San Diego CityBeat • Nov 18, 2015

#SDCityBeat

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Up Front | From the editor

Senseless violence and climate change

T

he death toll in Paris kept rising on Friday. There was a momentary sadness and a grim reality in the air that day inside The Lafayette Hotel. That’s where I went to pick up a media badge for the weekend’s San Diego Music Thing. There on the TV in the bar/restaurant adjacent to the lobby was CNN’s coverage—with sound muted but close captioned. The number of lives lost to terrorists’ bullets and bombs was spiking.

We were just starting to get harrowing details about scenes that by now have been replayed over and again. The Palm Desert-based band Eagles of Death Metal was playing a show at Paris’ Bataclan concert hall, which accommodates 1,500 people. Three attackers with assault rifles began firing on the crowd. The gunmen regrouped audience members in front of the stage and shot them point blank. Two terrorists killed themselves by detonating suicide belts.

And here I am picking up tickets to a bunch of music shows.

I spoke to a few people in the lobby, standing around the merch table and the vinyl records for sale. Nobody knew what to say. Yes, of course the shows would go on. But what would Friday the 13th mean for future assemblages—for music, sports, anything—all over the world?

“I don’t think it will significantly change things, but if incidents like that happen again or more than once, it would definitely have an impact,” said veteran San Diego show promoter and Casbah owner Tim Mays. “Security for bigger shows is already very focused on checking individuals for various contraband items, but it’s hard to say what could be done to stop someone who came in brandishing an AK-47.

“The San Diego Music Thing shows were all pretty well attended over the weekend,” he added.

“I know a lot of people wanted to go out and support live music, you know, don’t let the terrorists win by making you afraid to live your life.”

But after OD-ing on the bitter pills of information coming from Paris, I closed my eyes and pictured…the cover we’d planned weeks ago for this issue. “Letters to the Future: The Paris Climate Project.” Uh-oh. Could this be a problem? Too soon?

I talked myself down. For one thing, the climate

summit scheduled for Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 in Paris will go on as planned. About 120 world leaders, including President Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin still are expected to attend.

French authorities say they’ll have more than 30,000 members of their police force patrolling border points and all parts of the country between now and the end of the conference, which will attract up to 40,000 delegates and thousands of journalists. And don’t forget the environmental groups and activists, who have been planning a march to kick off the summit.

Letters to the Future is a JEAN JULLIEN / INSTAGRAM simple but smart idea that targets the world’s decision makers. Notable concerned folks from around the country— including a former astronaut and a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner—wrote missives to future generations. The letters predict the success or failure of our contemporary struggle to set world standards to protect the Earth from extreme climate change.

About 40 Association of Alternative Newsmedia members banded together in this effort. We decided to put the Letters to the Future in the spot we normally run Letters to the Editor (page 6).

This project is a grain of sand on the beach of concern for the environment. But one positive spin turned up while I was scanning myriad media reports on all things Paris. A former climate advisor from President Bill Clinton’s Administration told Politico the attacks might improve the odds of success at the talks.

“The resolve of world leaders is going to be redoubled to gain an agreement and show that they can deliver for populations around the world,” said Paul Bledsoe. “The likelihood for a successful agreement has only increased because of these attacks.”

If manure has the power to make a rose garden grow, anything is possible—even senseless violence begetting awareness and action on climate change.

—Ron Donoho

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com

This issue of CityBeat is sipping a Sculpin IPA and trying to count to a billion.

Volume 14 • Issue 15 Editor Ron Donoho Music Editor Jeff Terich Arts Editor Seth Combs Web Editor Ryan Bradford Art director Carolyn Ramos Columnists Aaryn Belfer Edwin Decker John R. Lamb Alex Zaragoza

Contributors David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Andrew Dyer, Tiffany Fox, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Peter Holslin, Jessica Johnson, Scott McDonald, Jenny Montgomery, Susan Myrland, Chad Peace, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Tom Siebert, Jen Van Tieghem, Amy Wallen

Senior account executive Jason Noble Account Executives Beau Odom, Kimberly Wallace, Isaac Aycox Accounting Kacie Cobian, Sharon Huie, Linda Lam

editorial Interns Torrey Bailey, Nancy Kirk

Human Resources Andrea Baker

Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse

Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami

Production artist Rees Withrow

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 2015.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

UP FRONT | LETTERS TO THE FUTURE

ON THE

COVER

DESIGN BY DON BUTTON

World leaders from more than 190 countries will convene in Paris in the first two weeks of December for the long-awaited United Nations Climate Change Conference. Will the governments of the world finally pass a binding global treaty aimed at reducing the most dangerous impacts of global warming or will they fail?

