San Diego CityBeat • Oct 19, 2017 by San Diego CityBeat

2 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

4 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Hating on the the press, Trump style

RIOR TO THE JUNE PRIMARY, CityBeat endorsed Bernie Sanders for president with the expressed caveat that if Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination we’d stand with her in the November general election. Subsequently, via emails and letters I heard it from area Bernie Backers who were upset we weren’t pushing the progressive pedal to the metal. That’s fine. As has been and always will be the case, strong opinions and free speech are the currency we deal in here. When we published our general election Voter Guide last week it should have been no surprise that we endorsed Clinton over Republican nominee Donald Trump. Once again, however, missives poured in— this time from the right—strongly and savagely denouncing the choice of the country’s first female major party presidential nominee. Again, everyone has the First Amendment right to speak his or her mind, and there’s no complaint here at getting interaction from readers all over the political spectrum—but did anybody actually expect this alt-weekly to go for Trump? Nobody threatened us with bodily harm, but the DEFCON level of animosity was high. Here are a few lines from one email (representative of several others but comparatively calmer and better composed): “I knew even before reading your Voter Guide issue that you were going to endorse Hillary Clinton. But I didn’t think that the reasons for your endorsement would be as puerile and trivial as the ones that you cited. Come on, locker room talk? Prep school put downs of nonwhite males? Tic Tacs?...I knew that for a magazine that is so relentlessly desperate to emphasize (or fake) its social hipness bona fides, that you would show no real moral core. But I would at least expect a sense of proportion. Yeah, Trump is, or has been known to be sometimes crude, bumptious and bellicose, but if you think that he’s worse than the criminal behavior that both of the Clintons have engaged in over the years then you really are a hopeless case.” Maybe this should have been expected. This email is small potatoes compared to what’s happening around the country. Showing scorn for the media is trending bigly. Trump had been denouncing the press all along the campaign trail. When he appeared inside the San Diego Convention Center back in May, CityBeat staff writer Torrey Bailey was there when Trump called the press “bloodsuckers.” He added from the stage: “Look at them, they’re some of the most dishonest people around.” At a recent rally in Cincinnati, a hostile crowd of 15,000 Trump boosters derided the media by chanting, “Tell the truth,” and called reporters “whores” and “presstitutes.” The crowd allegedly needed little

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egging on to make the working press feel ill at ease. And then there are the atrocities aimed at The Arizona Republic. This newspaper is a bastion of conservatism and in 125 years had never endorsed a Democrat for president. Until now. After publishing a Clinton endorsement, the death threats started. The Republic publisher Mi-Ai Parrish wrote that the company got messages that included: “You’re dead. Watch your back,” “We will burn you down,” and “You should be put in front of a firing squad as a traitor.” She added that, along with writers, editors and receptionists dealing with an angry public even the young people going doorto-door selling subscriptions were getting screamed at, bullied and spit on. This is preposterous. If a conference were held tomorrow I’d be the first one at the microphone to hash out the industrywide imperfections of social media-era journalism. But Trumpian trolls spewing death threats is just plain criminal. A KATZ / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Donald Trump Such undeterred, malicious support for a presidential candidate made me recall Trump’s January 2016 quote du jour. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” he said at an Iowa campaign rally. Apparently he knew then what we are all now realizing: Almost nothing will make his base change their minds about voting for him. The third and final presidential debate is Wednesday, Oct. 19. Fox News’ Chris Wallace (yes, Mike Wallace’s son) will moderate. The announced topics include: debt and entitlements, immigration, the economy, Supreme Court, foreign hot spots and the candidates’ fitness to be president. About 100 million people will watch the show. But the categories may as well be: Potent Potables, That’s A Fact-ish and Speaking from Uranus. Trump could stand onstage and read excerpts from Penthouse Forum—and that wouldn’t change a lot of his supporters’ minds, regardless of what the “rigged” media might report. —Ron Donoho Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

UP FRONT | LETTERS

THE REAL CHICO

I appreciate the intent to print the correction about Chico Club not having been Cinnamon Cinder in the past, but the letter [Oct. 12] contains two errors. 1. It says that the other location that was Cinnamon Cinder in the ’60s was in business since 1940, not Chico Club, when in fact, Chico Club opened in 1940— which is says right on the building and inside the building in numerous places. We are proud of the long history of Chico Club being a landmark bar in the same La Mesa location since 1940. 2 It is described as “dark” when it’s the opposite. We have two huge picture windows on our west side that bring natural light into the bar which is decorated with bamboo, surfboards and other light-colored and cheerful elements contributing to the casual, comfortable atmosphere which is anything but “dark.” I invite you to do a closer comparison with other local bars and see that the description in the socalled “correction” doesn’t quite fit the place. Larry Fox, Chico Club owner

ANIMAL MAGNETISM

I’d like to comment on Ed Decker’s Sordid Tales article about animal homosexuality [“No homosexuality in the animal kingdom?” Sept. 21]. First, his article is riddled with the logical fallacy of ad hominems, which do nothing to further his arguments. He seems to focus on Christians such as myself. Let me direct him to the facts that homosexuality lacks scientific evidence as to genetic predisposition, contrary to history, world religions, sociology, physiology, evolution and morality. Edwin touts evidence from the animal kingdom and I took his advice and did the research. Animals are not homo sapiens and

TABLE OF CONTENTS

therefore the term is misused. They may have some gay tendencies, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that they are gay. This is contrary to the religion of evolution. His section on violinists, lizards and parakeets is nonsensical. But so what, humans are not animals. We are able to create, love, have free will and a greater brain capacity. Animals do not possess any of these characteristics. If you believe the unscientific religion of macroevolution then we are animals. But this is contrary to geology, paleontology, archaeology, biochemistry, zoology, biology, mathematics and astronomy. All the founders of the branches of science were creationists such as Sir Isaac Newton and Sir Robert Boyle.

UP FRONT From the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Spin Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Sordid Tales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 At The Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

BEST OF SAN DIEGO Editors Picks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-52 Readers Poll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57-79

FOOD & DRINK The World Fare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 The Beerdist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

THINGS TO DO Short List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . . . . 83-86

ART & CULTURE Theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Seen Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Films. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91-92

Mark A. Peter, Solana Beach

OLANGO INJUSTICE

MUSIC

I’m a regular reader of Aaryn Belfer, and although I may not always agree this has no bearing on the fact that I think you are a brave and excellent writer. Upon reading your [“Police had no reason to dismantle Olango memorial,” Oct. 12] piece, I was moved to reply and to tears. I reply helplessly enraged, grief stricken and standing by as those entrusted to protect us continue to deliberately execute us with seemingly absolute impunity. “It certainly appears... all lives definitely do not fucking matter.” Like you, I am truly sickened by the spreading plague of police murders in our town, across the country and around the world. With respect and frustration my sincere question is, “What the fuck can we do?!” Please send help. Thank you for being a writer, Aaryn. You are gifted. Remain fearless and please keep writing!

Paul A. Ramirez, University Heights

FEATURE: Vapors of Morphine. . . . 93 Notes from the Smoking Patio. . . . . . 94 If I Were U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Concerts & Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . 98-102

LAST WORDS Advice Goddess. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

ON THE

COVER

Our annual Best Of San Diego issue once again features an extensive Readers Poll, as well as something a little different by way of Staff Picks. In an effort to lighten the mood on all things pertaining to voting, our Staff Picks—on categories such as Best Art Museum, Best Bar Bathroom, etc.—are You Pick ’Ems. We narrowed it to This Vs. That; you can go online at sdcitybeat.com and make your preference known. Your bipartisan participation is appreciated.

This issue of CityBeat thinks the best of San Diego minds can prevent another Chicano Park tragedy.

Volume 15 • Issue 12 EDITOR Ron Donoho MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich ARTS EDITOR Seth Combs WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos STAFF WRITER Torrey Bailey COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker, Minda Honey, John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza

CONTRIBUTORS Matthew Baldwin, David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Andrew Dyer, Tiffany Fox, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Peter Holslin, Lara McCaffrey, Scott McDonald, Sebastian Montes, Jenny Montgomery, Michelle Poveda, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Tom Siebert, Jen Van Tieghem, Amy Wallen

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jason Noble ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Beau Odom Mark Schreiber Jenny Tormey ACCOUNTING Kacie Cobian, Sharon Huie Linda Lam HUMAN RESOURCES Andrea Baker

EDITORIAL INTERNS Jordan Packer, Sofia Mejias-Pascoe

VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE Kacie Sturek

PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS David Comden

MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia

PUBLISHER Kevin Hellman

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

EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICE 3047 University Ave., Suite 202 San Diego, CA 92104 Phone: 619-281-7526 Fax: 619-281-5273 www.sdcitybeat.com

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 2016.

8 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE

JOHN R. LAMB

Getting personal on Measure C Criticism should not be querulous and wasting, all knife and rootpuller, but guiding, instructive, inspiring. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

y Trumpian terms, the shade thrown by San Diego Chargers special adviser Fred Maas last week at Central Library architect and Measure C opponent Rob Quigley would barely register on the shock meter. Nary a claim of drug use, rigged elections or Tic-Tac tactics can be found amid the dozen paragraphs Maas submitted to Voice of San Diego in response to Quigley’s earlier screed that questioned the civic sanity of plopping a massive football stadium mixed with convention space in the middle of techfuture-dreaming East Village. But when historians parse the anticipated demise of Measure C on the Nov. 8 ballot (Nov. 28 on

the Trump calendar), they could very likely point to the Maas Personal Massacre Memo of Oct. 13, 2016, as the initiative’s jump-thesnark moment. Nothing plays worse in San Diegans’ minds, Spin has found, than reminders of their city’s reputation for small-mindedness. It’s probably as effective as a last-place team with a combined 6-16 record over the last two seasons threatening to pull up stakes and blow town if it doesn’t get its way—in this case more than a billion dollars in new hotel-tax revenues. But that’s the loop de loop Maas attempted in his takedown of Quigley’s stadium objections, lumping the architect San Diegans might actually be familiar with and not despise into his own special basket of deplorables. “Amazing things” occurred downtown with Maas at the redevelopment helm under two may-

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ors and an “imayor,” the Chargers hired gun boasted. Petco Park. The Balboa Theatre renovation. Permanent homeless shelter. North Embarcadero. Iconic pedestrian bridge. Even, ahem, a new Central Library shepherded by Quigley over decades of political indecision. But these things only happened, in the view of Maas, because visionaries—apparently like Quigley—were willing “to take on the naysayers and small town undertakers that have inhabited our city since the days of John Spreckles [sic]. Small town undertakers like Quigley.” So Maas misspelled the name of one of San Diego’s preeminent civic founders. So he slayed Quigley while simultaneously praising the new library. It’s election season in the Time of Trump, so imprecision and name-calling rule, right? Quigley said he was “surprised at the personal nature” of the Maas attack, which portrayed the architect as a self-interested, money-grubbing NIMBY who focused on projects outside city borders while downtown San Diego got great in the Maas Era. And while the lattice-domed library affords a “Welcome to San Diego” view, Maas wrote, “it was never to be at the cost of festooning Quigley’s calling card and website.”

JOHN R. LAMB

For Chargers stadium advisor Fred Maas and architect Rob Quigley, the collapse of cordiality The architect said “although we don’t know each other well,” his relationship with Maas over the years “has been very cordial,” adding to the curiosity of the slam. Quigley is a visible member of the “No on C” contingent, but so are establishment friendlies like April Boling, campaign treasurer for most Republican office holders, and Tony Manolatos, who has called recent Measure C backer Mayor Kevin Faulconer a “client for life.” Yet they escape Maas scorn. The game of “attack the architect” is not new. Quigley noted that Irving Gill—the current subject of a countywide celebration of his iconic work—suffered the slings and arrows in his time as well. “Gill did run into self-serving politics,” Quigley told Spin Cycle. “Power brokers and bankers wanted the Panama Exhibition buildings in the center of Balboa Park so people would have to buy a trolley ticket to get there instead of following Gill’s and [Frederick] Olmsted’s advice of locating them on the edge of the park adjacent to downtown and leaving the park space free. Some things never change!” Quigley called it “an honor” to be “called a NIMBY for defending the urban and economic health of our downtown.” “After all,” he added, “downtown is every San Diegan’s second neighborhood. If it is unhealthy, or less desirable, then the more suburban neighborhoods are negatively impacted. A stadium that displaces 4 million square feet of development (which the East Village South Focus Plan proposes) will send that development into the suburbs where it is and should be unwelcomed.” That would be a reference to the proposed IDEA District that has been in the works for the area that is intended to bring new design and technology businesses

downtown in a setting amenable to the desires of young workers, many of whom now live downtown but commute northward for employment opportunities. Maas chided the developing proposal as a “utopian plan to build a futuristic urban oasis on one of the most distressed pieces of real estate in all of San Diego.” He mocked even the name of the district, suggesting that in Quigley’s “parallel universe” the letters in IDEA stand for “I Don’t Envision Anything” because “that is exactly what will happen if we pursue Quigley’s distorted view.” Maas suggested the replacement of the Metropolitan Transit Service bus yard and parking at Tailgate Park alone would exceed $150 million. That prompted an oh-so-San Diego observation from the former redevelopment chief: “But Quigley and his fellow undertakers want to build an urban oasis. I don’t think so.” Maas ended his diatribe with an oft-heard threat that is beginning to take on comical overtones—“do not let the small town undertakers send the Chargers packing and deny this once-ina-lifetime opportunity to build a multi-use convention center and stadium for Super Bowls, X Games, NCAA Final Fours, World Cup soccer and so much more.” Quigley’s “parallel universe” thinks otherwise. If Measure C fails to garner even 50 percent (two-thirds is required for passage), Quigley figures it puts Faulconer in prime negotiating position to push a stadium/riverfront park combo with an academic campus in Mission Valley “where it makes sense.” “Ironically,” he added, “a no vote on C is probably the best way to keep the team in San Diego.” Spin Cycle appears every week. Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

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UP FRONT | OPINION

SORDID TALES

EDWIN DECKER

In favor of letting people smoke pot just because

t last, the state will vote on recreational pot smoking: California Proposition 64. The initiative is commonly known as The Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), and the fact that it’s even up for a vote amazes me. I grew up at a time when weed was largely thought to turn your brain into a mound of hot, grey mush so legalization never seemed possible. Even when they argued over medical marijuana—a no-brainer if you know anyone who’s had chemo—the fear was that it would open the door to recreational use, which is to say, it would open the door to people getting high for no other reason than to get high. As usual, the people who are opposed to people getting high for no other reason than to get high are resorting to lies and/or scare-mongering to ensure that people who want to get high for no other reason than to get high cannot legally get high. Just look at the three most cited arguments against Prop. 64: driving concerns, health concerns, and, of course, “The children, the children! What about the children?” concerns. About driving on pot, the anti-AUMA editorial board of the Sacramento Bee wrote, “Alcohol is the primary cause of more than 500 deaths on the roads each year in California...Stoned motorists pose a hazard, too.” Now, I’m not sure why the Bee would reference road fatalities caused by a legal drug (alcohol) to argue that a different drug, with fewer traffic fatalities, should remain illegal but fine. We can go there. In 2015, the federal government via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) funded a 20-month study that showed drunk-driving to be far more dangerous than stoned driving, if the latter is dangerous at all. “[Alcohol consumption] significantly increased lane departures/minimum and maximum lateral acceleration,” researchers said. “These measures were not sensitive to cannabis.” They also found that stoned drivers “... may attempt to drive more cautiously to compensate for impairing effects, whereas alcohol-influenced drivers often underestimate their impairment and take more risk.” The NHTSA also concluded “there was no evidence that marijuana use is statistically significant in boosting wreck rates.” But guess what: It doesn’t even matter. Indeed, when considering the legality of any given activity, what does it matter if it’s safe to drive while doing it? We all know texting and driving is risky, but is anyone talking about outlawing SMS apps? I’m pretty sure that shaving during your commute to the office is hazardous, yet we are all still free to use our razors in the bathroom. And I ask, in all the rabid discussions over gun control, have you ever once heard someone argue to ban assault rifles because it’s dangerous to steer and aim at the same time?

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Smoking grass is perhaps the world’s only activity that people believe should be prohibited because it’s dangerous to do while driving. And why is that? Because some people cannot stand the idea of other people getting baked—not to stimulate their appetite, not to treat their glaucoma, not to make jam bands more tolerable—but for no other reason than to get baked. Another oft-cited argument against Prop 64 is that cannabis is harmful to the user’s health, which shouldn’t even matter in a free fucking society where free fucking citizens should be permitted to harm themselves however they fucking see fit. Regardless, after 20 years of research, no substantial health issues have been proven. Yet in the Official California Voter’s Guide argument against AUMA, Sharon Levy of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Substance Abuse argued, “We should not consider marijuana ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ It took several generations, millions of lives and billions of dollars to establish the harms of tobacco use, even though these harms are overwhelming.” And sure, that’s totally true but Sharon, dahling, tobacco is still legal! After everything we learned about the “overwhelming” dangers of nicotine, it is still legal—as it should be. And we pretty much know the health hazards of alcohol consumption, yet still legal—as it should be. Fast food consumption? Soda drinking? Sitting beside Don Trump without a pussy guard? All these legal activities have been identified as being harmful to your health yet completely and utterly legal. The third frequently cited argument against AUMA is that it targets kids. “What Proposition 64 is really about is exposing our children to harm in order to make billions,” says the conclusion of the Voter’s Guide rebuttal. Um, no. What it’s really about is to allow free fucking adults in a free fucking society to make their own fucking choices. AUMA contains myriad child protections including warning labels, child-resistant packaging and forbids packaging that is “easily confused with commercially sold candy or foods...” One side note, care to know which industry does target children? An industry that intentionally packages harmful, unhealthy products to look like gums and candies? The gum and candy makers that’s who! Nobody has been able to prove any significant health risks to cannabis consumption but we certainly know how sugar can mess you up: heart disease, diabetes, obesity. Ditto fast food conglomerates, with their clown mascots and Star Wars cups. Yet the people who don’t want you to smoke pot for the simple reason that you like smoking pot don’t mind it if your kids gorge on slabs of coagulated sucrose and Happy Meals full of salt and grease and, well, wow. As Jerry Garcia said, “What an odd, strange hypocrisy it’s been.”

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

CULTURE | VOICES

MINDA HONEY

AT THE

INTERSECTION

The false promise of being a “Good Black Woman”

en love to boomerang back into your life. I was traveling through Yosemite, when L.G. hit me up exactly a year after our last text

convo. His casual “Hey” did not at all reflect how poorly things had ended between us. L.G. was one of those “Perfect On Paper” guys. He’d gone to a historically black college, was active in his black Greek fraternity, and would have his Ph.D. in curing cancer or some other equally important thing by the age of 30. Plus, he dressed nice. But when you’re dating a man because he looks good on paper, the reality of him will rip through and disappoint you every time. Every. Damn. Time. And the reality of L.G. was that he bored me. I didn’t care about the daily sports stats he texted me and I would have preferred to see him in person than receive the routine post-workout pics of his abs he liked to send me. He was one of those “Eat to live not live to eat” types that took all the joy out of my favorite pastime: finding places on Yelp and eating at them. Plus he was tight with this real sketch dude who got loud with me in public and claimed he didn’t date black women because we’re “difficult.” I knew that dude was not talking about me. I was a Good Black Woman. A college-educated, career-having, black-man-loving black woman who wasn’t out here gold digging, pregnancy-trapping or disparaging black men in public—you know, all the things rappers hate about black women. I make my own money, know my way around a kitchen, and I stay looking nice— you know, all the things college-educated black men say they want in a black woman. I’d shaved all the sharp edges off my personality, until I was rounded, soft and non-threatening to potential suitors. I was anything but difficult. I was entitled to the love of a Good Black Man. Yet, it had not worked out with L.G. and when I’d politely ended things, he’d hurled at me the thing that he’d thought would hurt me most, “You’ll always be alone.” I refreshed his memory. He responded, “Lol yea I remember lol you were tripping.” It was a good thing I was already out and about in nature because I was about to wild out. I reminded him how I’d helped both him and his mentee write the essays that secured them the positions they were after, fixed him a plate when my mom came to town, and even forgave him for bringing his asshole friend around me. Turns out, his line of thinking wasn’t so far off

from his friend’s. His perspective was that there are “millions of qualified black women” so if we want to keep a Good Black Man we aren’t allowed to have an “all or nothing” mentality. This little rant caught me off-guard because I hadn’t wanted anything from L.G. Our personalities hadn’t meshed. Was he suggesting that I change what I’m attracted to in a person just to make it work with a Good Black Man? But wait. Hadn’t I already done that? Why was I surprised that after presenting the milquetoast version of myself, L.G. thought he’d had himself a woman who would bend to his every whim and desire. Not only had I fallen for the paper version of L.G., I’d also reduced myself to the flat personality of a paper doll, and in the process, I’d doubled my disappointment. But why had I bought into the promise of being a Good Black Woman for so long? Why had so many of my friends bought into it? How many nights had we sat around a table with wine clucking about why couldn’t we find a man when we were all Good Black Women? Was that false promise really that much easier to believe than the seldom heard truth that black women don’t have to be “good” to be loved? Yes. As heavy as it is, I feel safer out in the world carrying the shield of being a Good Black Woman. It’s easier for me to say if someone doesn’t love me, then they don’t love Goodness instead of feeling like there is something inherently unlovable about me. It’s hard for anyone to set their shield down, even harder for women, and especially hard for black women. We’re given much less latitude to make mistakes, to live life flawed. And L.G. was making it clear that I had strayed past his margin of error just by expecting to be with someone who I liked and who actually liked me. If the promise of being a Good Black Woman is going to go unfulfilled, it’s better for me to attract and fall in love with someone who sees the complete me, not someone who expects me to be the living replica of the paper doll they’ve formed in their minds about what I should be. I wish I could say I left my shield in Yosemite that day, but I didn’t. I did know for sure I wasn’t going to let a boy who was still thinking about me a year later make me feel like I was just another one-ina-million Good Black Woman. For the second year in a row, I blocked L.G.’s number and headed off in search of more.

