Beirut (Open Air Theater, 10/6), Garbage (Humphreys, 10/6), Xavier Rudd and the United Nations (Observatory, 10/8), ‘CRSSD

Festival’ 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), Young Thug (HOB, 10/14), Florence and the Machine (Viejas Arena, 10/14), Deafheaven, Tribulation (Casbah, 10/15), Janet Jackson (Viejas Arena, 10/17), The Black Lips, Ariel Pink (Observatory, 10/18), My Morning Jacket (Open Air Theatre, 10/19), YOB (Brick by Brick, 11/19), Skinny Puppy (Observatory, 11/20), Ought (The Hideout, 10/20), The Sword (BUT, 10/22), Red Fang (Casbah, 10/23), Mudhoney (Casbah, 10/24), Natalie Prass (Soda Bar, 10/24), Shakey Graves (Observatory, 10/28), Madonna (Valley View Casino Center, 10/29), Ghost (Observatory, 10/30), The King Khan and BBQ Show (Soda Bar, 10/30), No Knife (Casbah, 10/31), Kris Kristofferson, John Prine (Civic Theatre, 10/31), ‘Night of the Shred’ w/ Rwake, Torche, Windhand (Quartyard, 10/31), The Menzingers, meWithoutYou (Observatory, 11/10), The Fall of Troy, Kylesa (Irenic, 11/10), Yo La Tengo (Observatory, 11/12), Mayhem, Watain (Observatory, 11/13), Youth Lagoon (BUT, 11/14), The Cult, Primal Scream (HOB, 11/19), Minus the Bear (Observatory, 11/21), Sturgill Simpson (Observatory, 11/22), Rise Against (Soma, 11/22), New Found Glory, Yellowcard (HOB, 11/22), Chance the Rapper (SOMA, 11/23), The White Buffalo (HOB, 12/10), Reverend Horton Heat (Observatory, 12/13).

August 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.

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.

Saturday, Sept. 5 The Australian Pink Floyd Show at Open Air Theatre. ‘Awesome Fest’ at Soda Bar. The Dickies at Brick by Brick.

Sunday, Sept. 6 Man Man at The Casbah. Ducktails at The Casbah. ‘Awesome Fest’ at Soda Bar. Weezer at Del Mar Racetrack. Cat Power at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

Monday, Sept. 7 Craft Spells at The Hideout.

Tuesday, Sept. 8 Diet Cig at The Hideout.

Wednesday, Sept. 9 The Psychedelic Furs, The Church at Observatory North Park. Ariana Grande at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

Thursday, Sept. 10 Johnette Napolitano at The Casbah.

The Get Up Kids at The Observatory.

Friday, Sept. 11 Dead Feather Moon at Belly Up Tavern.

Sunday, Sept. 13 Chayanne at Viejas Arena. ZZ Top at Humphreys by the Bay. Kamasi Washington at Soda Bar. King Parrot at Brick

by Brick.

Monday, Sept. 14 The Who at Valley View Casino Center.

Tuesday, Sept. 15 Wavves at Observatory North Park. Krisiun, Origin at Brick by Brick.

Wednesday, Sept. 16 Mobb Deep at Observatory North Park.

Hum, Mineral at Belly Up Tavern. Joakim at Soda Bar.

Thursday, Sept. 17 Mew at Observatory North Park.

Friday, Sept. 18 Negura Bunget at The Merrow. Chris Cornell at Balboa Theatre (sold out). Iggy Azalea at Valley View Casino Center. Julieta Venegas at Music Box.

Saturday, Sept. 19 Goatsnake at Brick by Brick. Radkey at Soda Bar. Kevin Hart at Viejas Arena. Julieta Venegas at Music Box.

Sunday, Sept. 20 Ricky Martin at Viejas Arena. KEN Mode at Soda Bar.

Monday, Sept. 21 Glass Animals Wilson Thing Mark Knopfler Bay (sold out).

The Casbah.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

at SOMA. The Ann at Belly Up Tavern. at Humphreys by the Systems Officer at

#SDCityBeat

Music kmeron / flickr

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave., San Diego. henryspub.com. Wed: AOK Muzik. Thu: DJ Junior the Disco Punk. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: DJs E, Yodah. Sun: Karaoke.

Mon: DJ Antonio Aguilera.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Sat: Ozzmania.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St., San Diego. patricksii.com. Wed: The Upshots. Thu: Bill Magee Blues Band. Fri: Len Rainey’s Midnight Players. Sat: Redwave. Sun: Rosy Dawn. Mon: The Groove Squad.