Letters to the Future, a national project involving more than 40 alternative weeklies across the United States, including San Diego CityBeat, set out to find authors, artists, scientists and others willing to get creative and draft letters to future generations of their own families, predicting the success or failure of the Paris talks— and what came after. Here are some of their visions of the future.

MY ENDLESS SKY Back around the turn of the century, flying to space was a rare human privilege, a dream come true, the stuff of movies (look it up) and an almost impossible ambition for children the world around.

As I learned to fly in gliders, then small aircraft, then military jets, I always had the secure feeling that the atmosphere was the infinite “long delirious burning blue” of John Magee’s poem, even though of all people, I well knew about space and its nearness. It seemed impossible to believe that with just a little more power and a little more bravery, I couldn’t continue to climb higher and higher on “laughter-silvered wings.” My life was a celebration of the infinite gift of sky, atmosphere and flight.

But what I saw in the first minutes of entering space, following that violent, life-changing rocket ride, shocked me.

If you look at Earth’s atmosphere from orbit, you can see it “on edge”—gazing toward the horizon, with the black of space above and the gentle curve of the yes-it’s-round planet below. And what you see is the most exquisite, luminous, delicate glow of a layered azure haze holding the Earth like an ethereal eggshell. “That’s

it?!” I thought. The entire sky— MY endless sky—was only a paperthin, blue wrapping of the planet, and looking as tentative as frost.

And this is the truth. Our Earth’s atmosphere is fragile and shockingly tiny—maybe 4 percent of the planet’s volume. Of all the life we know about, only one species has the responsibility to protect that precious blue planetwrap. I hope we did, and I hope you do.

—Stephen K. Robinson After 36 years as an astronaut— with a tenure that included four shuttle missions and three spacewalks—Robinson retired from NASA in 2012. He is now a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Davis.

BRIEF OPPORTUNITIES When I was your age, great-greatgreat granddaughter, I did not realize how brief our opportunities were to change the direction of the world we live in.

On the day I am writing this letter, the Speaker of the House of Representatives quit his job because his party—called the Republicans, refused absolutely to work with or compromise with the other party, now defunct,

6 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

called the Democrats. The refusal of the Republicans to work with the Democrats was what led to the government collapse in 2025, and the break-up of what to you is the former United States. The states that refused to acknowledge climate change or, indeed, science, became the Republic of America, and the other states became West America and East America.

That the world was getting hotter and drier, that weather was getting more chaotic, and that humans were getting too numerous for the ecosystem to support was evident to most Americans by the time I was 45, the age your mother is now.

At first, it did seem as though all Americans were willing to do something about it, but then the oil companies (with names like Exxon and Mobil and Shell) realized that their profits were at risk, and they dug in their heels. They underwrote all sorts of government corruption in order to deny climate change and transfer as much carbon dioxide out of the ground and into the air as they could.

The worse the weather and the climate became, the more they refused to budge, and Americans, but also the citizens of other countries, kept using coal, diesel fuel and gasoline. Transportation was the hardest thing to give up, much harder than giving up the future, and so we did not give it up.

I am sure you are a vegan, because there is no room for cattle, hogs or chickens, which Americans used to eat. West America was once a beautiful place—not the parched desert landscape that it is now. Our mountains were green with oaks and pines; mountain lions and coyotes and deer roamed in the shadows; and there were beautiful flowers nestled in the grass. It was sometimes hot but often cool. Where you see abandoned, flooded cities, we saw smooth beaches and easy waves.

When I was alive, I thought I was trying to save you, but I didn’t try hard enough, or at least, I didn’t try to save you as hard as my opponents tried to destroy you. I don’t know why they did that. I could never figure that out.