It was a good thing I was already out and about in nature because I was about to wild out.

12 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

At The Intersection appears monthly. Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

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BEST OF san diego 2016

THIS

THAT

you decide

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the winners in 20 staff pic k sh ow d ow n s vote now on sdcitybeat.com

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

Ibysee IPA beth demmon

best of san diego 2016 BETH DEMMON

west coast

Considered more of a style than nod to its geographical origins, West Coast IPAs can be widely categorized as what hopheads like to call “dank” brews. With lots of piney and earthy bitterness throughout, the occasional hint of citrus (especially when Citra and/or Cascade hops are used) and relatively dry at the finish, these resinous concoctions can be a shock to the uninitiated. These palate-crushers often blur the line between Double or Triple IPAs, but there’s still generally a desire for some of the malt and/or yeast character to shine through. At the very least, it’s more of a dick swing to demonstrate how West Coasters like to go big or go home. While plenty of Midwest and East Coast breweries have latched onto this style, actual West Coast breweries like Breakside Brewery (Portland) with its Wanderlust IPA tend to produce the most exemplary examples of it. California still dominates the marketplace with offerings such as Green Flash’s (San Diego) West Coast IPA (who actually trademarked the term), Russian River’s (Santa Rosa) Blind Pig, Alpine Beer Co.’s (Alpine) Nelson and virtually any IPA from Stone Brewing. For those who timidly tiptoe toward bold and bitter brews, West Coast IPAs will deliver a palate-spanking delight that you won’t be able to shake once it takes hold.

20 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

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new england

BETH DEMMON

Just as Tupac and Biggie pitted the East Coast vs. the West Coast, so has the regional IPA war drawn clear sides. The “New England”-inspired versions of India Pale Ales vary as much as the West Coast’s do, but are generally stylistically known for a juicy, luscious mouthfeel and opaque, hazy appearance. Traditionally, IPAs adhering to this style professed a more balanced approach, seeking a sweeter result that relies more on a malt backbone intertwined with hop accents. Over time, this has progressed into a more aromatic experience with a “chewy” body. Excellent examples of “New England style” IPAs are being brewed all over the country, including Modern Times’ (San Diego) Attack Frequency, Creature Comforts Brewing Co.’s (Georgia) Tropicalia IPA and Bell’s Brewery’s (Michigan) Two Hearted Ale, and countless selections from Vermont’s Hill Farmstead, Lawson’s Finest Liquids and the Alchemist. For those who desire to be coddled rather than crushed (or at least who enjoy a little foreplay), the sumptuous and slightly sweet ecstasies of New England style IPAs are best enjoyed fresh and with a friend.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

best of san diego 2016 BETH DEMMON

asian soup for you by beth demmon

tajima ramen Ramen has exploded in popularity over the past few years and, thanks in large part to celebrity chefs like David Chang, is now practically synonymous with hipster food culture. Despite its oft-fetishized appropriation, Japanese ramen remains one of the most glorious dishes found in all Christendom. Nobody in San Diego dishes out a superior bowl of ramen than any one of Tajima’s locations (Hillcrest, East Village and two in Kearny Mesa). Its traditional “Tajima ramen” presents a thick, buttery Tonkotsu-style broth that will leave you slurping loudly with pleasure until every last drop is consumed. The soft noodles give way easily under the crunch of green onions, while fresh bean sprouts complement the fattiness of the delicately woody pork glistening just below the surface. As you work your way through the layers (each better than the last), prepare to be surprised by the umami-laden sheets of Japanese seaweed as they slowly dissolve into the depths. Tajima’s deeply satisfying delivery and minimalist presentation are a revelation. While there are tons of different styles and approaches to enjoy, Tajima’s expertise is unmatched anywhere in the city.

22 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com BETH DEMMON

pho hoa Waiting in line for brunch is so passé, especially when pho is an undeniably superior option. With its subtle broth and surprising amount of customization available (add jalapeños, bean sprouts, limes, basil, Sriracha and fish, hoisin and chili garlic sauces as you see fit), it’s this juxtaposition of simplicity and complexity that makes this Vietnamese classic truly the perfect meal for any time of day. When your inner pho-natic calls, head to Pho Hoa (4717 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights), where the most recognizable icon on their nondescript building is, inexplicably, an off-brand version of the Laughing Cow cheese logo. Once inside, its pho tai is the best way to go. Thin slices of rare beef simmer merrily in the citrine-tinted liquid, cooking itself to perfection as you work to untangle the sticky noodles at the bottom of the bowl. I like to add a handful of bean sprouts and a generous dollop of Sriracha (don’t hate me, purists), topped with a squeeze from a fresh lime. Don’t let its delicacy fool you. This is a complex dish steeped in history, and fewer ingredients leave the chefs fewer opportunities to mask mistakes. Best of all? You’re not likely to waddle out of Pho Hoa in a bloated food coma. Instead, you’ll float away on a cloud of utter bliss and satisfaction.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

best of san diego 2016 BETH DEMMON

donut bar

fancy donuts by beth demmon

When you have enough gumption to proclaim yours as “the best donuts in the world,” you better have the goods to back it up. Donut Bar does. Its monstrous concoctions command daily sell-outs and serious wait times, especially on Fridays when the line just to get in the front door often wraps around the block. You won’t find the generic 50-cent old-fashioneds with a cup of diner-quality coffee at Donut Bar (631 B St., downtown). Instead, you can get Stumptown cold brew on nitro paired with a $5 French Toast Donut that could easily leave multiple people in a sugar-stimulated stupor. The buzz-worthy one-pound, deep-fried, jaminjected “Big Poppa Tart” promises to keep San Diego dentists in business, and the apple fritters (my personal favorite) stretch nearly the length of your forearm and glisten with just the right amount of swirly crusted frosting. For donut devotees who seek immediate Instagram cred, Donut Bar’s outlandishly outrageous portions are sure to earn you more than a few “likes” when you hashtag #BestDonutsIntheWorld before scarfing down your selection.

24 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com COURTESY OF NOMAD DONUTS

nomad donuts

You might not think of donuts as the preeminent culinary canvas upon which to paint a global picture, but Nomad Donuts (4504 30th St., North Park) aims to do precisely that. Its artisanal offerings don’t just reflect its community (with collaborations including a “Stu Pumpkin Spice Crueller” with neighbors Fall Brewing), but the world itself with innovative flavors that range from the tastebud-twisting Guava Lychee Jam Blackberry Peach to the straightforward “Good Ol’ Donuts” like maple. Nomad also focuses on inclusiveness and sustainability, offering a daily rotating selection of standard and vegan donuts as well as committing to use small batch, seasonal ingredients sourced from local retailers. Its approach to marketing might be more subtle than some competitors, but a quiet domination of the exotic gourmet donut market still delivers big on flavor. For those wandering through the world (or just North Park) in search of unlimited flavor potential, stop at Nomad to see what it’s serving that day.

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best of san diego 2016 SETH COMBS

brigantine

fish tacos on the line by seth combs

I know by just choosing these two places I’m opening myself up to any number of insults and criticism, but look, I like what I like and I’ve tried all kinds of fish tacos all over the city. And while Brigantine’s take on the fish taco isn’t exactly known for classicism, it’s a quality piece of fish that’s served in a way that is accessible to people who may have never thought to try a fish taco. The accouterments are equal parts blasphemous and bold: red cabbage, cheddar and ranch dressing. So while there’s no shortage of traditionalists crying foul, they’re far outnumbered by the folks who’ve become addicted to the tacos. They’re not my favorite fish taco, but they’re experimental and the cheddar adds a sharpness that complements the mild cod. What’s more, they don’t skimp on the fish and each taco is pretty huge so you don’t feel shortchanged by dropping $10 for a plate. And you can call me guero all you want, but what Brigantine has done is pretty awesome: It has created an Americanized take on a Baja classic and deserves to be recognized for, if anything, being unafraid to tweak the formula. Oh, and it’s delicious.

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vote now on sdcitybeat.com SETH COMBS

mariscos

South Parkers flipped their shit when they found out that Target was moving into the neighborhood. Most of them were worried about the traffic and the corporatization of the neighborhood and blah blah blah, but for me, I feared the worst: That the Mariscos taco truck would have to move. Luckily, Target let it stay. A classic streetside spot like the ones that are ubiquitous in Baja, Mariscos got people hooked on its $1 fish tacos when it first moved into the neighborhood. It has since raised the price, but the regulars keep coming. A classic take on the fried fish taco, it comes with salsa fresca, a mound of green cabbage and, of course, a drizzle of white sauce and limes on the side. The fish is your basic fried white variety (you can get it grilled as well) and the result is a sweet, salty crunchy mash complemented by whatever hot sauce you choose from the variety available. Again, this isn’t my favorite fish taco in the city, but it’s as classical a representation that traditionalists will likely find north of the border. Not to mention the fact that the consistently low prices make it one of the best bargains in town.

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

best of san diego 2016 TORREY BAILEY

big bar on campus by torrey bailey

oggi’s pizza express

After Louie’s Pub closed, San Diego State University had a three-year dry spell before dipping back in with Oggi’s Pizza Express (5500 Campanile Drive) in 2014. Despite being a chain, Oggi’s earns brownie points right off the bat because its CEO and founder George Hadjis teaches at SDSU, while his daughter and Franchise Vice President Estella Ferrera got her Master’s on campus. It constantly keeps 10 Oggi-brewed beers kegged, making sure to cover the entire craft rainbow from cream ales to stouts. But it also has 20 other brands of local brews tapped on a three-month rotation. The casual college vibe is solidified by booth seating and a TV-lined bar tuned to the day’s sports. Attracting students, concertgoers and basketball fans, Oggi’s customers are a mirror image of the school’s diversity. It’s apparent by the music choice, which is fueled by a digital jukebox or DirecTV music channels. Some afternoons Pantera is blaring, other nights Barry Manilow croons, and sometimes it’s Biggie throwing down. You never know what you’re going to get.

26 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com TORREY BAILEY

zanzibar café at the loft

There are several spots to drink on the University of California, San Diego’s campus, but The Loft’s Zanzibar Cafe (9500 Gilman Drive) has a feel that’s far from collegiate with lounge-y tables and a fine-tuned menu. It only has eights taps, but it rotates out top-notch selections like Bell’s, and it also serves wine and mimosas. Plus, there’s a 3-5 p.m. happy hour with deals on appetizers such as like smoked chicken and black bean quesadillas or pork belly tacos. The bar doubles as a music venue, attracting DJs like Hotel Garuda or classical pianists like Christopher O’Riley. The music follows one rule: no country. The space also lends itself to other events such as psychedelic coloring parties, salsa nights, and documentary viewings. Unlike most college bars, Zanzibar Cafe at The Loft attracts a studious crowd that isn’t there to get rowdy between classes. When a student once asked what a water jug was filled with, the manager jokingly replied, “Vodka.” The student poured out the cup. Students are known to decline beers a week before finals. This certainly isn’t SDSU.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

best of san diego 2016

chuck e. cheese’s

insufferable pizza joint by ryan bradford

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RYAN BRADFORD

Found in multiple locations around town, Chuck E. Cheese’s is every kid’s favorite place and, therefore, awful. But is it really that bad? In short: yes. This place is fucking terrible, but it’s bad to the point where it transcends awful and almost becomes enjoyable. It’s genuinely too gross for hipsters looking for an ironic foray, but if you’re hosting a kid’s birthday party, you can kind of pretend that you’re in a lucid nightmare. And if that doesn’t appeal to an adventurous spirit, I don’t know what will. The place smells like vomit was invented there—I’m sure if those walls could talk, they’d vomit. But hey, kids vomit. I know that. I also know they don’t wash their hands, making this place a huge-ass petri dish. To the germaphobe, this place is hell. To be fair, the pizza isn’t that bad. The lunch buffet is only $6 (you don’t know sadness until you’re one of the first people at a deserted Chuck E. Cheese’s lunch buffet). It also has beer, and you’re going to need it. To further hit home the purgatory aspect of this place, there’s a seven-minute, looped video consistently counting down until the moment Chuck E. the mouse is going to emerge and dance with the kids. During my visit, Chuck E. phoned in a half-assed dance and then gave up halfway through the song.

28 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

JULIA EVANS

shakey’s pizza parlor Shakey’s (555 Broadway, Chula Vista) is for Chuck E. Cheese kids who grew up and never stopped loving Chuck E. Cheese but court orders restrict them from being within 100 yards of a Chuck E. Cheese. Sure, it’s classier, but it’s not like any discerning adult goes to an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet and arcade, and it’s that diametric opposite of “let’s be fun” and “let’s be classy” that makes the Shakey’s experience so weirdly intriguing. For this reason, it’s a good thing it has a relatively decent beer selection. Plus, it offers chicken wings, mashed potatoes and pasta in the buffet line, and that’s nothing to sneeze at (but given the sanitation situation at any buffet, I’m sure they’ve been sneezed at plenty). The “Fun Stuff” room is dark and dank, and during my visit, many of the games were out of order. But the sweet oldies music playing over the speakers sounded like angels singing compared to the perpetual countdown of Chuck E.’s arrival.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

best of san diego 2016 SETH COMBS

pretentious coffee house by seth combs

holsem coffee It might be a bit of a dubious honor to be labeled “best pretentious coffeehouse,” but let’s face it, when it comes to coffee, pretense is something of a necessity. It really just depends on what kind of pretentious coffee snob you are. That being said, Holsem (oh, what a clever play on words) Coffee (2911 University Ave.) is something out of an obscure indie French film. From its marble counter tops, wooden tables and indie-affluent vibe, to its meticulously curated selection of pastries and craft beers, it’s like Holsem went out of its way to only attract super-cereal Communications students and Farmer’s Market musicians. Holsem sells bags of its fair-trade “coffee evolved” next to $7 packs of organic granola, all of which are nestled nicely atop uber-rustic wooden shelves. And why the hell would I ever think to buy a glass cactus orb at a coffeeshop? I mean, I guess it’s good to know they’re there if I ever need one. The staff is friendly enough and yes, you’ll likely get a foamy heart in your oh-so-healthy Green Tea Latte or La Vie en Rose Cappuccino (it’s infused with rosewater and sprinkled with rose pedals, because why the fuck not?) so yeah, there’s that.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com SETH COMBS

dark horse coffee roasters Oh, so you’re the dark horse, huh? As if the coffee game was just about to collapse and the public was vying for something, anything, new to help them out of their decaffeinated malaise. But not-so-seriously though, Dark Horse (3260 Adams Ave.) is a more punk-rock alternative to Holsem’s, well, wholesomeness. From the staff that looks as if they’re all auditioning to be an extra on Girls, to the nostalgically ironic line of merchandise (mugs that repurpose the Seinfeld logo and Descendents’ album covers), Dark Horse is the coffeehouse equivalent of the popular girl in high school who suddenly shows up with pink hair and gothy leggings. It’s like, we know you’re just trying to be different for the sake of being different. A great example of this is the craft vegan “skinny donuts” that are about the size of a large walnut. Just give me a whole freakin’ donut! Not some bite-size, butter-free nibble that even a cop might look at suspiciously. The shop’s line of coffee comes in these artful little bags and the coffee itself is bold and flavorful. I recommend the Cold Brew on Nitro if you don’t have to sleep for a few days or just want to get jacked up for a Less Than Jake concert.

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best of san diego 2016

I love the ’80s vs.’90s by jeff terich

whistle stop Nightlife in San Diego comes in a few recognizable varieties. There are dozens of venues to catch live music or DJs, including an ample dose of EDM crowd-fillers downtown (sometimes with bottle service if you’re used to a certain level of luxury). Elsewhere, there are the fringe specialty nights for fans of glam rock, metal, funk, R&B, lowrider oldies and goth (full disclosure: I DJ a goth night), and even country if you follow the sound of scootin’ boots. For those whose youth was spent in neon or Cross Colors, however, the ideal option for a Saturday night out is ’80s vs. ’90s. The Whistle Stop hosts two ’80s vs. ’90s nights a month, on the first and third Saturday, each with DJ sets from residents Gabe Vega and Saul. And for a cover charge of $5, they’ll keep your booty moving with a fun, if seemingly contradictory set list of new wave hits and ’90s hip-hop jams, not all of which necessarily have a lot in common, sonically speaking, but make for a pretty great soundtrack when you’re ready to let loose, have a couple drinks and sweat out the week’s stress. You’re almost guaranteed to hear both Michael Jackson and Dr. Dre in just about every installment, and honestly, after a long week, you’re going to need both of those jams to keep you going.

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vote now on sdcitybeat.com COURTESY OF HEATHER HARDCORE

bar pink In a lot of respects, the ’80s vs. ’90s that happens at Bar Pink has a lot in common with the one that’s held at The Whistle Stop. They both take place in an intimate setting, just a few miles apart, and each one has a cover charge of $5, which is a reasonable price for an evening of debauchery and playlist nostalgia. However, at Bar Pink there’s a rotating trio of DJs—Heather Hardcore, Vaughn Avakian and Junior the Disco Punk—whose tastes and subtle nuances might very well allow for a little more variety among their sets. All that being said, there’s a certain standard one comes to expect under the banner of ’80s vs. ’90s, and that mostly has to do with the music itself. So if you’re anticipating Hall and Oates being spun into C + C Music Factory, or hearing “My Boo” next to Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence,” that’s exactly what you’re going to get. And since it’s at Bar Pink, you get the added benefit of being able to ease yourself comfortably into a posh booth with a potent Sneaky Tiki if the 2 Live Crew just isn’t cutting it for you. The thing about a DJ battle between music from the ’80s and music from the ’90s is that there really isn’t a winner as long as you don’t stop dancing. And those odds go up after each subsequent downing of a Sneaky Tiki—it’s named thusly for a reason, after all.

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

best of san diego 2016 TORREY BAILEY

bathrooms flush with excitement

el camino Whether it’s in person or on PerezHilton.com, you’ve most likely seen Ryan Gosling’s face and figure plastered all over the bathroom stall of Gaslamp Quarter’s sushi bar/ nightclub Bang Bang. This was the brainchild of designer Mauricio Couturier, who’s also responsible for other Snapchat-worthy loos in San Diego. Unfortunately, his creation at Little Italy’s taco and tequila joint El Camino (2400 India St.) has flown under the radar in comparison to its swoony counterpart. The ladies’ room is basked in a flamingo pink-hued light. Some walls are layered with collages of Latina women giving you the eyes, another wall sports a mural of a woman in traditional dress, and a third outlines a couple making out. It’s an entire 360-degree experience that includes heart-shaped piñatas and chalkboard paint. Attached to the ceiling of one stall are fake white birds that once surrounded a birdcage before it was taken down. Taking a turn into the men’s bathroom is a sharp contrast, though. The black, maze-like interior has graffiti etched, scribbled and painted everywhere. Not even the mirrors are safe.

32 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com

by torrey bailey

TORREY BAILEY

kindred South Park’s vegan restaurant and cocktail bar Kindred (1503 30th St.) might look nice and friendly from the outside. But the French Gothic-style glass windows expose a peachy pink interior that designer Paul Basile detailed with pentagrams, skulls and an iconic, 900-pound, black, four-eyed wolf. You don’t have the full effect until stepping into the bathroom though. You’re ears are immediately T-boned by Sleep’s DopeSmoker, a heavy metal album full of chord eruptions that play on a constant loop. The person in the next stall over can’t hear a thing. They might even be too busy staring at the satanic cat photos hanging on the walls anyway. Some of the felines are talented enough to play electric guitar in the gold-framed photos, others are staring and hissing at you so menacingly you can almost hear them over the clashes of Sleep. Naturally, half the cats are black. And in case the pagan memo is hazy, the “Employees Must Carve Slayer Into Forearms Before Returning to Work” plaque hanging above the sink to replace the traditional “Employees Must Wash Their Hands Before Returning to Work” sends the message loud and clear. The ceiling’s mural of a nebula-filled galaxy is the last straw in entering another dimension before you exit to a now relatively normcore bar.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

best of san diego 2016 COURTESY OF THE PEARL HOTEL

moviesby jeffalterichfresco

dive-in theater at the pearl

Outdoor films aren’t necessarily rare in San Diego, thanks to the fact that our weather is the stuff of nationwide envy. But unless you have your own projector and large canvas screen in your backyard, there’s only one place you can watch movies from the comfort of a swimming pool, with a cocktail in your hand. Every Wednesday night, the Pearl Hotel in Point Loma features its Dive-In Theatre, screening a slice of the (usually ’80s or ’90s) pop-culture canon—from Beetlejuice to The Big Lebowski—poolside with a drink and, if you’re feeling peckish, dinner (The Best Burger and Fries lives up to its name). Reservations are accepted at The Pearl for those who want to secure a front row seat (those seated in the front will likely not get wet, in case you’re wary of the possibility), and it’s first-come first-serve for those without reservations. However, use of the pool is free only for guests. It’ll cost you the price of a drink if you’re not staying the night, though it’s a pretty good deal, all things considered. That rule may or may not be in place to keep freeloading frat boys from ruining it for everyone else, but whatever the case, libations poolside with the Coen Brothers and some crispy shoestring fries isn’t a bad way to spend a Wednesday evening.