Side Bar, 536 Market St., San Diego. sidebarsd.com. Wed: Kyle Flesch. Thu: Vince Delano. Fri: DJ Dynamiq and Jason Whitmore. Sat: DJ Slowhand. Sun: ‘Five/Ten’ w/ DJ Scooter.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego. somasandiego.com. Sat: Preston Morrill, Contrvbvnd, Gorilla Disko, Adam Bomb b2b Silent Riot, Grant Rebound, Zempra b2b Realzona.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., San Diego. spinnightclub.com. Sat: Martin Campbell, Sergeant Pepper.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: ‘Darkwave Garden’

Miguel plays Observatory North Park on Sept. 1.

Tuesday, Sept. 22 A Place to Bury Strangers at Soda Bar. Def Leppard at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. Legendary Shack Shakers at The Casbah. Shamir at The Irenic. Future Islands at Observatory North Park.

Wednesday, Sept. 23 The Skull at The Hideout. Future Islands at Observatory North Park (sold out). Joywave at The Casbah. Snarky Puppy at Belly Up Tavern.

Thursday, Sept. 24 Titus Andronicus at The Irenic. Foo Fighters at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

Oh Land at House of Blues. The Lemonheads at Belly Up Tavern.

Friday, Sept. 25 Royal Blood at House of Blues (sold out).

Death Cab for Cutie at Open Air Theatre.

Dave Koz at Humphreys by the Bay.

Saturday, Sept. 26 Luluc at The Loft. Catfish and the Bottlemen at House of Blues. Air Supply at Humphreys by the Bay. Shannon and the Clams at The Casbah.

Sunday, Sept. 27 Duran Duran at Open Air Theatre. Dead Kennedys at Observatory North Park.

Monday, Sept. 28 Tove Lo at Observatory North Park.

Swervedriver at The Casbah.

Wednesday, Sept. 30 Ultimate Painting at Soda Bar. Halsey at House of Blues (sold out). Murs at The Casbah.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., San Diego. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: Pleasure Victims, The Contenders. Sat: Triloc, LIVN, The I-Ways, Seedheads. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: DJ Royale.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., San Diego. barpink.com. Wed: ‘Funk’d Out’ w/ DJ L. Thu: Arms Away, Wages. Fri: ‘80s v. 90s’.

#SDCityBeat

Sat: Gingger Shankar. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Mon: ‘Motown on Monday’.

Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave., San Diego. bassmntsd.com. Sat: Vicetone.

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

Thu: Spanky & Tallent Brothers. Fri: Jewel City. Sat: Slower. Sun: Allegra.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Melvin Seals and JGB, The Tommy Mitchell Show. Thu: Los Lonely Boys, Cleopatra Degher. Fri: The English Beat, So Cal Vibes, DJ Unite. Sat: The English Beat, Warsaw Poland Bros, DJ Unite. Sun: ‘Point Break Live’.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., San Diego. thebrassrailsd.com. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., San Diego. brickbybrick.com. Wed: Moonshine Bandits, Jelly Roll, Crucifix, J.Gamble aka PRUNO. Fri: Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum, Helsott. Sat: D.I., The Infidelz, Surrounded By Thieves, Dead on the Wire.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave., San Diego. cafesevilla.com. Wed: Aro Di Santi. Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joef & Co. Sat: Aire.

Sun: Aire. Mon: Malamana.

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

Sat: The Filipino Comedy Tour San Diego.

Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, San Diego. crocesparkwest.com.

Wed: Pat Dowling. Thu: Curtis Taylor Quartet. Fri: Allison Adams Tucker. Sat: Afrojazziacs. Sun: Todo Mundo. Mon: Hank Easton.

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

Sat: DJ Alex.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, San Diego. dizzyssandiego.com. Sat: Josh Nelson and Tyler Blanton.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown, San Diego. f6ixsd.com. Fri: Nipsey Hussle. Sat: DJ Damage. Sun: Craig Smoove.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., San Diego. fluxxsd.com. Thu: DJ Don Cannon. Fri: ‘Marrakesh’ w/ Chachi. Sat: ‘Marrakesh Finale’ w/ Savi.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, San Diego. casbahmusic.com. Wed: Badabing, Well Hung Heart, Mr. Clit and The Pink Cigarettes, Omega Three. Thu: Melvins, Big Business (sold out). Fri: Sprung Monkey, Authentic Sellout, Trelic, Processor. Sat: Wild Wild Wets, JJUUJJUU, Muscle Beech, Shady Francos, Burning Palms. Sun: ON AN ON, Eliot Sumner, Dosh. Mon: Garth Algar, Oddball, Cryptic Languages.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. thehideoutsd.com. Wed: Black Cobra, Beira, Dhatura. Fri: Homeshake, Sheer Agony.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., San Diego. theMerrow.com. Thu: Old Tiger, Little Red Lung, Creature & the Woods, Marqay. Fri: Glass Spells, Le Chateau, Nite Lapse, Astral Touch. Sat: Unicorn Death, Sinners Rage, Too Fast for the Devil.