—Jane Smiley Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 for her novel A Thousand Acres, Smiley has composed numerous novels and works of nonfiction.

SORRY ABOUT THAT Dear Rats of the Future: Congratulations on your bipedalism: it’s always nice to be able

to stand tall when you need it, no? And great on losing that tail too ( just as we lost ours). No need for that awkward (and let’s face it: ugly) kind of balancing tool when you walk upright, plus it makes fitting into your blue jeans a whole lot easier. Do you wear blue jeans—or their equivalent? No need, really, I suppose, since you’ve no doubt retained your body hair. Well, good for you.

Sorry about the plastics. And the radiation. And the pesticides. I really regret that you won’t be hearing any birdsong anytime soon, either, but at least you’ve got that wonderful musical cawing of the crows to keep your mornings bright.

And, of course, I do expect that as you’ve grown in stature and brainpower you’ve learned to deal with the feral cats, your onetime nemesis, but at best occupying a kind of ratty niche in your era of ascendancy. As for the big cats—the really scary ones: tiger, lion, leopard, jaguar—they must be as remote to you as the mammoths were to us.

It goes without saying that with the extinction of the bears (polar bears: they were a pretty silly development anyway, and of no use to anybody beyond maybe trophy hunters) and any other large carnivores, there’s nothing much left to threaten you as you feed and breed and find your place as the dominant mammals on earth.

Anyway, I just want to wish you all the best in your endeavors on this big blind rock hurtling through space. My advice? Stay out of the laboratory. Live simply. And, whatever you do, please—I beg you—don’t start up a stock exchange.

—T.C. Boyle A novelist and short story writer, T.C. Boyle has published 14 novels and more than 100 short stories.

GREEN GLOBAL NEW DEAL At the time I write this, the greatest fissure in global politics is between the affluent white North and the suffering and devastated victims of floods, fires, blazing temperatures, deforestation and war from the Global South. Writ large, the global crisis between rich and poor is the background to environmental and economic injustice.

At the December United Nations climate summit in Paris, the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, which will bear the greatest burdens of the crisis, will be demanding a Global Green Fund to pay for environmental mitigation and economic devel-

opment. The price tag is a paltry few billion dollars at this point, compared to the $90 billion cost estimates for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan plus the budgets of our surveillance agencies.

What is needed is a Green Global New Deal funded from public and private sources to begin saving the Earth.

California Senate Pro Tem Kevin De León, a leader in the cause of environmental justice, has legislated a remarkable shift in environmental and budgetary priorities in the state where I reside. Call it the California Model.

Current law now requires that environmental funding go both to reduction of carbon emissions and coequal benefits for disadvantaged communities. During the four years beginning in 2014 the state will invest $120 billion on such a climate justice program from sources including the muchdebated cap-and-trade program which brings in at least $2 billion or $3 billion annually along with revenue from tax reforms funded

by Tom Steyer, the billionaire San Francisco investor who has made climate justice his passion.

This model is being carried

by California Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration by a series of state and regional pacts with the goal of achieving a more stable climate. Almost alone, the governor is pursuing energy diplomacy with formal agreements with 11 U.S. states, and a growing list of major countries from China to Brazil to Germany. Call it the emerging Green Bloc.

By Brown’s conservative numbers, the Green Bloc represents 100 million people and a GDP of $4.5 trillion. But these numbers are low: By my estimate we are talking about 166 million people in states pursuing low to no carbon policies in American states with 262 Electoral College votes!

Tea party beware.

We are entering the pre-post Brown era in California along with the pre-post Obama era in the nation, intensifying the urgency of electing a governor, president and officials with the best ability to navigate the critical transitions ahead.

—Tom Hayden A lifelong political activist and author, Hayden is a former member of the California Legislature.

To read more letters or to write a letter of your own, please visit LettersToTheFuture.org. This is a collaborative effort of San Diego CityBeat, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and the Media Consortium.

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | opinion

spin

cycle

john r. lamb

Mayor Faulconer keeps shoveling The best time to listen to a politician is when he’s on a stump on a street corner in the rain late at night when he’s exhausted.

Then he doesn’t lie.