34 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com COURTESY OF CINEMA UNDER THE STARS

cinema under the stars During the summertime, there are numerous opportunities to see movies in outdoor settings, thanks to the warm summer nights that, truthfully, aren’t unique to just summer in San Diego. Balboa Park has outdoor screenings, Stone Brewing in Liberty Station hosts outdoor screenings, and the La Jolla Athenaeum hosts Flicks on Bricks. Yet there’s only one dedicated outdoor movie theater in the city of San Diego, Cinema Under the Stars, and it operates year round. So if it’s a winter screening that you’re in the mood for, there’s a venue for you to take advantage. Tucked behind a humble entrance on Goldfinch Street in Mission Hills, Cinema Under the Stars is a proper theater with seating provided in comfortable, reclining chairs. Its lineup of films is exclusively composed of cinematic classics, whether it’s Hitchcock, Breakfast at Tiffany’s or Raiders of the Lost Ark. As with any theater worth its salted popcorn, Cinema Under the Stars has concessions, which can come in handy during winter months when you might need a cup of coffee or hot chocolate to keep you toasty. Don’t forget to bring a blanket.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 35

best of san diego 2016 COURTESY OF ERIC HOWARTH

going forby jeffthe records terich

vinyl junkies record swap

The resurgence in vinyl over recent years, partially a result of nostalgia and partially a reaction to the increasing intangibility and non-ownership of digital media, has been both blessing and curse for those who prefer their music in analog form. Demand leads to a rise in prices, shady semi-legal bootleg operations are releasing bad CD rips pressed onto vinyl and sometimes what you’re looking for simply sells out faster. But part of the fun of vinyl shopping is in digging through the crates, looking for the hidden gems you didn’t know you needed—vintage obscurities, classic albums or even just something with an album cover that captures your attention. Vinyl Junkies is just the kind of marketplace for the physical media addicted. A bi-monthly event that takes place at The Casbah, it brings together vendors selling selected items from their shops along with collectors with impressive private collections, all for the common goal of putting more records on people’s turntables. Every event features a lineup of DJs, be they radio personalities like Tim Pyles or local musicians like Al Howard, in addition to tacos and booze, which may or may not influence your impulse buys. God knows I’ve spent too much on records after a taco binge.

36 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com COURTESY OF SAN DIEGO METAL SWAP MEET

san diego metal swap meet Well before the rest of the general public caught on to the fact that, yes, vinyl is still cool, metalheads were already lining their shelves with blood-colored, pentagram-shaped 7-inches limited to 666 copies. Or, you know, classic Black Sabbath albums—original pressings, naturally. In fact, for a long time the metal collectors’ market has been rich in hard-to-find hidden gems, often highly valuable. And you’d be surprised (or not, come to think of it) how few shops in any city have a well-stocked metal section. That’s where the San Diego Metal Swap Meet comes in, bringing together the leather-vested and bullet-belted to come together and celebrate metal media in all its forms. The San Diego Metal Swap Meet isn’t limited to vinyl—you can pick up shirts, CDs, patches, books and other various metal-related miscellanea, because there’s a good chance if you listen to metal, you like to wear your love of metal on your sleeve, quite literally (I do!). Where Vinyl Junkies is cross genre, this is a swap meet dedicated solely to metal, and as such should prove to be a haven for those who keep it heavy. Unfortunately, it’s only a once-a-year event, but the upside is that each swap features live sets by heavy hitters such as Exhumed or Jag Panzer. That’s enough to warrant throwing your horns in the air.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 37

best of san diego 2016 MARGARET HILL / FLICKR

old town

trappedbylike a tourist beth demmon

As a city saturated with transplants (myself included), many San Diegans toe the line of “local” and “newcomer” and have to choose whether to love or loathe congested areas catering to temporary visitors. While some spots can easily be skipped, there are a few that make the case for a visit, no matter how long you’ve used a local ZIP Code. Old Town is one of these. Not only is it pretty easy to get to thanks to the nearby transit center—skip driving, trying to park there in an exercise in insanity—Old Town is dripping with fascinating and nearly perfectly preserved history from every street corner. As the oldest settled area in San Diego, it’s now home to a deluge of dining establishments, hotels and kitschy shops that admittedly can strike visitors as cheesy, but there are a few gems to be found. I mean that literally—there’s an actual gem and mineral shop. During your stroll between Presidio Park’s panoramic views and the open-air souvenir market, don’t skip the Whaley House, a supernatural site named one most haunted places in America and well worth the tour, especially around Halloween. When it comes to grabbing some grub, I’m personally a secret sucker for Fred’s in Old Town. There’s always patio seating available and a gigantic menu of blended margaritas. (Plus, the people watching is sublime.)

38 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com KATERINA AND VASSILIS LAST / FLICKR

seaport village Seaport Village is another family-friendly tourist “trap” favored by visitors and locals alike, thanks to its plethora of shops and dining at The Headquarters as well as its location adjacent to the bay. It’s not difficult to find parking, but even with validation it can be pricey. This may explain the flower-bedecked carriages and hordes of Segways that dominate the pathways around and throughout Seaport Village, but you can hardly blame the blessedly oblivious riders once you too catch a view of the Coronado Bridge at sunset. Want to feel especially zen? Snag an ice cream cone and a spot on a park bench to watch the nearly omnipresent swarms of kites flying in the sky above a painfully picturesque duck pond. It’s Instagram gold. With redevelopment plans threatening the future of Seaport Village’s shops, restaurants, weekly concerts and historic 19th-century carousel (not to mention its apparently numerous Pokémon and inexplicably popular candle store), this is one tourist trap that you just may want to put on your itinerary before it’s too late.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 39

best of san diego 2016 RYAN BRADFORD

confessions of a mall rat by ryan bradford

mission valley It’s the bottom level on the Titanic—not pretty, not comfortable, but it’s got spirit. It’s got heart. If you’re a degenerate teenager, or nostalgic for the days when you were a degenerate teen, this is the place to hang out. There’s very little pretension here—could pretension even exist in a square-mile radius of Tilted Kilt?—but that’s not necessarily a knock at Mission Valley, because some of us prefer our shopping experience a little less hoity-toity and more like a carnival. Mission Valley Mall also boasts a post office, which is actually one of the most pleasant post offices in San Diego due to the abundance of parking and relatively short lines. Plus, given its relative inconspicuousness, finding it is akin to unlocking a secret level in a video game. Exciting! Plus, there’s Target. And although it seems absurd to praise that giant corporate chain in the Best of San Diego issue…c’mon guys, it’s Target. You go there. I go there. We all go there.

40 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com RYAN BRADFORD

fashion valley This mall is a quintessentially Southern Californian experience, i.e. quintessentially mediocre, innocuous and comfortable. Every Fashion Valley trip is basically a beige-colored excursion into commercial purgatory, where shoppers roam aimless as ghosts. There’s nothing particularly bad about this mall experience, it’s just sort of... there. Sure, the stores are a little more fancy, and shoppers should expect to pay a little more here than Mission Valley, but playing the role of the anti-capitalist martyr gets tiring, and paying too much for items that you don’t need is an American tradition. Fashion Valley Mall has all the best stores and it’s not all hoity toity—hell, the basic tees at H&M are cheaper and better quality than what you’ll find at Target. For better or worse, the Apple Store is there, which is—ugh—a necessary evil sometimes. The food selection at Fashion Valley is, overall, better. Places such as True Food and the restaurant in Nordstrom at least have the pretense of being healthy and worthwhile. Just because you’re racking up credit card debt, it doesn’t mean you have to feel like shit doing it.

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best of san diego 2016 ANDY SCHERER/FLICKR

easy hiker by ryan bradford

torrey pines Torrey Pines is pretty much the ultimate San Diego outdoor experience. Approaching the base of the state nature preserve and looking upon the misty mountain is as grandiose and majestic as entering Jurassic Park. The short but intense trek up the access road gives hikers access to well-maintained trails that zigzag down to the beach, and plenty of lookout points where you and your friends can take selfies in nature to use later when you post it on social media and tell people to enjoy nature. The hike ends on the beach, which is a brilliant cool-down and an opportunity to soak your sweaty feet in the ocean. There’s only one drawback to Torrey Pines (well, besides being regarded as “basic” by serious hikers), and it’s the crowds. Good luck finding a parking spot on a weekend that’s closer than a mile away from the entrance. If you can, take a day off work and experience it on a weekday.

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vote now on sdcitybeat.com JULIA EVANS

los peñasquitos canyon preserve This is Torrey Pines’ inland cousin—both are approximately the same travel distance from downtown San Diego—but Los Peñasquitos’ advantage comes from the comparative lack of visitors. If you’re looking for a calm and serene trek through nature, this is the place to do it. The canyon preserve offers plenty of easy-grade hikes through alternating forest, meadow landscapes. It’s also a godsend for trail runners who don’t want to deal with the congestion that happens at other popular trails, and it’s not uncommon to spot a couple urban cowboys on horses along these trails. Its landlocked status makes it hotter than Torrey Pines which, in the dead of summer, can turn an inexperienced hiker into a regular Cranky McCrankerson, and an out-of-town visitor may not see the point of visiting a beach town without hiking on the beach. But this is for us. San Diegans need a place to relax, unwind and get away from crowds without having to drive to the far reaches of East County. Cool breezes and ocean views are dope, but not when they instill feelings of claustrophobia and road rage.

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 41

best of san diego 2016 RYAN BRADFORD

curing cats and dogs by ryan bradford and seth combs

vca angel animal hospital VCA (3537 30th St.) recently performed surgery on my cat, Harvey. We didn’t know if he had swallowed a plastic bag or not, and X-rays didn’t confirm our suspicions. Dr. Ball at North Park’s VCA branch recommended surgery. After being warned from another veterinarian that surgery of that sort could range between $3,000 and $5,000, my wife and I felt the world drop out from underneath us. However, Dr. Ball offered to do the surgery for less than a thousand dollars. Perhaps it’s because we were bawling in his office, but that sort of kindness and compassion is rare, especially when all aspects of healthcare—for both pets and humans—is astronomically expensive. Even though our concerns were for naught—our cat had not actually swallowed anything—the unequivocal concern for our pet’s continued well-being set Dr. Ball apart from all other veterinarians. In fact, everyone who works in that office is on top of his or her game. When I call to make appointments now, the front desk receptionists are quick to remember Harvey, and seem genuinely interested about how he’s doing. It’s those little things that make VCA Angel Animal Hospital feel more like a community vet than a branch off a corporate mothership. –Ryan Bradford

42 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com SETH COMBS

bodhi animal hospital When a corporation buys up all the little guys and mom-and-pops, they can pretty much charge and do whatever they want. I don’t doubt the employees at VCA love animals. I just don’t like the idea of my pet’s care being dictated by corporate overlords who might push medications and unnecessary tests to keep profits up. There are plenty of Internet gripes to back up my skepticism. On the other hand, Bodhi Animal Hospital (2200 University Ave.) is a locally owned hospital in North Park that takes a more holistic, hospitable approach. Even its low-star reviews on Yelp still make it sound nice. On the inside, it resembles a welcoming spa with an impeccably clean lobby that doesn’t feel stuffy (cat folks can appreciate that when a giant German Shepherd rolls in). When I just strolled in without an animal, the staff was friendly almost to the point of sounding cultish. I got the sense that they really liked their jobs and, while I was there, a customer inquired about some of the food they sell only to have the one of the employees tell them that the food they were currently on was fine. Imagine that. A vet that isn’t trying to sell something your animal doesn’t really need. –Seth Combs

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 43

best of san diego 2016 RON DONOHO

san diego bay

oh, bay by ron donoho

The recreational feature that instantaneously comes to my mind in the naturally formed downtown Big Bay is the Coronado Ferry. Every day, tourists and locals load themselves—and oftentimes, bikes—onto wooden boats with old school charm that cruise back and forth from downtown San Diego to the Coronado Ferry Landing. It’s a blissful, 20-minute ride that allows passengers to relax and take in the urban waterfront experience of San Diego Bay. Out on the ferry you share the bay with cruise ships, tugboats, cargo freighters, sailboats, jet skis and kayaks. You can steal a glance at the historic vessels that make up the Maritime Museum, or see what’s happening on one of the Embarcadero Parks (maybe the San Diego Food & Wine Festival, or a Summer Pops concert). Once you feel your sea legs under you, it might be time to book a Hornblower whale watching tour or climb aboard the Patriot Jet Boat, which will get passengers wet while it does doughnuts or climbs to speeds of 50 miles per hour. Welcome to the bay by the city.

44 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com DAVID BRANDENBURG

mission bay

Mission Bay is hands-on. Located south of Pacific Beach, it’s part of the largest man-made aquatic park in the country (4,235 acres). There are no cruise ships or giant seafaring vessels. When the weather is optimal (which means almost always) the bay is filled with personal watercraft, and people wakeboarding, jet skiing, kite surfing and sailing. Oh, and look for the folks using those new water-powered jetpacks. There are multitudes of waterways, inlets and islets to explore. The area is also popular with birders, with Mission Bay being home to several rare and endangered species. A day hanging out on Mission Bay most likely includes fun in the water paired with time on the beach or in a grassy park. Picnics, barbecues and bonfires right by the bay are the norm. And along a three-mile coastal boardwalk—where people walk, run, bike and skateboard— there are plenty of bars, restaurants and surf shops to sample. Mission Bay swells with tourists during the summer season, and SeaWorld is also here, but at its heart this is a laidback resort town with an attitude that encourages everybody to get in and enjoy the water.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 45

best of san diego 2016 ABROWNCOAT / WIKI COMMONS

play ball byand they’re off ron donoho

san diego padres opening day Everybody’s a fan of our local Major League Baseball team in early April. It doesn’t matter if the team languished in last place the year before—during preseason training camp, hope springs eternal. Opening Day at downtown’s Petco Park will always be a 42,000plus sellout—especially if the hated Los Angeles Dodgers are on hand for the game. A cynic might say the Padres’ Opening Day is for fair-weather fans and corporate parties, and that may be partially true. Fact is, though, baseball’s Opening Day is a precursor to spring and summer; a rebirth not just of pennant races but of flowering plants and our desire to escape the early darkness that comes with winter. The first home game of the new season is a time to once again taste a Friar Frank loaded with ketchup and mustard, and crack open peanuts while tossing the shells onto the concrete beneath your seat. Casual fans can stroll through the Park at the Park and wonder what new concession options will be available. And hardcore fans can get their first up-close look at new rookies and see if veteran players have yet to lose a step. Play ball.

46 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com DIRK HANSEN

opening day at del mar racetrack Maybe you like to study and bet the ponies. Or maybe you like the over-the-top celebration of throwback glitz and glamor that arrives each July when the Del Mar Racetrack unlocks its paddocks for three months of thundering hooves and photo finishes. Either way, the track’s Opening Day isn’t just an event—it’s a happening; a force of nature. Each year, more than 40,000 people are compelled to show up for the first local running of the sport of kings. Many people pull out their finery and dress to impress. Millinery is a big deal, especially for the women who will vie to win the Opening Day Hat Contest in categories such as Most Glamorous, Funniest/Most Outrageous and Best Fascinator. For some, the prime place to score a spot to watch the races is in the exclusive Turf Club, where suits are mandatory for gents, who are often accompanied by “nieces” competing in an unofficial but not-so-subtle Best Décolletage contest. That’s fine and dandy—but there’s also plenty of excitement down by the track, where the railbirds cheer and curse as the horses gallop toward the finish line.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 47

root for bythe home team ron donoho

best of san diego 2016 PHIL KONSTANTIN

the san diego chicken It was way back in 1974 when Ted Giannoulas first stepped into that now-iconic feathery costume and became The Chicken. At first he did promotional gigs for KGB-FM radio, but soon enough his antics made him a popular draw at larger sports events. He was never the official mascot of the San Diego Padres, but in the ’70s he did appear at more than 500 games in a row. Though The Chicken regularly attended San Diego Clippers basketball games (until the team moved to Los Angeles), as well as many other professional baseball stadiums all over the country, he was seen in the eyes of many as the Padres’ top banana. Over the years he’s seen it all, appearing at Comic-Con, the Holiday Bowl and WrestleMania. The Chicken also got the call to be in the movie Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, and in the ’80s did commercials for McDonald’s alongside Ronald McDonald. Today, he goes by the moniker Famous Chicken, and is still relatively well known around the globe at sporting facilities. It’s still Giannoulas inside the costume, and even after all these decades he’s still limber, spry and energetic.

48 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

the swinging friar

vote now on sdcitybeat.com EWEN ROBERTS

He’s not an international superstar like The Chicken, but the Swinging Friar (it’s his bat, not his lifestyle that swings) is the official mascot for the Padres, and he never misses a home game. For those slightly confused to the relevance of a friar as a symbol for the team, it stems from the close relationship between a padre (Spanish for “father” and a common term for addressing military chaplains) and a friar (a member of the Roman Catholic religious order). The Swinging Friar can be a soothing presence at the ballpark, though he is not officially certified to take confessions. He has a forever congenial expression on his face, with a Jay Lenolike chin, a bowl-shaped bald head and a big belly (likely from high ingestion of craft beer) under a long blue robe that’s tied at the beltline by a simple piece of rope. For a slightly pudgy dude, the Swinging Friar gets around the ballpark with speed and agility. Look for him to dance on the dugout after a great play by the home team, or wave to him during inning breaks when he and the Pad Squad are hurling t-shirts and other Padres schwag into the stands.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 49

best of san diego 2016 MICHAEL J. ARMSTRONG

ice gallery

indiebygalleries seth combs

There’s no pomp and circumstance at Ice Gallery. From the gallery’s early days in North Park, to its current home inside the Bread & Salt building (1955 Julian Ave.) in Logan Heights, it’s almost as if curator and co-founder Michael James Armstrong goes out of his way to be the most artful contrarian. He goes out of his way not to throw schmooze-y openings and there’s an intentional, if not understated, point not to have the usual art show offerings. No wine. No cheese. No pretense. Just art. And the art has been amazing. Along with Armstrong’s own work, there have been brilliant, site-specific exhibitions from Christina Hendershaw, Tom Driscoll, Thomas DeMello and, most recently, graffiti artist Saratoga Sake. There’s something to be said for making an appointment and taking these shows in on your own time. Patrons might find that they have a better appreciation for the work when they’re free of the trappings that come with other art openings. There’s an eerie and comforting feeling that comes with viewing art on your own. It’s as if you’re seeing it the way the artist intended. Clear-eyed and with no distractions, you’re finally free to be patient and soak it all in one moment at a time.

50 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com ADDISON STONESTREET

a ship in the woods

North County’s A Ship in the Woods is a lot of things: party house, art collective, music venue…I hear there’ll even building a recording studio and residency program. So the word “gallery” doesn’t even begin to encapsulate what goes down on the multi-acre Escondido property (3007 Felicita Road). That’s not to imply that the art is an afterthought at Ship events, but rather that the art is often a reason to throw big parties for hundreds of your friends. There’s almost a sense of decadence when attending one, as if you’re Nick Carraway walking into one of those lavish West Egg parties that all the cool kids are talking about. And the artists and bands they curate for these shows are legit. They manage to bring in some excellent local and international talent, some of which create site-specific works that you won’t see anywhere else or ever again. The four-person collective’s work off-site, such as their Convergence exhibition at the Cabrillo National Monument and the traveling “RHODOPSIN” light installation piece, only further proves that this group isn’t content with simply throwing a cool art party. They want the party to be art as well. A performance piece where the set design and soundtrack are just as important as the dialogue.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 51

best of san diego 2016 COURTESY OF THE SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART

art at the park by seth combs

san diego museum of art

It’s not all that surprising that the city’s oldest and largest art museum (1450 El Prado) has a reputation for skewing a little, well, old. And no, I’m not talking about its vast collection of Italian masters. For years, the museum had no problem remaining tourist-friendly and uncontroversial, but over the last decade or so, and even more so since the arrival of Executive Director Roxana Velásquez in 2010 and curator Ariel Plotek a few years later, the Museum seems to be heading in exciting new directions. From renovating the outside sculpture garden and showcasing more local artists, to the addition of the hipsterfriendly Panama 66 next door, the museum appears to be making a play for cool and, well, younger patrons. Nowhere is this more evident than at SDMA’s semi-regular “Culture & Cocktails” parties. The evening events are often themed around a new exhibition and there’s almost always a line of gussied-up millennials taking advantage of the free cocktails and small bites. As for the art, there’s still an emphasis on the historical over the contemporary, but last year’s The Art of Music and this year’s Sebastião Salgado exhibition, are proof that the old dog can learn new tricks. Oh, and you still can’t beat that amazing building and façade.

52 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

vote now on sdcitybeat.com GINGER SHULICK PORCELLA

san diego art institute

Just across the Prado from SDMA, the façade of the San Diego Art Institute (1439 EL Prado) is much more unassuming. To be honest, it’s downright boring. But once patrons step inside, they’ll find a contemporary art space that’s showcasing some of the most promising local and national artists. It wasn’t always this way. For most of its 75 years, the Institute was primarily used as a members-only showcase space for amateur artists. And while that formula was certainly great for members, the shows that were produced often had no curatorial direction. This changed vastly, and some would argue heavy-handedly, with the arrival of Ginger Shulick Porcella in 2014, who transformed the space into something broadly hipper and more accessible. Some folks really didn’t like the new direction, but Porcella stuck to her guns and exhibitions like Sweet Gongs Vibrating and SDAI’s recent foray into an artist residency program are further proof that the new direction is working. Its openings and regular “Mixtape” parties have pulled in a new audience that might have otherwise avoided Balboa Park. And that’s really the greatest things to report: However controversial, Porcella has transformed SDAI into something Balboa Park has always needed. A legitimate contemporary art museum in Balboa Park that hasn’t lost touch with its gallery heart.