The Office, 3936 30th St., San Diego. officebarinc.com. Wed: Le Ra, Bruin, Dinosaur Ghost, DJs Ryan Hand, Mike Delgado. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King.

Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs Adam Salter, Kid Wonder. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings.

The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, San Diego. tinroofbars.com/Home/SanDiego. Wed: Pat Hilton & Mann. Thu: Cassie B Band.

Fri: Coriander. Sat: Cassie B Band. Mon: Rosewood & Rye, River Uphill, Gabriela & La Buena Onda.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., San Diego. thetowerbar.com. Wed: Shootdang, John Underwood, The Bone Garden. Thu: Plastic Pinks, The Bolos. Fri: Christ Killer, Fantasy Arcade, No Martyr, Bastardsect.

Sat: The Natives, Policias y Ladrones, Chango Rey & His Broken Heart Beat.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave., San Diego. u31bar.com. Wed: ‘Kizomba Night’. Thu: ‘Throwback Thursday’. Fri: DJ Bacon Bits. Sat: DJ Bodyrawk. Sun: Lady Princess. Mon: DJ Kid Wonder Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, San Diego. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: Commune San Diego. Thu: VAMP: Red Flags. Fri: Keepers, Teenage Burritos. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob. Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., San Diego. winstonsob.com. Wed: Maiz, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Scott Pemberton Trio, Alpine Camp. Fri: C-Money and the Players Inc. Sat: ‘Ocean Boogie’. Sun: Karaoke.

Mon: Electric Waste Band.

August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

Last Words

Brendan Emmett Quigley

LOVE ME TINDER Across

60. Kia midsize sedan

1. Goalie Howard

62. Is unable to make a decision

4. Sports video game where players

63. Just a little bit

61. Wireless highspeed standard, for short

caught on fire

64. Fleur-de-___

10. Place to get coffee and free WiFi 14. “Nice cape work!”

15. New Age practitioner

Down

16. Taqueria freebie

1. Does one better than

17. Cartilage that covers the wind pipe when swallowing (Swipe) 19. Endorsing needs

2. Words of affection 3. Ten times the serving of vitamins, say 4. Canucks grp.

20. Game with 32 cards 21. PED abuser and corked bat user Sammy 22. Watch an entire season in a sitting, say 23. Cheese in red wax 25. Memphis location where Elvis and Johnny Cash, among others, recorded (Swipe) 27. Unable to act prudently 29. They may cover two feet 30. Very nearby (Swipe)

5. Heckler’s cries 6. Some female voices 7. Jiu-___ 8. Like 60% of the world 9. Map abbr.

10. “Ya got me?”

11. Tommy Lee Jones “MIB” character 12. Athlete’s foot, e.g.

13. Relaxed

34. Challenge in court 35. “Love Sneaking Up On You” singer Bonnie 36. ___ Plaines 39. “That’s beyond belief!” (Swipe) 43. Traffic problem 45. Number of beers in a big box 46. Utterly lost (Swipe)

18. Stage of the Tour de France 22. Former Oriole slugger Powell 24. “Komm, Gib ___ Deine Hand” (The Beatles’s German version of “I Want To Hold Your Hand”) 26. Winking phrase 27. L.A. Galaxy’s org.

50. Not quite closed 51. Kept adding to, as a bar tab 52. “Man ...”

28. Numbers on a door stoop?

31. Smidge 32. John O. Brennan’s org.

54. Killed it, as a test

33. Guy in briefs?: Abbr.

56. Soccer moms’ wheels 57. French white wine (Swipe) 59. Spicy take out

36. Energizer rival 37. Humble request 38. Cloud’s milieu

Last week’s answers

39. Dances done with knees slightly bent 40. ‘60s militant ___ Brown 41. N.W.A.’s “F--k ___ Police” 42. Headcovering of all but the eyes 43. Wrap, as in bandages 44. Punch in time 46. “You’re singing my tune” 47. Skip all the bullshit and just get hitched 48. Actor Nick 49. Sink’s outlet 53. Turns the lights down 55. Union payments 57. Scribble (down) 58. Get the word out?

32 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

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August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

34 · San Diego CityBeat · August 26, 2015

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August 26, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 35