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POLL WINNERS

Best of SAN DIEGO READERS POLL RESULTS SAN DIEGO LIFE Best Beach

Coronado Beach

La Jolla Shores Ocean Beach Moonlight Beach Pacific Beach

Best Career College

California College San Diego

National University University of Phoenix NewSchool of Architecture & Design Brightwood College

Best College or University

San Diego State University UC San Diego University of San Diego

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BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

Cal State San Marcos Point Loma Nazarene University

Best Community College

San Diego City College San Diego Mesa College Grossmont College Southwestern College MiraCosta College

Best Elected Official Todd Gloria

Kevin Faulconer Lorena Gonzalez Dianne Jacob Chris Cate

Best Hiking

Cowles Mountain

Torrey Pines State Reserve Mission Trails Regional Park Iron Mountain Trail Los Penasquitos Canyon Trail

Best Local Charity Event

Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital) Walk for Animals (San Diego Humane Society) San Diego Festival of Beer (San Diego Professionals Against Cancer) Green Flash Treasure Chest Fest

(Susan G. Komen San Diego) Taste of the Cove (San Diego Sports Medicine Foundation)

Best Monument or Landmark Balboa Park

Sunset Cliffs Cabrillo National Monument Coronado Bridge USS Midway

Best Neighborhood North Park

Ocean Beach Chula Vista Pacific Beach Normal Heights

Best Place to Get Married Hotel del Coronado

POLL WINNERS

Best Pro Athlete

Best Sports Team

Tony Hawk Kelly Slater Phil Mickelson Bucky Lasek

SDSU Aztecs San Diego Padres San Diego Gulls San Diego Sockers

Philip Rivers

Best Public Park Balboa Park

Mission Bay Park Chicano Park Kate Sessions Park San Dieguito Park

Dave, Shelly and Chainsaw

91X

FM 94/9 KPBS Rock 105.3 Jazz 88.3

San Elijo State Beach

Julian

Best Place to Go Camping

Mount Laguna La Jolla Indian Campground William Heise County Park in Julian Santee Lakes

Best San Diego Day Trip Baja California La Jolla Shores Temecula Wineries Lake Cuyamaca

Balboa Park Old Town Seaport Village Coronado

Best TV Anchor Kathleen Bade

Best Radio Station

Balboa Park Sunset Cliffs The Lodge at Torrey Pines Bali Hai

Best Tourist Attraction San Diego Zoo

Best Radio Program Jagger and Kristi Cantore & Wood 91X Loudspeaker John & Tammy

San Diego Chargers

Raoul Martinez Barbara-Lee Edwards Catherine Garcia Kimberly Hunt

Best TV Station Fox 5

CBS 8 NBC 7 KUSI 9/51 CW 6

Best TV Weathercaster Aloha Taylor Dagmar Midcap Chrissy Russo

BEST OF CONTINUED ON PAGE 58

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 57

POLL WINNERS BEST OF CONTINUED FROM PAGE 57 Dave Scott Jodi Kodesh

GOODS & SERVICES Best Law Firm King Aminpour

Batta Fulkerson Law Group Garwood Family Law & Mediation Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP Zlotnik Law

Best Accounting Firm San Diego Taxman

San Diego Tax Specialists, Inc. Abbo Tax, CPA Bonilla Accounting Firm Considine & Considine

Best Antique Shop

Ocean Beach Antique Mall

Architectural Salvage of San Diego La Mesa Antique Mall India Street Antiques Antique Warehouse

Best Arts & Crafts Store

Artist & Craftsman Supply Hobby Lobby Artbox The Art Stash vis-u-al

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

Best Auto Dealer

Best Bike Shop

Toyota of El Cajon DCH Honda Mission Valley Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Courtesy Chevrolet

Mission Hills Bike Shop Cal Coast Bicycles Bicycle Warehouse Metro Cyclery

Mossy Nissan

Best Auto Repair Shop

PB Foreign and Domestic Car Repair Mission Bay Automotive Allied Gardens Automotive Smitty’s Service Johnson’s Auto Haven

Best Bank Chase

Bank of America Wells Fargo Union Bank California Bank & Trust

best swimwear shop Sun Diego

Gone Bananas Pilar’s Beachwear Anna Brazil Sun Splash Swimwear

Best Bead Store The Black Bead

Pacific Beads Beads and More South Sun Products Bouncing Bead

58 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

POLL WINNERS KYLE BAUDOR

Adams Ave Bicycles

Best Bookstore

Adams Avenue Bookstore Mysterious Galaxy Verbatim Books Controversial Bookstore Bluestocking

Best Bridal/Tux/ Formal Wear Shop Men’s Fashion Depot

Brides By Demetrios The Gentlemen’s Tux Club The White Flower Boutique Bridal and Tuxedo Galleria

Best Camera Store George’s Camera

Nelson Photo Supplies Kurt’s Camera Repair ProShot Camera Gear Camera Exposure

Best Car Wash

Body Beautiful Car Wash North Park Car Wash Uptown Touchless Car Wash Gentle Touch Car Wash Washman Car Wash

Best Book Store nominee: Verbatim Books

Best Comic Book Store

Best Dive Shop

Comickaze Comics Books and More Galactic Comics & Video Mysterious Galaxy Crazy Fred’s Cards and Comic Lounge

San Diego Divers House of Scuba San Diego Scuba Center Diving Unlimited International Inc.

Villainous Lair

Best Construction Company

Lars Remodeling & Design AO Reed & Co. Apex Pacific Inc. Conaty Construction Co. Merz Construction Inc.

Ocean Enterprises

Best Eyewear Hillcrest Optical

Sunglass & Optical Warehouse Urban Optiks Optometry Newport Avenue Optometry Arena Eyeworks Optometry

BEST OF CONTINUED ON PAGE 60

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 59

POLL WINNERS BEST OF CONTINUED FROM PAGE 58

Best Flower Shop Florabella

Native Poppy Allen’s Flowers Camellia Flowers and Gifts Green Fresh Florals

Best Furniture Store Jerome’s

Boomerang for Modern Metro Decor MOR Atlas Furniture

Best Garden Supply Store/Nursery Mission Hills Nursery North Park Nursery Walter Andersen Nursery City Farmers Nursery Evergreen Nursery

Best Gift Shop Bazaar Del Mundo Pigment Pangaea Outpost Make Good Geographie

Best Golf Shop Golfsmith

The Golf Mart The Golf Shop at Torrey Pines Golf Galaxy

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

Fairway Golf USA

Best Grocery Store Barons Market, Pt. Loma

Cardiff Seaside Market Jimbos…Naturally Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market Stump’s Family Marketplace

Best Hardware Store Ace Hardware Hillcrest

North Park Hardware San Diego Hardware Ocean Beach Paint & Hardware San Carlos Hardware Store

Best Hydro Store San Diego Hydroponics & Organics City Farmers Nursery Encinitas Hydroponics Mighty Hydro Miramar Hydroponics Empire

Best Jewelry Store Leo Hamel Fine Jewelers Gilmore Family Jewelers Enhancery Jewelers Charles Koll Jewellers Irelia Fine Jewelry

Best Landscaping Company

Mooch Exterior Designs

60 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

Outside Matters Monterey Landscape Construction Landscapes West Siragusa Gardening and Landscaping

Best Legal Marijuana Dispensary Point Loma Patients Consumer Cooperative A Green Alternative Southwest Patient Group Mankind Cooperative Harbor Collective

Best Lingerie Store Adam & Eve

Deja Vu Love Boutique El Cajon Pleasures & Treasures Fantasyland Kapreeza

Best Liquor Store BevMo

Keg N Bottle Clem’s Bottle House Krisp Idaho Market

Best Local Credit Union

San Diego County Credit Union

Mission Federal Credit Union California Coast Credit Union Point Loma Credit Union San Diego Metropolitan Credit Union

POLL WINNERS TORREY BAILEY

Best Local Boutique Hotel

The Lafayette Hotel, Swim Club & Bungalows Hotel del Coronado The Pearl Andaz San Diego The Westgate Hotel

Best Local Print Shop Any Budget Printing & Mailing Sign King Ego ID Media PB Printing Direct to Press

Best Hotel Swimming Pool Open to the Public The Lafayette Hotel, Swim Club & Bungalows

Hilton San Diego Bayfront San Diego Marriott Marquis Marina The Pearl Handlery Hotel

Best Mattress Store

Sleep Train Mattress Centers Sleep Bedder Real Deal Mattress Mattress Man Mattress Makers

Best Comic Book Store winner: Villainous Lair

Best Mens Clothing Store

Men’s Fashion Depot 5 & A Dime Hunt & Gather Love & Aesthetics The Ascot Shop

Best Mortgage Broker Team Johnson - Mortgage Lending Experts San Diego Funding Mortgage Max, Inc Homeplus Mortgage The GreenHouse Group

BEST OF CONTINUED ON PAGE 62

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 61

POLL WINNERS BEST OF CONTINUED FROM PAGE 60

Best Motorcycle Shop San Diego Harley-Davidson Rocket Motorcycle Fun Bike Center San Diego BMW Motorcycles Motoworld of El Cajon

Best Outdoor Rental Shop (Kayak, Jet Ski, Boat) San Diego Parasail Adventures

La Jolla Bike & Kayak Adventure 16 H2O JetSki Rentals Mission Bay Aquatic Center

Best Pawn Shop CashCo Pawn

Palace Pawnbrokers San Diego Jewelry Buyers Hillcrest Pawn Posh Pawn

Best Pet Service South Bark Dog Wash Nadia’s Mobile Grooming DoozyDog! Club EarthWise Pet Supply See Spot Sit

Best Pet Store

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

Kensington Pet Supply & Dog Wash Pet Me Please Pet Palace Pet Kingdom

Best Real Estate Office

Mission Realty Group Berkshire Hathaway Home Services California Properties Flagship Realty Group Ascent Real Estate, Inc Premier Properties

Best Realtor Jared Kelley

Daniel Buksa Nathan Abbo Bobby Stefano Dan Cassady

Best Scooter Shop Vespa Motorsport

Oceanside Scooters Main Street Scooters of San Diego ScooterWest Inky’s Pro Scooters

Best Sex Shop / Adult Bookstore Adult Emporium

Barnett Avenue Adult Superstore Dr. Loves Erotic Superstore Pleasures and Treasures Mercury Books

EarthWise Pet Supply

62 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

POLL WINNERS

Best Shoe Store (Men)

Best Solar Company

KolorBlind Shoes Overload Footwear etc. Blends

Solar Alliance Semper Solaris Efficient Solar Services Sunline Energy

Culture Gear

Best Shoe Store (Women) Footwear etc.

Lola Luna Boutique Aerosoles Closet Signature Tatyana Boutique

Best Shopping Center Fashion Valley

UTC Horton Plaza Grossmont Center Del Mar Highlands

Best Skate Shop

Ocean Beach Surf & Skate Shop Route 44 Overload Pacific Drive Aveanew

SolarCity

Best Sporting Goods Store

Play It Again Sports Big 5 Adventure 16 A & B Sporting Goods Sports Palace

Best Storage Facility A-1 Self Storage

Public Storage Morena Storage Mira Mesa Self Storage Sorrento Valley Self Storage

Best Sunglasses Shop Sunglass & Optical Warehouse 9FIVE Eyewear Urban Optiks Specs Optometry Dziner Eyez

Best Smoke Shop

Illusions Vape Smoke Shop Outer Limits Smoke Shop Smoke Zone The Cave Smoke Shop

Bird’s Surf Shack

SD Smoke Shop

Best Surf Shop Clairemont Surf Shop Mitch’s Surf Shop Hansen Surfboards

South Coast Surf Shop

Best Thrift Store Goodwill

Thrift Trader Rare Bird Consignment House Home Start Thrift Boutique Kanoko Thrift Shop

Best Toy Store

Geppetto’s, A Child’s Fantasy Replay Toys Hillside Artisans Children’s Boutique So Childish Apple Box Wooden Toys

Best Vape Shop

Illusions Vape Smoke Shop SD Vape Shop OSV Vape Shop Euphoria Vapor Outlet Vapor Invasion

Best Veterinarian

ABC Veterinary Hospital

Bodhi Animal Hospital Bay Park Veterinary Clinic Amici Pet Hospital of Little Italy VCA Animal Hospital Market Street

Best Vintage Clothing Store Frock You Flashbacks

BEST OF CONTINUED ON PAGE 66

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 63

64 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 65

POLL WINNERS BEST OF CONTINUED FROM PAGE 62 Hunt and Gather La Loupe Vintage The Girl Can’t Help It

Best Women’s Clothing Store Mimi and Red Boutique Lanes Collective Maven Temptress Fashion Stroll

FITNESS, HEALTH & BEAUTY

Best Barber Shop Floyd’s 99 Barbershop

Goodfellas Barbershop Shave Parlor Debonair Barber and Shave Parlor Barberside Mister Brown’s Barber Shop

Best Chiropractor

Spence Chiropractic Center

Chiropractique Urban Retreat Good Vibrations Family Chiropractic Gaslamp Chiropractic The Joint Chiropractic

Best Cosmetic Surgeon La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre, Dr. Lori Saltz

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

DBG Plastic Surgery Center, Dr. Briester Gosh Pompeii Surgical, Dr. Sergio Quinones Center For Cosmetic Surgery, Dr. Sassan Alavi Umansky Medical Center for Plastic Surgery, Dr. William Umansky

Best Day Spa

Re:Vive Salon & Spa Bellagio Salon & Day Spa La Costa Resort & Spa The Catamaran Spa Therapie Day Spa

Best Dentist

Kensington Dental Group La Mesa Cosmetic Dentist Lemon Grove Dental Group Dentistry At The Promenade Omni Dental Associates

Best Hair Salon (Guys) Groom the Salon

Electric Chair Salon The Urban Shave Hair Drezzers on Fire Disconnected

Best Hair Salon (Ladies) Electric Chair Salon

The Lab A Salon Hyde Edwards Salon and Spa Details Salon Spa

66 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

Belli Belli Salon & Boutique

Best Hospital

Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla

Sharp Memorial Hospital UCSD Medical Center Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center Sharp Grossmont Hospital

Best Laser Eye Center Motwani Lasik Institute

San Diego LASIK Institute Clearview Eye & Laser Medical Center Shiley Eye Institute San Diego Eye & Laser Center

Best MMA or Boxing Gym Undisputed

The Arena Mixed Martial Arts City Boxing San Diego Combat Academy Victory MMA & Fitness

Best Nail Salon

Hello Birdie Nail & Lash Lab Beauty Lounge Beautilicious Nails & Spa Primp Nail Boutique Terri’s Nails Lounge & Spa

Best Place for Acupuncture

North Park Acupuncture

POLL WINNERS

Eastlake Acupuncture & Massage Chiropractique Urban Retreat Beach Community Acupuncture Tripoint Holistic Therapy

Best Place to Get a Massage

Bellagio Salon & Day Spa

Green Bamboo North Park The Knot Stop Happy Head Foot Reflexology and Massage Karma Relaxation

Best Place to Get Pierced Church of Steel

Apogee Body Piercing Enigma Professional Piercing Big City Tattoo 101 Piercing

Best Place to Get Waxed

LunchBOX (a waxing salon) Angelica B Beauty The Pretty Kitty Enviouskin Day Spa & Boutique The Undercarriage

Best Tanning Salon California Tan

Sunless Revolution The Tan Banana Aztec Tan Vivid Tan

Best Tattoo Artist Mike Stobbe

Justin Cota Rob Benavides Cash Scott Su’a Suluape Angela

Best Tattoo Parlor Avalon Tattoo 2

Flying Panther Tattoo & Gallery Big City Tattoo Chronic Tattoo Guru Tattoo

Best WorkOut Gym Chuze Fitness

Crunch North Park Fitness Fit Athletic Club Boulevard Fitness

Best Yoga Studio Corepower Yoga

Pilgrimage of the Heart Bird Rock Yoga Yoga One Yoga Six

FOOD

Best Bagel Shop

Brooklyn Bagel Company BCB Cafe Hillcrest Influx Cafe

BEST OF CONTINUED ON PAGE 68

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 67

POLL WINNERS BEST OF CONTINUED FROM PAGE 66 Daily Bagel PL Bagels

Best Bakery Bread and Cie

D.Z. Akin’s Azucar Con Pane Sugar & Scribe

Best Barbeque Phil’s BBQ

Grand Ole BBQ y Asado Iron Pig Alehouse Bull’s Smokin’ BBQ Abbey’s Real Texas BBQ

Best Breakfast Breakfast Republic

Great Maple Broken Yolk The Mission Café The Original Pancake House

Best Breakfast Burrito

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

Best Brunch Spot Hash House a Go Go Breakfast Republic Tom Ham’s Lighthouse Brooklyn Girl Humphrey’s Restaurant

Best Burger Hodad’s

Rocky’s Crown Pub Burger Lounge Slater’s 50/50 The Balboa

Best Burrito

Lucha Libre Taco Shop Lolitas Taco Shop El Zarape Juanitas Taco Shop Señor Grubby’s

Best Business Lunch Spot Urban Solace C Level Slater’s 50/50 Bully’s East Don Chido

Taco Surf

Best Butcher Shop

Seisel’s Meats Cowboy Star Restaurant & Butcher Shop Iowa Meat Farms Sepulveda Meats & Provisions

Nico’s Taco Shop Cotija Taco Shop Juanitas Taco Shop Ranchos Cocina

The Heart & Trotter

68 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

POLL WINNERS ANDREW JORGENSEN, JORGENSEN PHOTOGRAPHY

Best Cajun Restaurant

Bud’s Louisiana Cafe Crab Hut Cajun Kitchen New Orleans Creole Café Bourre Southern Bistro

Best Casino Buffet The Buffet at Viejas

The Buffet at Valley View Seasons Fresh Buffet at Barona The Buffet at Harrah’s Resort Southern California Paipa’s Casino Buffet at Sycuan

Best Chinese Restaurant

Dumpling Inn & Shanghai Saloon

Best Contemporary Cuisine winner: Kettner Exchange

Mandarin House City Dragon Chop Suey Peking Restaurant Del Mar Rendezvous

Urban Solace Soda & Swine BO-beau kitchen + bar The 3rd Corner

Caffe Calabria

Babycakes

Best Coffeehouse Dark Horse Coffee Roasters Lestat’s Coffee House Pappalecco Cafe Bassam

Best Contemporary Cuisine Kettner Exchange

Best Cupcakes Sprinkles Cupcakes and Ice Cream Heavenly Cupcakes Pure Cupcakes Frost Me

Best Deli D.Z. Akin’s Mona Lisa Rubicon Deli

Big Front Door Elijah’s Restaurant

Best Dessert

Sugar and Scribe Bakery Heaven Sent Desserts Azucar Extraordinary Desserts Pappalecco

Best Donut Shop Donut Bar

Nomad Donuts VG Donut & Bakery

BEST OF CONTINUED ON PAGE 70

#SDCityBeat

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 69

POLL WINNERS BEST OF CONTINUED FROM PAGE 68 Golden Donuts OB Donuts

Best Ethnic Food Market 99 Ranch Market

Northgate Market Pancho Villa Farmers Market Zion Market Seafood City

Best Family Restaurant Corvette Diner

Blind Lady Ale House Station Tavern Waypoint Public La Bella Cafe & Games

Best Farm to Table Restaurant The Smoking Goat

Prepkitchen Little Italy Ritual Kitchen and Beer Garden Cafe 21 Stella Public House

Best Farmers Market Hillcrest Farmers Market Little Italy Mercato Ocean Beach Farmers Market North Park Farmers Market La Jolla Farmers Market

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

Best Fast Food

Best Gelato Shop

Rubio’s Coastal Grill Roberto’s Taco Shop Sombrero’s Mexican Jack in the Box

Pappalecco Chocolat Cremerie Caffe Italia Gelateria Frizzante

In-N-Out Burger

Best Fish Tacos Rubio’s Coastal Grill Oscar’s Mexican Seafood South Beach Bar & Grille El Zarape Pacific Beach Fish Shop

Best Fish-N-Chips

Shakespeare Pub & Grille Beerfish Pacific Beach Fish Shop Mitch’s Seafood Mr. Fish & Chips

Best Food Truck

Mastiff Sausage Company

Devilicious Food Truck Tacos La Mezcla Famoso Mexican Street Food Truck Cousins Maine Lobster

Best Fried Chicken The Crack Shack

StreetCar Merchants of Fried Chicken, Doughnuts & Coffee Louisiana Fried Chicken & Waffles Bonnie Jean’s Soul Food Café Circa

70 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

POLL WINNERS OLD HARBOR DISTILLERY

Gelato Vero Caffe

Best Organic Food Store

OB People’s Organic Food Market Jimbo’s...Naturally Barons Market Frazier Farms Market Stehly Market

Best Hot Dog

Lefty’s Chicago Pizzeria Fathom Bistro Bait & Tackle Daddy’s Hot Dogs Encontro North Park Hot Diggity Dog

Best Ice Cream Shop Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream Mariposa Ice Cream The Baked Bear Lighthouse Ice Cream The Daily Scoop

Best Indian Restaurant

Taste of the Himalayas Punjabi Tandoor Tandoori Hut

Best Local Craft Spirit winner: Old Harbor Distillery Indian Grill Phulkari

Izakaya Ouan Wa Dining OKAN

Buona Forchetta

Manna BBQ

Best Italian Restaurant

Best Korean Restaurant

Bottega Americano Arrivederci Old Venice Solare Ristorante Italiano

Friend’s House Korean BBQ Kogi BBQ Convoy Tofu House De Jang Keum

Best Japanese Restaurant

Best Local Catering Company

Tajima Izakaya Pacific Beach

San Diego Taco Company Waters Catering & Fine Foods

The Safehouse

Gringa’s Tacos & Catering

#SDCityBeat

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 71

72 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

#SDCityBeat

POLL WINNERS Phil’s BBQ Bar None Barbecue Catering

Best Local Pizza Woodstock’s Pizza Pizzeria Luigi Lefty’s Chicago Pizzeria Blind Lady Ale House Bronx Pizza

Best Mediterranean Restaurant Meze Greek Fusion Cafe Athena Aladdin Cafe The Kebab Shopt Alexi’s Greek Cafe

Best Mexican Restaurant

Old Town Mexican Cafe El Zarape La Puerta Casa de Bandini Tio Leo’s

Best Mexican Seafood Restaurant Rockin’ Baja Lobster Coastal Cantina Karina’s Mexican Seafood Oscar’s Mexican Seafood Las Olas Ortega’s Bistro

#SDCityBeat

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

Best New Restaurant (Opened Since Oct 2015) Beerfish

Herb & Wood Madison One Door North MishMash

Best Outdoor Dining Panama 66

C Level Coasterra Fathom Bistro Bait & Tackle The Patio On Lamont

Best Philly Cheesesteak

Gaglione Brothers

Monkey Paw Giorgino’s Philadelphia Sandwich Company Alex’s Brown Bag

Best Pie Shop

Julian Pie Company Great Maple Betty’s Pie Whole Bread & Cie Sugar and Scribe Bakery

Best Place for Late Night Dining Brians 24

Red Fox Steakhouse & Piano Bar Rudford’s

Studio Diner Saska’s Steak and Seafood

Best Place to get locally made Sausage S&M: Sausage and Meat Mastiff Sausage Company Iowa Meat Farms Heart & Trotter T&H Sausages

Best Prime Rib Bully’s East

Cowboy Star Donovan’s Steak and Chop House The Butcher Shop Hunter Steakhouse

Best Ramen Tajima

The Safehouse Underbelly Yakitori Yakudori & Ramen Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Best Restaurant Staff Mister A’s

Waypoint Public Beerfish Puesto Coasterra

Best Romantic Restaurant

Eddie V’s Prime Seafood Bali Hai

POLL WINNERS

C Level Starlite Parq

Best Salad Bar Tender Greens

OB People’s Organic Food Market Barons Market Salad Style The Greenspot Salad Company

Best San Diego Chef Javier Plascencia

Best South American Food Restaurant

Urban Solace Mister A’s Searsucker Eddie V’s Prime Seafood

Indigo Grill

Best Sandwich Shop

The Fish Market

Señor Mango’s OB Smoothie Bar & Subs Juice Crafters Juice Alchemy

Proud Mary’s Southern Bar & Grill Sister Pee Wee’s Soul Food Bourré Southern Bistro Louisiana Fried Chicken & Waffles

Juniper and Ivy

Best Seafood Restaurant

The Mad Beet

Bonnie Jean’s Soul Food Café

Best San Diego Restaurant

Rubicon Deli Board & Brew Mona Lisa Italian Foods Sandwich Emporium

Best Smoothie/Juice Bar

Best Soul Food Restaurant

Deborah Scott Brian Malarkey Aaron Obregon Rich Sweeney

Big Front Door

Ironside Mitch’s Seafood Oceanaire Eddie V’s Prime Seafood

Brazil by the Bay Puerta la Boca Berta’s Latin American Restaurant Antojitos Colombianos Restaurant

Best Spanish Restaurant Cafe Sevilla Costa Brava

BEST OF CONTINUED ON PAGE 74

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 73

POLL WINNERS BEST OF CONTINUED FROM PAGE 73 Romesco Cueva Bar Café Bar Europa

Best Steakhouse Cowboy Star

Donovan’s Steak & Chop House Island Prime Bully’s East Hunter Steakhouse

Best Tacos ¡Salud!

City Tacos Tacos el Gordo Lolita’s Taco Shop Puesto

Best Thai Restaurant Lotus Thai

Bahn Thai Amarin Thai Cuisine Thai Time Bistro Chaba Thai Kitchen

Best Sushi Restaurant

Izakaya Pacific Beach Sushi Deli Saiko Sushi Sushi Ota Kato Sushi

Best Vegan Food Kindred

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

Plumeria Vegetarian Cafe Gratitude Sipz Fusion Cafe Jyoti-Bihanga

Best Vegetarian Food Plumeria Vegetarian Loving Hut Evolution Fast Food Plant Power Fast Food Veggilish

Best Vietnamese Restaurant

OB Noodle House Bar 1502 Saigon On Fifth PB Pho & Grill Pho Point Loma & Grill DaoFu

Best Wings

Dirty Birds Bar and Grill South Park Abbey The Duck Dive Werewolf The Commons Bar

Best Yogurt Shop Paradise Yogurt Fiji Yogurt Golden Spoon Yog-art Yogurt on the Rocks

74 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

DRINK Best Bar in San Diego County The Waterfront Bar & Grill Barleymash Park & Rec Small Bar The Tipsy Crow

Best Bar to Play Pool The Lancers

The Silver Fox Lounge Catalina Lounge Gilly’s Sunshine Company Saloon

Best Beach Bar Wonderland

Lahaina Beach House PB Shore Club Wave House Draft

POLL WINNERS

Gran Havana Cigar and Hookah Lounge Habanos Cafe & Cigar Lounge

Best Cocktail Lounge Starlite

Noble Experiment El Dorado Cocktail Lounge George’s at the Cove, Level 2 Park & Rec

Best Craft Beer Bar Hamilton’s Tavern

Blind Lady Ale House Tiger! Tiger! Fathom Bistro Bait and Tackle High Dive

Best Craft Beer Store Bottlecraft

Bine & Vine Best Damn Beer Shop Tap That Idaho Market

Best Bloody Mary

Best Craft Cocktail Bar

The Waterfront Bar and Grill Great Maple Café 21 The Patio On Lamont

Seven Grand Sycamore Den El Dorado Cocktail Lounge Park & Rec

Small Bar

Best Cigar Lounge Churchills Old Town Cuban Cigar Factory Hoffer’s Cigar Bar

Polite Provisions

Best Domestic Beer Coors Light

Pabst Blue Ribbon Bud Light

Miller High Life Miller Lite

Best Downtown / Gaslamp Bar The Tipsy Crow

Barleymash Prohibition Knotty Barrel Henry’s Pub

Best Gentlemens Club Pacers

Cheetahs Deja Vu Showgirls Pure Platinum Goldfinger’s Gentlemen’s Club

Best Happy Hour West Coast Tavern Bali Hai High Dive OB Warehouse Garage Kitchen + Bar

Best Hookah Bar Myst Lounge

Gran Havana Cigar and Hookah Lounge Mina Lounge Prince Hookah Royal Hookah And Cigar Lounge

Best Imported Beer Modelo Especial

BEST OF CONTINUED ON PAGE 76

#SDCityBeat

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 75

POLL WINNERS BEST OF CONTINUED FROM PAGE 74 Guinness Corona Newcastle Beck’s

Best Irish Pub The Field

The Ould Sod Hooley’s Dublin Square The Harp

Best Jukebox in a bar Live Wire

Hamilton’s Tavern Aero Club Small Bar Cherry Bomb

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

Best Local Craft Beer (specific beer)

Best Neighborhood Bar

Peanut Butter Milk Stout (Belching Beaver) 2AM Bike Ride (Fall Brewing) Grazias Vienna Cream Ale (Mike Hess Brewing) Beeruccino (Helms Brewing)

Whistle Stop Bar Nunu’s High Dive Sessions Public

.394 Pale Ale (Alesmith)

Best Local Craft Spirit Old Harbor

619 Vodka Malahat Spirits Liberty Call Distilling Company Kill Devil Spirit Co

Best Karaoke Bar

Best Margarita at a bar

Redwing The Ould Sod Pal Joey’s Carriage House

Cantina Mayahuel Ponce’s Blind Burro Barra Barra Saloon

The Lamplighter

Best LGBTQ Bar Urban Mo’s

Gossip Grill Redwing Flicks #1 Fifth Avenue

Baja Betty’s

Best Martini Bar

Martinis Above Fourth Noble Experiment Prohibition The Red Door Tony’s Martini Bar

76 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

Bluefoot Bar and Lounge

Best Neighborhood Bar for dancing Whistle Stop Bar

The Office Bar The Air Conditioned Lounge Urban Mo’s U31

Best New Bar (open since October 2015) Miss B’s Coconut Club Kindred Blonde Bar Herb & Wood Trust

Best New Brewery (Open since October 2015) North Park Beer Co.

Bitter Brothers Brewing Co. Resident Brewing Novo Brazil Brewing Co. Magnetic Brewing

POLL WINNERS

Best North County Bar Union Kitchen & Tap

O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant Mr. Peabody’s Bar and Grill En Fuego Cantina & Grill Lumberyard Tavern & Grill

Best Outdoor/Rooftop Bar Fathom Bistro Bait & Tackle Altitude PB Shore Club Rustic Root ROOFTOP600 at Andaz

Best Brew Pub

Blind Lady Alehouse

Tiger! Tiger! PB Alehouse The Brew Project Amplified Ale Works Kitchen + Beer Garden

Best san diego brewery

Mike Hess Brewing Company Modern Times Fall Brewery Thorn St. Brewery Helms Brewing Co.

Mike Hess Brewing Company Green Flash Brewing Company North Park Beer Co. Coronado Brewing Company

Best Dive Bar High Dive

Aero Club The Silver Fox Lounge Live Wire Tivoli Bar and Grill

Best Winery

Bernardo Winery

Orfila Vineyards and Winery Milagro Farm Vineyards & Winery Cordiono Winery Vinavanti Urban Winery

Best Sangria Costa Brava Café 21 Café Sevilla Cueva Bar Isabel’s Cantina

Best Sports Bar

McGregor’s Grill & Ale House Bub’s at the Ballpark True North Tavern Bluefoot Bar and Lounge Miller’s Field

Best San Diego Tequila Bar Brewery Tasting Room Best Cantina Mayahuel Karl Strauss Brewing Company

BEST OF CONTINUED ON PAGE 78

#SDCityBeat

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 77

POLL WINNERS

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

POLL WINNERS JE LARSON PHOTOGRAPHY

BEST OF CONTINUED FROM PAGE 76 La Puerta El Agave Tequileria Ponce’s Mexican Restaurant Lime Tequila Bar

Best Uptown Bar Uptown Tavern

Park & Rec Bluefoot Bar and Lounge Polite Provisions The Merrow

Best Wine Bar Vin de Syrah

Splash Wine Lounge & Bistro Wine Steals 57 Degrees The Wine Pub

Best Wine Shop

Bine & Vine Bottle Shop San Diego Wine Co. 57 Degrees Wine Steals Wine Bank

ART & CULTURE

Best Annual Art Event Mission Federal ArtWalk Little Italy Art Around Adams Festival of Arts in North Park Art Alive

Coronado Art Walk

Best Annual Event (non-music) Comic-Con

San Diego LGBT Pride December Nights San Diego Beer Week San Diego Restaurant Week

Best Art Framing Aztec Graphics

Ray St. Custom Framing Frame Station Art of Framing The Frame Maker

Best Art Gallery La Bodega Gallery Thumbprint Gallery Subtext Gallery Sparks Gallery Tim Cantor Gallery

Best Art School

San Diego Art Institute

Design Institute of San Diego The Art Institute of California-San Diego Art Academy of San Diego Bravo School of Art

Best Bowling Alley

East Village Tavern & Bowl Kearny Mesa Bowl Parkway Bowl

78 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

Mira Mesa Lanes Poway Fun Bowl

Best Casino

Harrah’s Resort Southern California Viejas Casino and Resort Barona Resort and Casino Sycuan Casino Valley View Casino and Hotel

Best Comedy Club

American Comedy Company The Comedy Store Finest City Improv Mad House Comedy Palace

Best Cultural Festival Little Italy Festa

Adams Avenue Street Fair Chicano Park Day Bazaar del Mundo’s Latin American Festival National City Mariachi Festival

Best Dance Studio Culture Shock

Malashock Dance City Ballet School San Diego Civic Youth Ballet San Diego Danceworks

Best Film Festival San Diego Film Festival FilmOut San Diego San Diego Latino Film Festival

Best Comedy Club winner: American Comedy Company San Diego Asian Film Festival San Diego Black Film Festival

Best Golf Course

Torrey Pines Golf Course Balboa Park Golf Course Riverwalk Golf Club Sycuan Golf Resort Maderas Golf Club

Best Live Theater La Jolla Playhouse The Old Globe Diversionary Theatre Cygnet Theatre Lamb’s Players Theater

Best Museum

Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego Natural History Museum San Diego Museum of Art Fleet Science Center Mingei Museum

Best Performing Arts Group San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus Mo’oleo Performing Arts Company Malashock Dance Visionary Dance Theatre Young Actors Theatre

#SDCityBeat

POLL WINNERS Best Skateboard Park

Best Concert Club

Krause Family Skate & Bike Park Encinitas Skate Plaza Len Moore Skate Park Washington Street Skate Park

House of Blues Soda Bar The Music Box The Merrow

Robb Field Skate Park

Best Theater Production

Rocky Horror Picture Show (Cygnet)

Disappearing Act (InnerMission Productions) The Last Tiger in Haiti (La Jolla Playhouse) Ain’t Misbehavin’ (North Coast RepertoryTtheatre) The Nerd (Lambs Players Theatre)

MUSIC

BEST OF SAN DIEGO 2016

The Casbah

Best Concert Venue House of Blues

Humphreys Concerts by the Bay Sleep Train Amphitheatre The Observatory North Park Live & Up Close Sycuan

Best Dance Club Parq

Fluxx Omnia Rich’s Spin Nightclub

Best Jazz or Blues Best CD / Record Store Club M-Theory Music

Lou’s Records Folk Arts Rare Records Cow Records Spin Records

Best Coffee House with Live Music Lestat’s Coffee House Por Vida Java Joe’s Rebecca’s Kaffee Meister

#SDCityBeat

Panama 66

Humphreys Backstage Live Patricks Gaslamp Pub Dizzy’s Proud Mary’s Southern Bar & Grill

Best Live Music Venue (All Ages)

The Observatory North Park House of Blues Panama 66 The Irenic Soma

Best Live Music Venue (Over 21) Belly Up Tavern

The Casbah The Observatory North Park House of Blues The Music Box

Best Music Equipment Store Guitar Center

Moonlight Music Moze Guitar Mark’s Guitar Exchange Sam Ash

Best Music School in San Diego School of Rock

San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts Rock & Roll San Diego Recreational Music Center Kalabash School of Music and Arts

Best Place to See Local Bands The Casbah

Soda Bar Panama 66 Winstons Beach Club SOMA San Diego

POLL WINNERS

Best Open Mic Night Lestat’s Coffee House Rebecca’s Mr. Peabody’s Bar & Grill The Merrow The Parkway Bar

Best San Diego Jazz Band Gilbert Castellanos

Best San Diego Music Event Adams Avenue Street Fair KAABOO Del Mar Gator By The Bay CRSSD Festival San Diego Blues Festival

Rebecca Jade and the Cold Fact Tomcat Courtney Robin Henkel Chet & the Committee Bill Magee

DJ Demon

Schizophonics Dead Feather Moon Prayers Birdy Bardot

Best San Diego Singer/ Songwriter Lacy Younger Dawn Mitschele Natalie Emmons Raelee Nikole

Best San Diego World Music/Reggae Band

Best San Diego Country /Americana Band Sara Petite

The Creepy Creeps

Gregory Page

Best San Diego Club DJ

Nancarrow

Euphoria Brass Band Joshua White Sue Palmer Steph Johnson

Best San Diego Rock Band

Best San Diego Blues Band

Marc Thrasher Heather Hardcore DJ Artistic DJ Claire

The Whiskey Circle Morgan Leigh Band Berkley Hart

B-Side Players Tribal Theory Todo Mundo Jet West Stranger

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 79

FOOD

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE Beyond Bourdain

abina Bandera was about to come in from the cold. It was May 28, 2012, the night Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations Baja episode aired. She was about to become famous, even if Bandera didn’t know it yet. Bourdain’s discerning taste and huge megaphone accomplished what 42 years of slinging unimaginably brilliant mariscos from the corner of Alvarado and 1st in Ensenada had never quite achieved. Sabina’s Restaurante, across the street from her still-bustling old cart, is the result. When Bourdain shined his spotlight on Bandera it resulted in awards for her, yes. It won her a stall in his soon-to-be New York take on a Singapore hawker’s center, the Bourdain Market. But with the opening of her restaurant, Bandera’s food has an indoor home. And it is good. Bourdain had called Bandera’s iconic La Guerrerense spot “the best street cart in the world.” I’ve certainly never tasted better. But now Bandera and her son Luis could leverage her newfound fame into a sit-down restaurant. At one level, Sabina’s is an indoor incarnation of her iconic street cart. And it would truly be difficult to say that there is any dish there better than La Guerrerense’s most famous dish: the tostada de erizo con almeja. It is a tostada topped first with a layer of erizo (sea urchin aka “uni”) paste and topped with Baja’s brilliant Pismo clams. A squeeze of lime, hot sauce and thin slices of still firm avocado at peak ripeness complete the picture. At one level, it’s simple. At another, it’s pure brilliance, offering multiple textural contrasts, deep umami flavors, the freshest possible seafood, a hit of heat and a hint of sweetness. There’s also Sabina’s bar of brilliant proprietary salsas with which you can customize. Most of the cart’s other best dishes are there. There’s her caracol de mar y calle de hacha tostada, a wonderful scallop and sea snail tostada. But the great discovery at Sabina’s was a tostada de enselada de jaiba con jurel ahumada. Never mind the incorrect translation on the menu, it’s a tostada of

80 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

crab salad with smoked yellowtail, and it’s excellent. The smoke on the fish gives the dish a beguiling level of depth. But Sabina’s is more than just La Guerrerense indoors. Freed of the cart’s constrictions she delves more deeply into the soulfulness of her cooking. There’s no better incarnation of that than an incredible green posole featuring ripe, mild chiles and tomatillos, pork and hominy, garnished with a flauta (think taquito or rolled taco), chicharrónes, egg and diced avocado. The depth and comfort of this dish is stunning. The fact it comes from someone exclusively known for her work with seafood is too. But the things that make MICHAEL A. GARDINER

Green posole this work are the same things that make everything else she does work: texture, ingredients, love, patience and passion. No doubt Bourdain’s spotlight brought Sabina Bandera fame. But it also brought her the ability to bring her food into a more peaceful and comfortable space that has allowed her to broaden the focus a bit. It’s allowed her to bring more of who she is to the plate. It’s allowed her to come in from the cold. The World Fare appears weekly. Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 81

DRINK

THE

BY ANDREW DYER

BEERDIST Surviving the Great American Beer Fest

Many critics of consolidation point to the threetier-distribution system as part of the problem for independent brewers, but Calagione disagreed. “If the three-tier system didn’t exist,” he said, he numbers are staggering. About 780 “the little breweries would be fucked.” breweries from across the U.S. spread over Pease said California’s hybrid distribution sys584,000 square feet, serving more than tem was good for small start-up breweries. In Cal3,800 beers to 60,000 attendees. In its 35th year ifornia, breweries can sign on with a distributor or (30th for the competition), the Great American distribute themselves. Beer Festival is a monster. The three days of GABF “That’s a model we’d like to see in all 50 states,” would test the limits of human endurance in the Pease said. “The brewers in California are lucky consumption of beer, food and Chapstick. to have the California Craft Brewers Association I had been in Denver less than an hour when I advocating for them.” hit the floor for the first GABF session on ThursThe convention center festivals are only a day night. Imagine Comic-Con, but instead of cos- part of GABF. Denver has its own robust brewing tumed geeks, envision pudgy bearded men jostling culture and many local pubs and breweries hold for position in front of legendary craft breweries. companion events to GABF. Tap takeovers, bottle What sets GABF apart from other festivals— shares and meet-the-brewer events abound. It is besides the size of it—is the sheer hot fire the na- impossible to attend them all, although I gave it ANDREW DYER tion’s best breweries my best effort. serve. A few just brought That Saturday San their production beers Diego breweries won 18 but most were slinging medals and Karl Strauss the goods. Tampa’s CiBrewing Co. was named gar City Brewing poured Mid-Size Brewing ComWhite Oak Jai Alai, its fapany and Brewer of the mous IPA aged in white Year. Being on the floor oak barrels. Jester King, afterwards with some from Austin, commandof San Diego’s medalists ed long lines throughwas the highlight of the out with its impressive Modern Times Beer Co. Founder/CEO Jacob fest. McKean talks brewery independence with line-up of barrel-aged By the time I boarded Brewers Association CEO Bob Pease at GABF. Denver’s “train to the sours. San Diegans such as The Lost Abbey simiplane” at Union Station larly served some of the fest’s best: Cable Car and downtown Sunday my liver had turned on me, and Veritas sours as well as its legendary barrel-aged my lips had begun to crack from the dry mountain imperial stout Churchill’s Finest Hour. air. My flight was again full of brewers and indusThere was a brewer’s panel that evening with try people, most looking a little worse for wear. Allagash Brewing founder Rob Tod, Modern GABF should be on every beer geek’s bucket Times Beer founder Jacob McKean, New Belgium list. It is intense, overwhelming and awesome. CEO Christine Perich and Dogfish Head founder Some of the best beers in the country are beSam Calagione. Brewers Association CEO Bob ing poured, and you never know what legendary Pease asked the panel questions on the impor- brewer might be enjoying the same beer with you. tance of remaining independent. Just remember to plan ahead, drink lots of water McKean said Modern Times’ independence and bring plenty of lip balm. meant it could focus on values. “Being independent allows [us] to care about The Beerdist appears every other week. Write to andrewd@sdcitybeat.com something other than money,” he said.

82 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

#SDCityBeat

SHORTlist

EVENTS

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

NORTH PARK

BIG PICTURE

These days, everyone is a photographer. Davis says it’s the “scale” of Medium that When we did our annual Photo Contest makes it something that even amateur photogearlier this year, it marked the first time we chose raphers could enjoy. Beginning Thursday, Oct. more Instagram photos than professional, fine art 20, at 9 a.m. and running through Sunday, Oct. photography. There’s a certain level of inclusivity 23, the fest includes nearly 100 nationally recto the craft now, where BRANDY SEBASTIAN ognized and emerging anyone with a good eye photographers on hand and an innovative conto give lectures, sign cept can make a name books and offer advice. for themselves. There will be pop-up It’s this idea that’s shops, roundtable disat the center of the cussions and a free Size Medium Festival of Matters photography Photography (medishow (think very small umsandiego.org). Now pictures) at Low Galin its fifth year, the fourlery (1878 Main St.) in day photography event Barrio Logan. at the Lafayette Hotel While weekend (2223 El Cajon Blvd.) passes start at $250 has truly grown into ($125 for students and Medium Festival of Photography something that gives $75-$125 for a one-day San Diego a little cultural cachet. Founder Scott pass), there are also free events including book Davis started Medium in order to, as he puts it, signings and several portfolio reviews by curators “encourage more activity and knowledge about and experts in the industry. fine art photography in San Diego.” “The real appeal of the festival is to be exposed “I wanted more people from other places to to diverse perspectives in photography by people come here, because we have an amazing fine who’ve really pursued wild ideas and taken them art photography community here,” says Davis. to their logical conclusions,” Davis says. “There “There’s nothing like this festival anywhere else are a lot of people at the festival who are doing in California. There are art fairs, but nothing that what a lot of us do with photography, which is to celebrates photographers and photography.” express and delight in the world around us.”

CHULA VISTA & BALBOA PARK

DOWNTOWN

2 MAGIC MICS

If you’ve ever wondered how brains process information you read, such as this text, TEDx San Diego’s The Age of Magic may be your cup of tea. This event will unveil the answers to many universal questions, such as how we can use art and innovation to achieve peace, and how it is possible to beat a world record in the long jump while being completely blind. Though the name, The Age of Magic, is misleading, this event’s aim is to scientifically answer your unanswered questions about the world and its inner workings. From sessions on treating infectious disease to neurological solutions for self-sabotage, be prepared for a day featuring scholars, athletes, artists, entrepreneurs and other professionals. It happens Saturday, Oct. 22, from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Copley Symphony Hall. Priced at $100. tedxsandiego.com

3 SINGING PRAISES

When choirs come to mind, we usually think of churches or grade school recitals. That’s the exact stigma SACRA/PROFANA likes to disrupt. The 20-voice ensemble is presenting its 2016/17 season titled “Diverse Voices” with a two-day kick-off celebration. On Friday, Oct. 21, there’s an artist meet-and-greet before the choir covers Prince’s entire Purple Rain album, with song performance styles ranging from a cappella to instrumental versions. The choir’s second performance will take place on Sunday, Oct. 23, where they’ll add a local jazz duo to the mix. Friday’s opening takes place at 7:30 p.m. at The Industry (861 Harold Place) in Chula Vista, while the Sunday event will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the WorldBeat Cultural Center (2100 Park Blvd.) in Balboa Park. Tickets range from $10 to $30. sacraprofana.org

NATALIA ROBERT

HDowntown at Sundown at MCASD Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. MCASD’s after-hours event offers free admission and guided tours of exhibitions at MCASD and the SDSU Downtown Gallery, as well as specials at local businesses and live music. From 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. Free. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org HMedium Festival of Photography at Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. The fifth annual, four-day photography event includes portfolio reviews, artist lectures, book signings, speakers and much more. See website for full list of events and times. From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, and 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23. $15-$325. 619296-2101, mediumsandiego.org HMuseum of Man Art Crawl at San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park. The museum brings the outdoor art scene inside with street opera performances, spoken word art and drumming. Plus, yarn bombs, a chalkboard mural, graffiti art, street tacos and craft beer. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. $15$30. 619-239-2001, museumofman.org HPROPAGANDA at UCSD Visual Arts Facility Gallery, Russell Dr. and Lyman Ave., La Jolla. A solo photographic exhibition from Emily Zheng inspired by the gestures made by political revolutionaries of the 20th century. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. Free. visarts.ucsd.edu See Art at The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Live body painting, jewelers, local artists, craftspeople, and a sushi-maker come together for this monthly art night. Includes drink specials and DJs all night long. From 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. Free. 619-5016540, thehideoutsd.wordpress.com HTeros One Year of Existence at Teros Gallery, 3888 Swift Ave., City Heights. The boutique gallery celebrates its first year with art from Celeste Byers, Spencer Little, Camilla Robina and more. Includes live music from Splendor All Around and a DJ. Opening from 6 to 11 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. Free. facebook.com/Teros-Magazine-163020453812436 Udo Nöger: No More No Less at Madison Gallery, 1055 Wall St., La Jolla. New works from Nöger, who creates a visual universe using mostly white paint. Reception includes a lecture led by art critic and curator Peter Frank, Associate Editor of Fabrik magazine. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. Free. madisongalleries.com HArtist Showcase: Camilla Robina and Andrew McGranahan at Graffiti Beach, 2220 Fern St., South Park. New paintings by Camilla Robina and multimedia collage work from Andrew McGranahan. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21. Free. 858-433-0950, facebook. com/events/652776944871672 HLittle Dame Pop Up Gallery at Little Dame Shop, 2942 Adams Avenue, University Heights. A one-night showcase of new works from artists Chelsea Wilde and Alejandro Martinez. Includes live music. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21. Free. 925-457-1020, facebook.com/ littledameshop/ Carry Me Ohio at jdc Fine Art, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Suite 208, Little Italy. The reception and book signing for Virginia based photographer Matt Eich’s nuanced portrayal of a handful of small Ohio towns over the course of ten years. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Free. 619-985-2322, jdcfineart.com Hauntingly

TEDx San Diego

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SACRA/PROFANA

Beautiful:

Remem-

H = CityBeat picks

brance at Chicano Art Gallery, 2117 Logan Ave. #1, Barrio Logan. A Dia De Los Muertos inspired art show featuring themed works from Platt College students. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Free. 619-792-2815, facebook.com/events/1077745042343074 HSize Matters at Low Gallery, 1878 Main St., Barrio Logan. The Medium Festival of Photography’s signature exhibition features small (no more than 10”) photographic works. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Free. 619-348-5517, mediumsandiego.org The Poe Show at Art on 30th, 4434 30th St., North Park. An Edgar Allen Poe themed art show featuring images and sculpture, as well as poetry, short stories and more. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Free. 619-894-9009, arton30th.com HTime Strata: Public Sound Art Concert at Cesar Chavez Park, 1449 Cesar E. Chavez Parkway, Barrio Logan. A new art and sound installation from artist Margaret Noble and audio engineer Robert Mason that will include three sound sculptures on the pier behind Cesar Chavez Park. Opening from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Free. 619-686-6200, facebook. com/events/1170007136413045/ Artists & Language: Celebrating 50 Years of UC San Diego’s Visual Arts at Geisel Library, UCSD campus, La Jolla. Original works of art, artists’ books, and unique archival pieces document the intersection of art and language in the works of faculty and graduates at UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. From 7:30 a.m. to midnight Monday, Oct. 24. Free. visarts.ucsd.edu

BOOKS HJane Alexander at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The actress and author will discuss and sign her new book, Wild Things, Wild Places: Adventurous Tales of Wildlife and Conservation on Planet Earth. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com HGeraldine Brooks at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Pulitzer Prize winning author will discuss and sign her new book The Secret Chord, a novel about the life of King David. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com HLol Tolhurst at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The musician, author, and founding member of The Cure will be reading from and signing his new book, Cured: The Tale Of Two Imaginary Boys, about his time in the band. At 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

COMEDY Tuesday Night Comics at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. The monthly show is comprised of talent from all over the country and is hosted by local funnyman Mark Christopher Lawrence. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25. $18-$23. 858-481-1055, northcoastrep.org/season/offnights.html

DANCE Measuring the Dream at Atkinson Hall Auditorium, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. A multimedia dance collaboration based on the life of Sor Juana Inez De La Cruz and her written works, in particular, The Dream. From 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. Free. calit2.net/events/popup.php?id=2664 HCollaborative Season Launch at White Box Live Arts , 2590 Truxtun Road,

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EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 83

FOOD & DRINK

Studio 205, Point Loma. San Diego Dance Theater, San Diego Ballet and Malashock Dance join forces for a presentation from each company as they announce their upcoming season of dance. At 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21. $20. 619-225-1803, seasonlaunch.brownpapertickets.com

HTaste of the Diamond at various locations. The fourth annual tasting event in the Diamond District will feature sales at local businesses and restaurants doling out samples of their signature dishes including Bonnie Jean’s Soul Food, Paradiso, and more. From 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. $25-$30. sdbd.org

HTwyla Tharp Dance at Spreckels Theater, 121 Broadway, Downtown. La Jolla Music Society celebrates 50 years of the iconic choreographer Twyla Tharp’s groundbreaking creativity and dancemaking with a program featuring both her classic and new work. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. $20-$75. 619-235-9500, ljms.org

FASHION HRecycled Materials Runway Event at Escondido Municipal Gallery, 262 E. Grand Ave., Escondido. This annual event features artwork and fashion designs with a focus on student and emerging fashion designers crafting one-of-a-kind designs out of recycled materials. From 3:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. $25-$35. 760-480-4101, brownpapertickets.com/event/2602425

FILM German Currents: Festival of German Film at San Diego Natural History Museum, 1788 El Prado, Balboa Park. San Diego’s only German Film Festival will showcase award-winning German movies. Includes screenings, Q&A sessions and a gala reception with German food and drinks. See website for schedule and times. Various times on Saturday, Oct. 22 and Sunday, Oct. 23. $9-$60. germancurrentssd.org

Bankers Hill Fall Festival at Royal Stone, 3401 1st Ave., Bankers Hill. Inaugural event with more than 20 restaurants, fitness studios and med spas showcasing their fare and wares inside their doors and upon sidewalks. Shuttle service along Fifth Avenue will be provided at no cost. From 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Free. 619-431-0550, bankershillbusinessgroup.com Rancho BEERnardo Festival at Webb Park Lake, Bernardo Center Drive and Avena Place, Rancho Bernardo. The fifth annual festival features over 50 IPA craft beers and regional wine selections, as well as live music, food for purchase, and other activities. Ticket includes 15 tastings and complimentary tasting glass. From 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. $10-$70. ranchobeernardofestival. com HTijuana Damn-Fine Dive Bar Hop at Turista Libre Meeting Spot, 727 E. San Ysidro Blvd, Tijuana. Turista Libre’s seventh anniversary soiree will take patrons some of more colorful Tijuana’s dive bars. Tickets include a round at each cantina and an all-you-can-eat feast of tacos before calling it a night. From 7 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Oct. 22. $55. 858-754-9406, turistalibre.com

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BOOKS: THE FLOATING LIBRARY Short and spooky

f Jackson presents the end of civilization, Brian Evenson takes the next logical step with his latest, The Warren, published by Tor. While The Warren is technically science fiction, it can also be classified as horror. The Warren is a “last man on earth” story with perverse complications. For one, it’s not clear if the warren is of this world, only that the atmosphere outside the warren is toxic. Two, the narrator may not be a man; or, if he is, he may harbor more than one personality. “There are parts of me ready to betray me, and I no longer have control over them, particularly when I sleep. If I’m not careful, I will fall asleep and when I wake up I will not be the self that is currently spread over the body like sweat, touching all parts of it, but one of the selves held close within the skull of the body, locked inside.” Horrifying, right? As the narrator struggles to come to terms with his purpose in the warren and what he can do to sustain it, the feeling of dread grows. The data accumulates like information in a game. In fact, the narrator’s interaction with “the monitor,” a form of artificial intelligence that may or may not have been tampered with, reminds me of the queries that gamers used while playing Infocom text adventure games like Zork. Although these short books take a pessimistic view of the perpetuity of the human project, like a nuclear attack, they’re over in a flash.

ooking for a book that delivers chills and thrills this Halloween season but don’t have a lot of time? Here are two new novellas that take less time to read than it does to re-watch Friday the 13th. Jeff Jackson’s new novella, Novi Sad (Kiddiepunk), imagines a city on the brink of the apocalypse. We are never told what happened to Novi Sad, only that it has been reduced to rubble. The news grows increasingly bizarre. There are reports of two-headed babies born en masse. Photographs of world leaders hunched in dimly lit underground bunkers. Videos of bankers perched on window ledges, sucking on thousand-dollar bills. In this blighted landscape six feral teenagers fight for safety and survival while navigating selfdestructive urges. “You can’t depend on people for much, but you can always count on them to leave.” The novella serves as a distant cousin to Jackson’s previous book, Mira Corpora (Two Dollar Radio), which also features a group of children on the run from murderous adults, but doesn’t depend on it to be enjoyed—if that’s the right word for a book so pervasively bleak. Michael Salerno’s photos—depicting destroyed buildings and haunting portraits of gaunt children—illustrate Novi Sad. Both the images and the text are printed on blue paper, which contributes to the gloomy mood of the novel, particularly during the scenes when the children assemble on the dock each morning awaiting the boat that collects the bodies of those who have committed suicide. Write to jimr@sdcitybeat.com.

—Jim Ruland

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 85

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 84

MUSIC HSACRA/PROFANA: Purple Rain at various locations. The choral music ensemble, known for blending classic and contemporary styles, will perform a program of Prince’s iconic album. On Friday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at The Industry (861 Harold Place) and Sunday, Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the WorldBeat Cultural Center (2100 Park Blvd.) in Balboa Park. $10$30. sacraprofana.org HSan Diego New Music: Drought amd Deluge - A California Score at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. Musicians presents an exploration into the sounds of dryness in our community, transforming their instruments to imitate and evoke the Californian landscape. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21. $10-$25. 858-454-5872, sandiegonewmusic.com HREMIXX: Meet the Americans at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. This boutique performance explores the struggles, joy and soaring reaches of our American birthright with music by Chick Corea, Aaron Copland, and more. Includes artistic works by Thomas DeMello. From 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. $25-$80. classicalmusicsandiego.com HJackson Browne and Steve Earle at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The two iconic troubadours perform a special concert in support of the “Yes on 62” campaign, which aims to repeal the death penalty. At 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24. $75. 619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org

86 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

PERFORMANCE Attrape-Moi at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The Quebec-based troupe Flip Frabrique’s fast-paced circus show with hula hoops, juggling, aerialist techniques and more. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. $25-$60. 760-839-4190, artcenter.org HCinderella at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. The San Diego Opera’s season opener is Gioachino Rossini’s classic take on the popular fairy tale of fairy godmothers and glass slippers. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, Tuesday, Oct. 25, and Friday, Oct. 28, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30. Saturday, Oct. 22. $24-$297. https://sdopera.org/ season/2016-17-season/cinderella

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD Southern Sensibilities at Old Town Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St., Old Town. Performance of stories about the American South that examine the flavor and color of Southern living, the significance of family and class/racial tension. From 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24. $5-$20. writeoutloudsd.com/

SPECIAL EVENTS HA Night at the Besties at Hornblower’s Inspiration Yacht, 1800 N. Harbor Drive, Downtown. Celebrate CityBeat’s “Best of San Diego” issue on the Inspiration Hornblower. Includes live music from The Donkeys and The Farmers, as well as an art exhibit, food samples, casino games and more. From 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. $35. sdcitybeat.com

HDia de los Muertos Celebration at La Vista Memorial Park , 3191 Orange Street, National City. The annual event will feature food, music, art walk, costumes, entertainment, artisans and the popular altar contest and runway fashion show. From 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Free. 619475-7770, lavistamemorialpark.com Walk to Fight Suicide at NTC Park at Liberty Station, 2455 Cushing Road, Point Loma. A three-mile fun walk that raises money for local and national suicide prevention and awareness programs of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). From 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Free. 619-573-9260, afsp.donordrive.com/event/sd

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HPenelope Umbrico at Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. As part of the Medium Festival of Photography, the artist and photographer best known for appropriating images found using search engines and picture sharing websites, will discuss her style and sign copies of her book. From 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21. $15-$25. 619-296-2101, mediumsandiego.org HTEDxSanDiego 2016 at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Presentations centered on the theme “The Age of Magic” will feature 12 speakers covering a broad set of topics ranging from the exploration of personalized genomics to revealing the power of art to make peace. From 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. $75-$100. 619-235-0804, tedxsandiego.com

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 87

THEATER

DAREN SCOTT

Yolanda Franklin and Laurence Brown in King Hedley II

Cygnet presents August in October

ugust Wilson is the featured playwright in Cygnet Theatre’s annual fall rotating repertory offering. Seven Guitars and King Hedley II, both part of Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle, are set 40 years apart, though they feature several of the same characters. If you see both plays, definitely see them in the order in which they were written, as the latter, King Hedley II, will make more contextual sense to you. On their own, King Hedley II is the more powerful of the two. Its nearly three hours are tense, wrenching ones, delving uncompromisingly into the experience of black Americans trying to survive in Pittsburgh’s Hill District during the Reaganomics ’80s. Chief among them is King himself (a fiercely intense Laurence Brown), whose life of one step forward and two steps back is also one of violence and desperation. In both plays, Antonio TJ Johnson stands out, hovering over Seven Guitars and King Hedley II as manic, precognitive characters whose presence on the stage foretells retribution—human or from on high. He may be from one moment to the next comic relief or a living, breathing omen. Jennifer L. Nelson directs each production, the ensembles of which also include Ro Boddie (handling the lead role in Seven Guitars), Yolanda Franklin, Grandison Phelps III, Milena Phillips and the singularly named Yvonne. Seven Guitars and King Hedley II run on rotating nights through Nov. 6 at the Old Town Theatre. $36-$46. cygnettheatre.com *** izard Boy smacks of a graphic novel set to music. This highly charged import from the Seattle Rep, Diversionary Theatre’s inaugural show, in its 31st season, is a misfit’s meet-up story wrapped in a myth about dragon blood,

88 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

scaly skin and the eruption of Mount St. Helens. Justin Huertas’ story is pretty preposterous even in a broad comic book way, but his one-act three-person show is redeemed by an often-impressive musical score. When he, Kirsten Delohr Helland and William A. Williams set aside their implausible characters and devote themselves to Huerta’s affecting songs (many of them about the quest for identity), Lizard Boy acquits itself well indeed. One piece of free advice, though: Lose the kazoos. Lizard Boy runs through Oct. 30 at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights. $15-$50. diversionary.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly. Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Disgraced: Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer-winning drama about a Muslim man who hosts a dinner party for his African-American co-worker and his Jewish wife, only to have the dinner go horribly wrong. Presented by San Diego Repertory Theatre, it opens Oct. 20 at the Lyceum Stage in the Gaslamp. November: David Mamet’s biting political comedy about an inept, outgoing U.S. president who has put the office up for sale. Directed by Steve Murdock, it opens Oct. 21 at OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista. onstageplayhouse.info Miss You Like Hell: In this world premiere musical, a teenage girl sets out on a road trip with her free-spirited Latina mother. Written by Erin McKeown, it opens Oct. 25 at the La Jolla Playhouse. lajollaplayhouse.org

For full theater listings, visit “Theater”at sdcitybeat.com under the “Culture” tab.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 89

CULTURE | ART

SEEN LOCAL A BEST OF 2016 LIST (OF SORTS)

n the surface, a list like this would seem to be better suited for the end of the year when nearly every arts publication posts those trite “Best” listicles. Don’t worry, I’ll still do one in December that’s a bit more straightforward and includes notable names picking their favorite shows of the year. However, given the theme of this issue, I thought it suitable to offer a “Best Of” list that includes some of my favorite shows and artists from this year, as well as some more, well, novel and tongue-in-cheek approaches to the “Best” concept.

female artists from San Diego, Mexico and beyond. The works ranged from site-specific experimentalism (Eva de Leon) to cartoonish pop-surrealism (Chulaface), and while the works and styles were often disorienting in their differences, the collective statements on feminism were read loud and clear. Best Animal Fetishizing: Maybe I’m the only one that noticed, but there were a lot of shows devoted to our love of animals this year. I’d conveniently cite the centennial of the zoo as a possible reason for this trend, but between MOPA’s Beauty and the Beast: The Animal in Photography, the San Diego Museum of Art’s Ferocious Bronze and Sparks Gallery’s upcoming Animalia group show, there’s been no shortage of shows devoted to the animal kingdom. While these shows had a sense COURTESY OF THE ARTIST of seriousness, it was the San Diego Art Institute’s more humorous Best in Show exhibition (sandiego-art.org) that did the best job at analyzing our obsession with animals, particularly cats and dogs.

Best “Fight the Power” Moment: From local artist Susie Ghahremani calling out corporate copying by Francesca’s, Best Well-Intentioned to Save Our Heritage’s Piece of Crap: Local art fight to save the downcritic icon Robert L. Pintown Caliente murals, cus recently published a there’s been no shortage not-so-subtle UT op-ed this year of artists and about the recent controorganizations standing versy over a statue of legup to the proverbial man. “The Hounds of Honeycakes” by Pamela Jaeger For me though, the best as seen in Best in Show endary local basketball player Bill Walton and, use of art-as-protest was Collective Magpie (Tae Hwang and MR Barnadas, more specifically, the airport’s refusal to install the collectivemagpie.org) and their Occupy-esque take- statue. The controversy is rather convoluted, but over of the UC San Diego University Art Gallery to long story short, the statue is genuinely awful, looks protest the university’s decision to close and repur- almost nothing like Walton and, if installed, would pose the gallery. Their actions, from petition gather- join an already long list of crappy public art in our ing to creating on-site art, managed to change minds city. The Airport Authority’s refusal of the statue (it’s at Petco Park, for now) is a step in the right diand save the gallery (for now). rection and a statement that our city deserves quality public art, not cheesy Best Embracement of SETH COMBS garbage. SoCal Culture: Most local artists run away from Best Clusterfuck that incorporating what could Was Otherwise Filled be considered the more with Great Artists: I obvious and touristy ashonestly don’t know how pects of SoCal culture to feel about the San Di(the beach, for example), ego Art Prize anymore. but Morgan Mandalay’s The annual award and ongoing SPF15 project accompanying exhibi(facebook.com/spf15extions have always been hibitions) manages to commendable for pairing bring a sense of experian emerging talent with mentalism to the more an established artist, but embarrassing and cliché between the confusing aspects of beach life. Collective Magpie at the UCSD University nominating and pairing With help from up-andArt Gallery processes, to the janky comers like Cody Tumblin and Audrey Hope, Mandalay has curated 10 site- website (sdvisualarts.net), it just seems like the conspecific beach installations that both embrace and cept needs yet another overhaul. The 2016 New Contemporaries exhibition at City Gallery, which showridicule beach life. cased the nominees, was a great example of the conBest Female Power Moment: The Women’s Mu- volution. The installation of the art seemed thrown seum of California’s Shoulders to Stand On: Remem- together at the last minute and the computer where bering the Chicana Activist Narrative was certainly a attendees could vote for their favorite artist often worthy and well-curated historical exhibition of fe- did not work at all (I visited the show on two differmale empowerment. But for me, it was the all-women ent occasions and ultimately didn’t get to vote). And IUD: A Place You Think About series of shows at while the art and the artists were fantastic (winners Helmuth Projects that truly left a mark on anyone Shinpei Takeda and William Feeney are deserving of who was lucky enough to have seen them. Curator any accolade), I still can’t help but feel that all of the Maria Nicola Mathioudakis organized four (one ev- artists deserved better. ery week) shows in all, each of them featuring several —Seth Combs

90 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

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CULTURE | FILM

Certain Women

Big sky country Kelly Reichardt’s Montana-set triptych is beguiling and wise by Glenn Heath Jr.

ower lines and railroad tracks bisect the cenTraditional gender roles are challenged in the ter of an endless valley that feeds upward into calmest of ways, be it through offhand observations a steep mountain range. Cloud cover spreads or gestures that signify an ocean of subtext. During out over Montana’s Big Sky Country for miles, lying Laura’s conversations with Fuller she must become heavily across the horizon like a massive grey blan- a figure of authority and empathy almost simultaneket. An oncoming locomotive’s whistle blares as it ously. Reichardt’s appreciation for silence resonates slowly creeps toward some offscreen destination. most in the moment Gina walks along the banks of a The pristine opening image of Kelly Reichardt’s small river, or when Jamie rides a horse down main Certain Women is one of dense overlap between civi- street through the darkness like a reimagined Westlization and nature, a perfect foreshadowing for the ern hero. There are many ways to be alone. small but powerful human entanglements to follow. Certain Women makes it a point to look at the Epic quiet and manifest destiny process of experience rather than have long lived in contentious harachieving an end result. Compare mony in this snowy region, which and contrast how all three lead CERTAIN is a far cry visually from the raincharacters approach conversations WOMEN drenched Cascade Mountains of about the future and you’ll see a Directed by Kelly Reichardt Reichardt’s Old Joy. Three loosely panorama of beautifully contraconnected stories—based on the dictory viewpoints formed by upStarring Lily Gladstone, writings of Maile Meloy—unbringing, temperament and ambiLaura Dern, Michelle Williams fold at a measured pace, focusing tion. Reichardt merges them into a and Kristen Stewart on women approaching specific modern rustic tableau, tender and Rated R junctures in life. honest in its depiction of flawed inIn the film’s opening segment, dividuals trying to make rural life civil attorney Laura Wells (Lautheir own in the modern age. ra Dern) deals with an unruly client named Fuller What matters most is how one experiences the (Jared Harris) who refuses to accept the reality that seemingly innocuous moments in between events. his workers compensation claim against a negligent Do we cherish or dread them? Do we take the time contractor has no further legal footing. While the to think about how they could potentially change tension from this conflict threatens to spell tragedy, our view of the world? These are questions ReichReichardt allows for a comedic undercurrent that ardt has asked before in her films, albeit through the brilliantly lightens the mood. tautness created by discomforting absence (Wendy Michelle Williams’ Gina, a perpetually unhappy and Lucy) and survival (Meek’s Cutoff, Night Moves). wife/mother, dominates the second section emaCertain Women, opening Friday, Oct. 21, at Landnating an untapped well of contempt whenever in mark Hillcrest Cinemas, approaches such ideas in a the presence of another human being. It’s difficult slightly more ambiguous way. As we watch Laura, to watch as she smiles through a tough negotiation Gina and Jaime watch the world, a symbiotic relawith elderly Albert (Rene Auberjonois) over a pile tionship forms based on mutual association and past of discarded sandstone, her husband Ryan (James experience. This collection of knowledge adds up to LeGros) doing everything he can to avoid the dis- something more profound even when we can’t pincomfort of confrontation. point exactly why. Reichardt’s latest might be undeLily Gladstone’s sublime presence gives Certain niably sad at times, but it’s also devoid of self-pity Women’s final third a next-level gravity. As Jamie, the and apathy. Every bit contains wisdom that stretchlonely hardworking farm hand who falls for Kristen es as far as the eye can see. Stewart’s exhausted law student, she exudes a sense of real-world pragmatism that butts up against the Film reviews run weekly. desire of romantic emotion and passionate chivalry. Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

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October 19, 2016 • San Diego CityBeat · 91

CULTURE | FILM Central to the process is the great actor Kate Lyn Sheil, who spends much of the film researching Chubbuck’s life during preproduction for what’s supposed to be a soap opera-style fictional narrative. With only still photographs, an autobiography written by Chubbuck as a teenager, and newspaper reports covering the incident, Sheil begins her physical and psychological transformation into someone new. Despite getting brown-hued contact lenses, a spray tan and beKate Plays Christine ing fitted for a wig that matches Chubbuck’s long hair, Sheil continues to feel disconnected from Shock value her character. This frustration fter struggling with de- bleeds through a wide range of inpression for many years, terviews conducted with mental Sarasota television news- health specialists, gun shop owncaster Christine Chubbuck shot ers and eventually Chubbick’s forherself in the head during a live mer colleagues. Kate Plays Christine, which broadcast on July 15, 1974. The only known recording of what opens Friday, Oct. 21, at Digital was then the first ever on-air sui- Gym Cinema, reveals the longcide has long been hidden away gestating fissures that form beby the station’s owner. Robert tween memory and interpretaGreene’s new documentary- tion, something applicable to evwhatsit Kate Plays Christine blurs eryone on camera and arguably the lines between reality and fic- those behind it as well. The film’s tion in the hopes of better un- non-traditional structure gives derstanding those impenetrable Shiel the opportunity to shift betruths behind Chubbuck’s grim tween personas freely, creating a place for both the absent historipublic display.

92 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

cal figure and engaged artist to painfully co-exist. By the time Shiel and Greene mount a telling reenactment of Chubbuck’s final moments, Kate Plays Christine has carved out a distinct cinematic space between genres and performance methods that confronts our incessant need to bear witness. Much like its tortured subject, the film is an enigma of contradictory interpretations that could explode with rage on a moment’s notice.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING Answering the Call: The latest programming selection for “The Locals” series is a feature documentary about the civil rights march to Selma in 1965. Screens through Thursday, Oct. 27 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park. Certain Women: Kelly Reichardt’s intimate drama based on short stories by Maile Meloy features Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and Lily Gladstone. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back: Tom Cruise reprises his role as the unsinkable covert agent who must clear his name after he uncovers a government conspiracy. Kate Plays Christine: This doc/feature hybrid by Robert Greene and Kate Lyn Sheil tries to uncover the motivations behind the first on-air suicide committed

by Sarasota news anchor Christine Chubbuck in 1975. Keeping Up With the Joneses: Suburbia becomes a war zone in this new comedy from Greg Mottola (Superbad) about a boring couple that discovers their new neighbors are super spies. Ken Cinema Classics: Mulholland Drive, La Notte, Blood Simple, All the President’s Men and more classic films will be presented at Landmark’s Ken Cinema. Screenings through Thursday, Oct. 27. For more information on specific times visit landmarktheatres.com. London Town: A teenage girl’s life is changed forever after she meets The Clash frontman Joe Strummer (Jonathan Rhys Myers) in this coming-of-age drama. A Man Called Ove: A Swedish comedy about an elderly curmudgeon whose grumpy worldview changes for the better after befriending a new neighbor. Opens Friday, Oct. 21 at Angelika Carmel Mountain Cinemas. Ouija: Origin of Evil: Everyone’s favorite party game is back for the sequel that no one wanted. San Diego German Film Festival: The 6th annual celebration of German Cinema will feature two days of screenings at the National History Museum and Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. Screens Saturday - Sunday, Oct. 22-23.

For a complete

listing of movies, visit “F ilm”

on sdcitybeat.com.

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ZACK SMITH

MUSIC

I WAS A TEENAGE MORPHINE ADDICT

THE CULT ’90S “LOW-ROCK” BAND RETURNS WITH A NEW SINGER AND A FRESH OUTLOOK BY SETH COMBS

HAVE A VAGUE RECOLLECTION of where I was when Kurt Cobain died. I can’t honestly recall what I was doing when I heard Jeff Buckley had drowned. But I know exactly where I was, what I was doing and how deeply I was affected when I heard that Mark Sandman, the baritone-voiced frontman of ’90s alt-rockers Morphine, had collapsed onstage in Italy and was later pronounced dead of a heart attack at the age of 46. It was July of 1999 and I was driving back to San Diego from Wyoming with my mom. Unlike Cobain and even Buckley, Sandman’s death wasn’t newsy enough to be announced on radio or TV (note to youngsters, this was way before smartphones, and the Internet was still in its toddler stage). So I didn’t know about Sandman’s death until I picked up a copy of Rolling Stone at a gas station in order to pass the time. I was devastated. I wanted so bad to be back home where I could do some teenage shit like light a candle and play their albums all night. When I was in high school, Morphine was mine. We all had that band growing up. The one whose t-shirt you wore proudly, content in the fact that almost none of your peers knew who they were. In a manner of speaking, I was a teenage Morphine addict. Over a little less than a decade, they released four increasingly excellent albums with a unique musical configuration: saxophone and drums, with Sandman on vocals and a two-string slide bass guitar. The resulting music was moody, sexy, jazzy, noirish, bizarre, sometimes humorous, and certainly as anomalous now as it was then (their second album, Cure for Pain, is a great starting point for newcomers). Somewhere along the line, Sandman described the band’s sound as “low-rock.” The term stuck. The reflectively analytical side of me likes to think that day in 1999 not only marked the passing of an underrated musical force, but also the death of my formative years. I loved many bands in those days, but none of them were as personally impactful than Morphine in shaping the way

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Vapors of Morphine I heard and approached music. And just like that, they were gone. “It’s etched into all our minds, that day,” says Morphine saxophonist Dana Colley, when asked about the death of Sandman. “The years go by and there are memorials and remembrances and we tell stories, but we continue on doing what we had been doing prior to that, but just, you know, without Mark.” Colley and original drummer Jerome Deupree have revisited the music of Morphine off-and-on over the years. There was Orchestra Morphine, a loose collection of Sandman’s friends that was assembled to promote the band’s posthumous fifth album, The Night. In 2009, Colley and Deupree formed Members of Morphine with singer and VAPORSOFMORPHINE.COM bassist Jeremy Lyons in order to play the Nel Nome Del Rock Festival in Palestrina, Italy, the same location where Sandman had died 10 years before. The band did a few more gigs and started to notice that fans’ love for the music hadn’t abated. “Early on, we were sort of sticking to the typical versions,” Deupree says. “We always knew we weren’t just trying to sound like Morphine, and slowly but surely we’ve been able to really put a new stamp on things.” Members of Morphine has morphed into Vapors of Morphine. The band’s new album, A New Low, is a concise

VAPORS OF MORPHINE OCTOBER 20 THE CASBAH

collection of blues covers and revisited Morphine material. When a band decides to reunite without its original frontman, it can sometimes come across like a cash-grab (see: Sublime with Rome or the more recent Prophets of Rage). But for Vapors of Morphine, it’s important to remember that the original band never sold millions of records or sold out arenas. Talking to Colley and Deupree, I get the sense that they still truly love playing this music, and in the case of Vapors, they’re free to create new music without sullying the original band’s legacy. “It was difficult at first to do Sandman’s stuff, but that two-string bass, I’ve always loved the sound of it,” says new frontman Lyons, who cut his chops as a New Orleans street musician before moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts after Hurricane Katrina. “The singing part is a lot harder. He had a much deeper voice than I did and also smoked a couple packs of cigarettes a day.” Lyons goes on to emphasize that, while he’s ostensibly filling in for Sandman, Vapors of Morphine should be seen as a new experience altogether. Sure, old fans like me will delight in hearing songs such as “Sheila” and “The Other Side” revisited and reexamined, but for Colley and Deupree, the new band isn’t an exercise in nostalgia. It’s more an affirmation of a proud musical legacy that, for them, still warrants exploration and experimentation. “I always talk about the sounds kind of like a combination lock where you have three possibilities in numbers, but pretty infinite combinations,” says Colley. “We are fortunate enough in that we are able to do it in short bursts and people kind of get it. There’s something about being in front of an audience and playing music from Morphine that people haven’t heard in years. It’s very gratifying.”

October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 93

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO LOCALS ONLY

leeping People are working on new material. The post-rock quartet has announced their first show in more than a year, taking place at Whistle Stop on Nov. 11. However, the band will be performing as a trio for the foreseeable future, as guitarist Kasey Boekholt will be attending UC Berkeley to pursue a mechanical engineering degree. At this show, the group will be debuting some new material, as well as presenting some of their older music in a different context, considering the lineup is a little different. “The three instruments will still have that interplay with each other,” says bassist Kenseth Thibideau in a phone interview. “There’s still a lot of counterpoints happening. It’s just kind of a different way to do Sleeping People.” “We just try to play as a threepiece,” adds guitarist Joileah Concepcion of their new arrangements of old material. “If the song sucks, we fix it.” Concepcion says that the group has a handful of new tracks that are in the works, and the change

in lineup allows them to approach their music in a way that might be a little different than they had as a four-piece. “It’s an opportunity to go a little bit outside the familiar,” she says. “We can experiment more and explore new sounds. One guitar doesn’t have to have the other guitar to counter it.” Concepcion, Thibideau and drummer Brandon Relf are just in the early phases of writing, but Thibideau says that they’re hoping to build up a lot of material from what they’ve already started. “Our main goal right now is to write,” he says. “This is just to get us going.” * Earlier this year, Tim Reece, a former member of The Album Leaf, was diagnosed with an aggressive Stage 4 cancer, of which there is no known cure. A GoSleeping People FundMe account has been set up to assist Reece with his medical bills and quality of life as he battles the disease. To donate, visit gofundme.com/2rgur3uc.

—Jeff Terich

ALBUM REVIEW Silent A Century of Abuse (Three One G)

ince the dawn of the decade, there’s been a pronounced resurgence in post-punk, albeit one that’s had some unexpected permutations. London’s Savages have infused Joy Division’s streamlined gloom with an intense, muscular weight, while Atlanta’s Algiers paired proto-industrial menace with soul and gospel for something both ominous and uplifting. Mexicali’s Silent— fronted by Jung Sing, former drummer of San Diego synth punks All Leather—has a similarly innovative take on a dark punk sound, boosting Birthday Party and Banshees-inspired melodies with a gut-punching post-hardcore thrust. Silent’s debut album, A Century of Abuse, finds them arriving with a complete, albeit intense first full statement as a band. Right off the bat, “Lies Co.” pulses and throbs with a focused yet menacing pound. There’s a more manic groove to “Lost Voice,” which walks the line between danceable and abrasive, collapsing into a moody, Sonic Youthstyle interlude before rising back up into an unsettling dance party. And “Nothing for Nothing” features a furious bassline that more explicitly recalls The Birthday Party’s Tracy Pew, juxtaposed nicely against a less frantic series of guitar riffs.

94 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

Some of the most effective moments on A Century of Abuse are the simplest. “Self,” released as the first single from the album, crushes and gallops with a machine-gun drum beat and a rubber band bassline, Jung Sing yelping and screaming like a man possessed against a one-chord chorus. “Ripped Me” has a similar approach, but stretched out a bit, allowing more space in between the shriek and the lowend. It ends up being one of the catchiest moments of the record, as well as one of the most chilling. Most of A Century of Abuse comprises moments of relentless energy and aggression, though the band’s more atmospheric tracks—placed sparingly and effectively—showcase a broader depth in their songwriting abilities. “A Century” stalks slowly and eerily, like a just-offscreen horror movie villain. Yet “If You Said” features a much prettier melody, its goth-ballad sound a welcome break from the violence. With post-punk songs that hit this hard, however, you definitely don’t want to mellow out too long before the breakneck rhythms start up again.

—Jeff Terich

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 95

MUSIC

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

PLAN A: Ringworm, Nomads, Exalt, Pissed Regardless @ Brick by Brick. Hardcore miscreants Ringworm aren’t particularly subtle, nor are they terribly complex. But you know what? On Wednesday night when you need a boost of catharsis to get through the week, they have just the big, loud and brutal sounds you need.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20

PLAN A: Vapors of Morphine, Krass Bros. @ The Casbah. Read Seth Combs’ article this week on Vapors of Morphine, a new project featuring original members of Boston low-rock group Morphine. They’ll be performing a combination of new songs and classics from their previous incarnation, which will be a welcome sound for those who’ve missed the band. PLAN B: Missing Persons, Third Project @ Belly Up Tavern. I always approach new wave reunions with a little skepticism, but Miss-

ing Persons has their share of hits to overcome my hesitation. There aren’t many ’80s-era songs better than “Destination Unknown,” for instance, so that’s enough for me. BACKUP PLAN: Magic Sword, Dance With the Dead, Fivepaw @ Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21

PLAN A: Gorguts, Intronaut, Brain Tentacles, Weight of the Sun @ Brick by Brick. Gorguts are one of the weirdest death metal bands on the planet. Their sound is loud and heavy, naturally, but bound by strange time signatures and all manner of dissonant experimentation that makes them exciting, albeit avant garde. You won’t hear much out there quite like them. PLAN B: Tricky presents Skilled Mechanics, Rituals of Mine @ Belly Up Tavern. Trip-hop icon Tricky recently released the album Skilled Mechanics, which features collaborations with a number of other artists. As such this might not be a

96 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

traditional Tricky show, but his catalog is deep enough that I’d expect a great setlist. BACKUP PLAN: Kero Kero Bonito, Goto80, Slime Girls @ House of Blues.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22

PLAN A: Saint Vitus, The Skull, Witch Mountain, Great Electric Quest @ Brick by Brick. It’s getting close to Halloween, which means you’re going to be seeing many more metal bands on this page (because they’re all touring, of course). Saint Vitus should be near the top of that list. They’re old-school doom metallers with a tendency toward slow, ominous sounds.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23

Get in the groove. BACKUP PLAN: Holy Sons, Nurses @ The Hideout.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24

PLAN A: Nicolas Jaar @ Observatory North Park. Nicolas Jaar briefly made a splash with his outstanding Darkside project, which ended after only a year. However, his new solo album Sirens is an outstanding blend of electronic production, post-punk darkness and pop accessibility. Truly outstanding stuff. PLAN B: Dreams Made Flesh, Garden Echo, L1ght Ra1l @ Soda Bar. Dreams Made Flesh, fronted by former Ilya vocalist Blanca Rojas, made their debut earlier this year, and if you haven’t caught them yet, I recommend you do. They’re a dreamy post-punk group with a heavy 4AD influence a la The Cocteau Twins. Perfect for this particularly goth time of year.

PLAN A: D.R.I., Kaustik, Christ Killer, Mexico City Rollers @ Soda Bar. On the other end of the heavy spectrum is D.R.I., whose crossover thrash sound is fast, loud, concise and intense. Because you might need a good jolt TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25 of energy before you start the work PLAN A: Waldo, Real J Wallace, week. PLAN B: Chicano Batman, Sad Jimmy Javier, DJ Artistic @ Girl, Madly @ The Casbah. Los Soda Bar. Where’s Waldo? Angeles’ Chicano Batman At the Soda Bar! This is has one of the best band a different Waldo, hownames right now. But ever. He’s a hip-hop artthey’re more than just a ist from Michigan with clever name. The group tracks full of buttery plays excellent indie flows and surreal elecrock with lots of soul, tronic beats that give his a touch of psychedelia music a weirdly dreamy Nicolas Jaar and melodies for days. sensibility. CALLIE BARLOW

JEFF TERICH

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 97

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

‘Fall Brewing Anniversary Party’ w/ Creepy Creeps (Casbah, 11/5), Branches (Casbah, 11/14), Living Legends (Observatory, 12/2), Jonathan Richman (BUT, 12/12), Sego (Hideout, 12/15), ‘For the Sender’ Holiday Show (BUT, 12/18), Citizen Cope (Observatory, 12/28), 6ONE9 (HOB, 1/7), J Boog (Observatory, 1/12), Marching Church (The Hideout, 1/20), Chevelle (HOB, 1/21), Jesse Malin (Casbah, 1/23), Hamilton Leithauser (Casbah, 1/28), Joan of Arc (Soda Bar, 2/9), D.R.A.M. (Music Box, 2/9), Bon Jovi (Viejas Arena, 3/5), Mac Sabbath, Metalachi (Brick by Brick, 4/5), Brian Wilson (Civic Theatre, 5/24).

CANCELED Two Tongues (Irenic, 11/29).

GET YER TICKETS Preoccupations (Irenic, 10/26), Kongos, Joy Formidable (Music Box, 10/26), Damien Jurado (Irenic, 10/27), Dillinger Escape Plan (Brick by Brick, 10/28), M83 (SOMA, 10/29), Suicide Machines (Irenic, 10/29), Psychedelic Furs (BUT, 10/30), Buzzov-en (Brick by Brick, 10/31), Andra Day (Humphreys, 11/2), Tony Bennett (Harrahs, 11/4), Bush (Observatory, 11/8), Protomartyr (Soda Bar, 11/9), Death Grips (Observatory North Park, 11/9), Diar-

98 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

rhea Planet (Soda Bar, 11/11), Sleigh Bells (Observatory, 11/11), HEALTH (Music Box, 11/11), Slightly Stoopid (Observatory North Park, 11/12), SubRosa (Soda Bar, 11/12), Car Seat Headrest (Irenic, 11/12), Lupe Fiasco (HOB, 11/14), ‘Rob Machado Benefit’ w/ Pepper, Tristan Prettyman, Chris Shiflett (BUT, 11/15), Rae Sremmurd (Observatory, 11/16), Trash Talk, Antwon (Soda Bar, 11/18), Gogol Bordello (Observatory North Park, 11/19), Neko Case (Poway OnStage, 11/19), Method Man and Redman (Observatory, 11/21), Warpaint (Observatory, 11/22), Red Fang (Casbah, 11/22), Hirie (Music Box, 11/25), Kool Keith (HOB, 11/27), Porter Robinson, Madeon (Valley View Casino Center, 11/29), Peter Murphy (Observatory, 11/29), Seu Jorge (Balboa Theatre, 11/30), Lee Fields (BUT, 11/30), Daughter (Observatory, 12/1), Queen Latifah (Harrah’s, 12/2), Helmet (Casbah, 12/2), Two Door Cinema Club (Harrah’s Resort, 12/3), Amy Schumer (Valley View Casino Center, 12/3), Miike Snow (Observatory, 12/5), The Album Leaf (Irenic, 12/9), Pylon Reenactment Society (Hideout, 12/10), Mr. Carmack (Observatory, 12/10), Pere Ubu (Casbah, 12/10), X (Casbah, 12/15-18), Henry Rollins (Observatory, 12/27), Mannheim Steamroller (Civic Theatre, 12/28), Donovon Frankenreiter (BUT, 12/28-29), Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven (Music Box, 12/29), Brian Setzer Orchestra (BUT, 12/31), The Devil Makes Three (Observatory, 1/4-5), Blind Boys of Alabama (BUT, 1/29), Adam Ant (Observatory, 2/18), Steve Poltz (BUT, 2/24-25), Reverend Horton Heat (BUT, 4/20), Coldplay (Qualcomm Stadium, 10/8).

OCTOBER WEDNESDAY, OCT. 19 Young the Giant at House of Blues. Holy White Hounds at The Casbah. Willie Nelson at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Mura Masa at Music Box.

THURSDAY, OCT. 20 Tracy Morgan at Humphreys by the Bay. Vapors of Morphine at The Casbah. Franco De Vita at Music Box.

FRIDAY, OCT. 21 Majid Jordan at Observatory North Park. Kero Kero Bonito at House of Blues. The Dear Hunter at The Irenic. Felipe Esparza at Humphreys by the Bay. Gorguts at Brick by Brick. Wild Nothing at Music Box.

SATURDAY, OCT. 22 Saint Vitus at Brick by Brick. Niykee Heaton at Observatory North Park. Capitol Steps at Poway OnStage. Wild Child at Belly Up Tavern. Lemaitre at Music Box.

SUNDAY, OCT. 23 D.R.I. at Soda Bar. Violent Femmes at Observatory North Park.

MONDAY, OCT. 24 Yuna at Music Box. Ziggy Marley at Belly Up Tavern. Jackson Browne at Balboa Theatre.

TUESDAY, OCT. 25 Ziggy Marley at Belly Up Tavern. Parkway Drive at House of Blues.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 100

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 99

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 98 WEDNESDAY, OCT. 26 Bon Iver at Copley Symphony Hall (sold out). Preoccupations at The Irenic. Kongos, Joy Formidable at Music Box. Maceo Parker at Belly Up Tavern.

THURSDAY, OCT. 27 Balance and Composure at Observatory North Park. Damien Jurado at The Irenic.

FRIDAY, OCT. 28 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Death from Above 1979 at House of Blues (sold out). Ingrid Michaelson at Humphreys by the Bay. Alice Cooper at Harrah’s Resort. Dillinger Escape Plan at Brick by Brick. Dead Feather Moon at Music Box.

SATURDAY, OCT. 29 Blind Pilot at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Martin Lawrence at Harrah’s Resort. Sweater Beats at Soda Bar. Suicide Machines at The Irenic. Jo Koy at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). M83 at SOMA. Soulection at Observatory North Park.

SUNDAY, OCT. 30 Run River North at House of Blues. Psychedelic Furs at Belly Up Tavern. Ali Azida and the Need at Music Box.

MONDAY, OCT. 31 Buzzov-en at Brick by Brick. BoomBox at Observatory North Park. Rocket from the Crypt at Lafayette Hotel (sold out). ‘Halloween Spooktacular’ w/

100 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

Stalins of Sound, Wild Wild Wets at Soda Bar. Andre Nickatina at Music Box.

NOVEMBER TUESDAY, NOV. 1 Ms. Lauryn Hill at Copley Symphony Hall (sold out). Mexrissey at California Center for the Arts. The Adicts at Observatory North Park.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 2 Elephant Stone at The Hideout. Andra Day at Humphreys by the Bay. G Burns Jug Band at California Center for the Arts.

THURSDAY, NOV. 3 Tory Lanez at Observatory North Park. Three Dog Night at Belly Up Tavern. Bob Moses at Music Box.

FRIDAY, NOV. 4 Pansy Division at Soda Bar. Tony Bennett at Harrahs Resort. Nobunny at The Hideout.

SATURDAY, NOV. 5 Cave Singers at Soda Bar. Sum 41 at House of Blues (sold out). Diamond Head at Brick by Brick. Katt Williams at Viejas Arena. The Wonder Years at SOMA. ‘Fall Brewing Anniversary Party’ w/ Creepy Creeps at The Casbah.

SUNDAY, NOV. 6 Daughters at Soda Bar. Montgomery Gentry at California Center for the Arts. Steven Wilson at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Lewis Del Mar at The Casbah.

MONDAY, NOV. 7 Southern Culture on the Skids at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, NOV. 8 Peter Hook and the Light at House of Blues. Bush at Observatory North Park. The Ocean at Brick by Brick.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 9 Death Grips at Observatory North Park. Protomartyr at Soda Bar. The New Mastersounds at Belly Up Tavern. Ulcerate at Brick by Brick.

THURSDAY, NOV. 10 STRFKR at Observatory North Park. Garrett Klahn at Blonde.

FRIDAY, NOV. 11 Sleigh Bells at Observatory North Park. HEALTH at Music Box. Diarrhea Planet at Soda Bar. Leaether Strip at Brick by Brick.

SATURDAY, NOV. 12 Steel Panther at House of Blues. Car Seat Headrest at The Irenic. OM at The Casbah. Livin’ on a Prayer at Belly Up Tavern. SubRosa at Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, NOV. 13 Young Dubliners at Belly Up Tavern. Electric Citizen at Soda Bar. Dictators NYC at The Casbah. Joe Budden at Music Box.

MONDAY, NOV. 14 Lupe Fiasco at House of Blues. Mangchi, Kid Koala at Blonde. Mac Miller

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MUSIC at Observatory North Park. Branches at The Casbah.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., San Diego. Pacific Beach. Thu: Liquid Courage Karaoke. Fri: Saved by the ‘90s. Sat: Timothy H, Southtown Generals, Bossfight. Sun: Ballyhoo, Crucial Blend. Tue: Pali Roots. Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., San Diego. Normal Heights. Wed: DJs Zach, Simon. Thu: ‘Libertine’ w/ DJs Jon Wesley, 1979. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJ Karma. American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Thu: Brad Williams. Fri: Brad Williams. Sat: Brad Williams. The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd., Spring Valley. Thu: ‘Darkwave Garden’. Fri: Kitty Plague, Jovi & The Issues. Sat: Live Kennedys. Bang Bang, 526 Market St., San Diego. Downtown. Fri: Cosmo’s Midnight. Sat: Bixel Boys, Yolanda Be Cool. Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., San Diego. North Park. Wed: ‘Wreckord Mania’ w/ DJ @Large. Thu: DJ Ikah Love. Fri: Diablo Dimes, Ypsitucky. Sat: Glass Elf, Joe Passed. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Mon: ‘Soultry Monday’. Tue: DJ Marshall Islands. Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Simeon Flick Duo. Fri: Modern Day Moonshine. Sat: Stone Horse. Sun: Kenny Eng. Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Brawley’s Barroom Ball, Ginger Cowgirl, The Silv. Thu: Miss-

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ing Persons, Third Project. Fri: Tricky, Rituals of Mine. Sat: Wild Child, Dazed and Confused. Sun: The Proclaimers, Jenny O. Mon: Ziggy Marley. Tue: Ziggy Marley. Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Fri: Crow Squawk, Parker Edison, Blackberry Tongues. Sat: The Heart Beat Trail, Duping the Public. Blonde, 1808 W. Washington Street, San Diego. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’ w/ Norman H. Thu: ‘Ceremony Night’. Fri: ‘Rap Nite’ w/ DJs Greyboy, Tramlife, Dmitri. Sun: ‘Iggy Pop Dance Party’ w/ DJs Lety and Pat Beers, Heather Hardcore. Mon: BIRDCLOUD, Coral Bells, Mike Pope, Ryan St James, Ginger Cowgirl. Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad. Thu: The Paragraphs. Fri: ‘Club Musae’. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA, K-Swift. Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJ Junior the Disco Punk. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., San Diego. Bay Park. Wed: Ringworm, Nomads, Exalt, Pissed Regardless. Thu: Tony Macalpine, RDG, Taz Taylor, Planet Shred. Fri: Gorguts, Intronaut, Brain Tentacles, Weight of the Sun. Sat: Saint Vitus, THE SKULL, Witch Mountain, Great Electric Quest. Sun: Alestorm, Nekrogoblikon, Aether Realm, Helsott, Gravespell. Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Sat: Flamenco Dinner Show. Sun: Buena Vista Sundays. The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: Holy White Hounds, Bleeker. Thu: Vapors of Morphine, Krass Bros. Fri: The Crawdaddys, Hiroshima Mockingbirds, Alvino and the Dwells, DJs GirlGroupGirl & Richard Whig. Sat: ‘Emo Nite’. Sun: Chicano Batman, Sadgirl,

Madly. Mon: K. Flay, Nightly. Tue: Reeve Carney. The Che Cafe, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla. Sat: Mumblr, Blind Poet, Goosey Grey, Sea of Trees. Chico Club, 7366 El Cajon Blvd., La Mesa. Sat: TaKillya. Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. Lemon Grove. Fri: TNT. Sat: DJ Hurricane Andrew. Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, San Diego. Mission Bay. Fri: Christopher Hollyday. Sat: Richard Thompson Quintet. F6ix, 526 F St., San Diego. Downtown. Fri: DJ Eflex. Sat: DJ Peson. The Field, 544 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Wed: BJ Jezbera. Thu: J. Liberio. Fri: The Chipp Corderman Band. Sat: Lifelike Band. Sun: Devan Moncrief. Mon: Fiore. Tue: Chris Del Priore. Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Fri: Deejay Al. Sat: Jami. Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave. (Downtown), San Diego. Downtown. Wed: Ride the Mule. Thu: ‘Night Skool’. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: ‘Rock Star Saturday’. Tue: ‘50s/60s Dance Party. The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Thu: See Art. Sat: Modogsta, Shiro Schwarz, Cookie Crew. Sun: Holy Sons, Nurses. The Holding Company, 5040 Newport Ave., San Diego. Ocean Beach. Thu: DJ Reefah, The Dubbest. Fri: Funk Soul Social, The Family Band. Sat: DJ Mancat, Big Brother & The Holding Company, QUEL BORDEL!. Sun: Brian Jones Rock & Roll Revival. Mon: Kerry-Oke. Tue: DJ Artform. House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., San

Diego. Downtown. Wed: Young the Giant, Ra Ra Riot. Thu: Russ. Fri: Kero Kero Bonito, Goto80, Slime Girl. Sat: ‘Boo Ball’. Sun: Kissed Alive, Cheap Tricked, Groove Kitty. Mon: Aaron Gillespie, Ace Enders, Vinnie Caruana, Little By Little. Tue: Parkway Drive, We Came As Romans, Counterparts, Smarter Than Robots. Humphrey’s Backstage Live, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego. Point Loma. Wed: The Johnson Project. Fri: Detroit Underground. Sat: Rising Star, Backwater Blues Band. Sun: Tony Saunders, Jason Brown. Tue: Michele Lundeen. The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., San Diego. North Park. Sun: Kishi Bashi, Busman’s Holiday. Java Joe’s Normal Heights, 3536 Adams Ave., San Diego. Normal Heights. Wed: Veronica May. Fri: The Zicas. Sat: Gregory Page. Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: Northstar, Apaulo 8, Squama, Swandive. Thu: ‘Acid Varsity’. Fri: ‘Purps and Turqs’. Sat: Mikey High Jinks, Joe Pea, Memo Rex, Tripsy. Sun: ‘Vinyl is Final’. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’. Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., San Diego. Kensington. Fri: Que Oso, Dead Clintons, Cochinas Locas. Kona Kai Resort & Spa, 1551 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego. Shelter Island. Sun: Robin Henkel & Whitney Shay. The Kraken, 2531 S. Coast Highway 101, Cardiff. Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Wed: Jeff Moore. Thu: Chunk. Fri: I-90. Sat: Sully and the Blue Eyed Soul Band. Sun: Rock Whiskey. Tue: Country Fried.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 101

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 101 Lestat’s West , 3341 Adams Ave., San Diego. Normal Heights. Thu: Geena Fontanella, Nathan Olesen. Fri: Benjamin Scheuer. Sat: Ryan Hiller, Andrew Barrack, Daniel Woods. Sun: The Iridescents. The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. Thu: Bee’s Knees. Sat: Takuya Kuroda, Takuya Kuroda. Mon: Alan Ferber. Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Sophisticats. Thu: North Star. Fri: The Flipside Burners. Sat: Ron’s Garage. Sun: Gonzology. Tue: Gene Warren. The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Wed: Slowlikefire, Soap Detergent, The Overflow, Going Postal, Steeltoe, Los Santos, Same As Yesterday. Thu: James Spaite, Morning Bear, Bird & The War, Rosewood & Rye. Fri: Eva O, Squirrelly Arts, Element a440, Bell Tower Bats. Sat: Nightshadow, Unicorn Death, MONARCH, Contortion. Tue: The Art Dealers, The Gift Machine, Noble War. Mother’s Saloon, 2228 Bacon Street, San Diego. Thu: DJ Dub B. Fri: Jefferson Jay Band. Sat: Agave. Mon: Kayla Hope. Mr. Peabody’s Encinitas, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Encinitas. Thu: California Rangers. Fri: The Traumatics. Sat: Alexus Jones, Celeste Barbier. Sun: Tony Ortega jazz jam. Music Box, 1337 India St., San Diego. Little Italy. Wed: Mura Masa, Michl. Thu: Franco De Vita. Fri: Wild Nothing, Spooky Cigarette. Sat: Lemaitre. Mon: Yuna, Nylo. Tue: Acoustic Alchemy. Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd., San Diego. Hillcrest. Thu: ‘Tagged’. Fri: ‘Vogue Decadence’.

102 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

The Office, 3936 30th St., San Diego. North Park. Wed: ‘Night Fever’ w/ DJs Saul Q, Boogie Bubba. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Ikah Love. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs Kanye Asada, Gabe Vega. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings. Mon: ‘Metal Monday’ w/ DJs Javi Nunez, Bidi Cobra. Tue: ‘Trapped’ w/ DJ Ramsey. OMNIA Nightclub, 454 6th Ave, San Diego. Thu: All Gold. Fri: Cedric Gervais. Sat: Makj. Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Fri: Sue Palmer. Sun: Trojan Rocksteady Boxsets. Parq, 615 Broadway, San Diego. Fri: DJ Dynamiq. Sat: Justin Credible. Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Wed: DJ Kiki. Thu: DJ Moody Rudy. Fri: DJs Drew G, Will Z. Sat: DJs Dave Aude, K-Swift, DJ Taj. Sun: DJ Morningstar. Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Swing Thing. Fri: Gino & The Lone Gunmen. Sat: Trevor McSpadden. Rosie O’Grady’s, 3402 Adams Ave., San Diego. Normal Heights. Fri: Soul Ablaze. Sat: Rip Carson. Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Modern Me, Luneaux, 8IM. Thu: Magic Sword, Dance with the Dead, Fivepaw. Fri: Crywolf, Birthday, DJ Skullcrusher. Sat: The Moth and the Flame, Young Rising Sons, 888. Sun: D.R.I., Kaustik, Christ Killer, Mexico City Rollers. Tue: Waldo, Real J Wallace, Jimmy Javier, DJ Artistic, Dreams Made Flesh, Garden Echo, L1ght Ra1l.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego. Midway. Fri: Everything Undone, From Chaos and Heaven, And Ever, The Hype . Sat: The Amity Affliction, Being As An Ocean, Hundredth Trophy, Eyes Deadships. Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Thu: Forkroot, Clint Westwood. Sun: Jesse Lamonaca, Sam Bybee. Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: JPNSGRLS, The Candlelights, The Monsoon. Fri: Zed and the Watchers, Desert Suns, Condor. Sat: Kirby’s Dream Band, The Maxies, Radioactive Chickenheads and Slippers at Til-Two Club, Kirby’s Dream Band, Vector Hold, The Maxies. Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Fri: Leggy, Psychic Heat, Sixes. Sat: The Stalins of Sound, The Nopes, Sumatraban. Mon: Chrch, Beira, Abyssal, Cryptic Languages. Ux31, 3112 University Ave., San Diego. North Park. Wed: DJ Mo Lyon. Fri: DJ Havoc. Sat: DJ Junior. Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, San Diego. South Park. Wed: ‘Cure Night’ w/ DJ Jon Blaj. Thu: ‘Astro Jump’ w/ Kill Quanti DJs. Fri: ‘F-ing in the Bushes’ w/ DJs Daniel Sant, Rob Moran. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob. Tue: ‘Videodrome’. Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., San Diego. Ocean Beach. Wed: Sol Tribe, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Law, Tunnel Vision, No Kings, Nate Hancock & the Declaration. Fri: T Sisters, Coral Bells. Sat: The Rebirth Brass Band, Euphoria Brass Band. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Matt Chamberlain, Brian Haas.

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 103

LAST WORDS | ADVICE

AMY ALKON

ADVICE

GODDESS Talk Dirt-Cheap To Me My husband of a year is very tight with cash. It’s always save, save, save. I recently traded in my car, and I needed $1,000 more for the new one, but he never offered to give it to me. My parents ended up paying it. I make my own money, but not a lot, and I’m wondering what kind of financial arrangement makes sense in a marriage.

—Confused

Your husband comes into the living room, and there you are—sitting on the floor with a Starbucks cup and a cardboard sign that says, “Anything helps. God bless.” Unfortunately, the passive-aggressiveness of the wife-as-panhandler approach is toxic in the long run. However, the theatrics would get your message across better than the nonverbal forms of communication you’ve probably been using—pouting and closing cabinet doors a little more forcefully than usual. Like a lot of women, you may assume that whatever subtle emotional cues you can read, men can also read. However, research by social psychologist Judith A. Hall finds that women are far better than men at spotting and decoding nonverbal signals in facial expressions and body language. Women’s having evolved greater aptitude for this makes sense, as newborn infants generally aren’t in the habit of expressing their needs with, “Hey, mom-lady…would you grab me a pack of smokes and a beer?” So, yes, if you want something from your husband, you do have to put that out there in spokenword form. But beyond that, you two need to sit down and hammer out a fiscal policy for your relationship—where the lines get drawn on “yours”/“mine”/“ours” and “what if one of us has a financial crisis and needs an alternative to, oh, stealing a mule to get to work every day?” In coming up with this policy, it’s important to go beyond the cold dollars-and-cents view and discuss each other’s attitudes surrounding money, especially any issues and fears. Then, when there’s a conflict, each of you can maybe start with a little compassion for the other’s point of view. It also might help to understand that our views about money are influenced by genetics and what behavioral ecologists call our “life history strategy”—a term that relates to whether our upbringing was stable and “safe” or risky and unpredictable. Child development researcher Jay Belsky and his colleagues find that a stable childhood environment tends to lead to a more future-oriented approach (saving, for example), whereas, say, growing up ducking gunfire or just having divorced parents and getting moved

around a lot tends to lead to a more now-oriented approach (spendorama!). Whatever your past, going off into the sunset being chased by creditors can be a marriage killer. Family studies researcher Jeffrey Dew finds that married couples with a bunch of “consumer debt” (owing on credit cards, loans for consumer goods, and pastdue bills) fight more about everything—from sex to chores to in-laws. And research by sociologist Carolyn Vogler, among others, finds that couples who pool their money (like their money got married, too!) tend to be happier. I would guess that the spirit in this is important—going all-in financially…“us against the world!” instead of, “If you lose your job and can’t pay your share of the rent, don’t worry, baby. I’ll help you pitch your tent on the front lawn.”

Leaf Him Alone! Pot is legal where I live, and it helps ease my knee pain from years of running. I’ve noticed that it also makes me feel more sensual. I want to share the marijuana experience with my boyfriend when we make love, but he says pot (even the “energizing” strains) makes him “inert” and “obsessively analytic.” How do I get him to be more open-minded?

If you want something from your husband, you do have to put that out there in spoken-word form.

104 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

—Merry Jane

Pot does open your boyfriend’s mind—to a four-hour rumination on the meaning of burritos. Welcome to what biologist Ernst Mayr called “human variability”—the existence of individual differences. We see it in how some of us enjoy a surprise kick of peanut butter in our chocolate milkshake, while for others, it’s “Wow… look how I’ve swelled up, just like a human balloon.” Likewise, research on the cognitive impact of pot by neuroscientist Antonio VerdejoGarcia shows varying effects on research participants’ “sustained attention” (among other things)— in line with which one of two genotypes they have. Consider that being nagged to start smoking pot is probably as annoying as being nagged to stop. Sure, you have the best of intentions—sharing your sensual experience with him. And, if he smokes pot, you can— after he stops communing with the rug, asking the little fibers, “Did you ever consider that the tortilla is the perfect metaphor for human consciousness?” (c)2016, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (advicegoddess.com). Weekly radio show: blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon

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October 19, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 105

106 · San Diego CityBeat · October 19, 2016

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