—Theodore H. White

S

ome cans are a lot heavier than others,” San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said back in September when he joined a city waste pickup crew for an early-morning photo op.

Last week, the mayor renewed the Regular Guy Tour by donning gloves, work boots and a reflective vest to tackle a pothole in Pacific Beach. “My key objective’s obviously street repair, street repair and street repair,” he told a CBS 8 television reporter. “It’s all about need and putting dollars from the city budget right into neighborhoods, right where it should be going.”

#SDCityBeat

The reporter noted that Faulconer was only four hours removed from his return from New York, where he made what was billed as the city’s final pitch to National Football League owners to keep the San Diego Chargers from bolting north by building the team a new stadium in Mission Valley.

The mayor emerged from that 45-minute meeting his usual buoyant self, but he offered little in the way of news. Asked if he sensed any shift from owners in San Diego’s favor, Faulconer said, “It’s hard to characterize.

All I can tell you is that the discussion today was very, uh, very open. There was a lot of good questions on timing. There was, I think, a receptiveness to hearing directly from us about the steps that we’ve taken and the steps we’re continuing to take.”

“It was very clear to me that all of the owners in the room were very engaged in this process,” he added.

When pressed by a reporter on the timing issue, the mayor said owners wondered how a June ballot measure “would work.”

This would be the third proposed date for a stadium ballot measure from this mayor, who previously had suggested next month and then January as target dates to put the question before voters.

Because Faulconer will also be seeking re-election in June, it can be surmised that the mayor— whose backers will frequently remind you of his popularity, according to polls—told team owners that he’d put his considerable political weight behind such a measure.

Owners not familiar with Faulconer’s penchant to oversell and under-produce might have wondered, “Well, what if even your golden-haired backing fails to deliver?” To which the mayor—ever the optimist—likely dispelled such an occurrence, given his self-perceived golden touch.

The mayor might wonder who would be so daft as to fund an opposition campaign against a

Mayor Faulconer as multi-tasker: Pothole filler, stadium pitchman project that he’s willing to stand behind. A member of the city’s negotiating team noted that the proposed $350 million public contribution—$200 million from the city in lease revenue bonds backed by the general fund, and $150 million from the county— would be a record in California for a sports facility.

But again, who would dare challenge a mayor who hops off a plane and four hours later is filling potholes?

The Chargers, in their continuing campaign to usurp headlines when this mayor is on the field, were making news of their own last week, floating the head of Disney (which also owns NFL fave ESPN) as its latest acquisition. Robert Iger, chairman and CEO of Disney, would oversee construction in Carson should the Chargers and Oakland Raiders win the NFL’s Los Angeles sweepstakes.

“Who could we get to better guarantee fan experience than the man who runs ‘the happiest place on earth?’” Carmen Policy, a former NFL executive now heading up the Carson effort, told the Los Angeles Times last week.

Team Faulconer clearly bristled at such ripped-off happy talk, branding the addition of Iger as a “Hail Mary”—in football parlance, a desperate, go-for-broke long pass that rarely connects.

The implication being, of course, that the hire, contingent on Carson’s selection, changed nothing.

As for the city’s pitch, it appears the only change mentioned to NFL owners came from the city’s architectural team, which proposed altering the project’s so-called “kinetic skin” (more LEDs!) and providing the largest video board in the NFL. Take that, Jerry Jones!

City officials told owners they have spent $3 million so far on the stadium proposal—$2 million on a fast-track environmental

impact report the Chargers view as legally shaky, and $1 million on additional professional services.

Mayor Faulconer told reporters that owners also had questions about the city’s financing plan, and the owners also wondered whether the city was being honest about its estimated $1.1 billion price tag. The city has proposed that the Chargers bear the cost of all construction overruns on the project, as well as operation and maintenance, but the team seems far from interested in what the mayor’s shoveling.

What the owners are likely looking for are specifics, given the mayor’s decision to drop $750 million in obligations into the laps of the Chargers and NFL—again, without a hint of the team blessing any of it. Owners are moved by dollar signs, not smiles and promises, and a proposal without details on oversight, rent, potential surcharges on tickets and parking, and clarity on future development within the Mission Valley site is likely as dead as the Chargers’ playoff hopes this season.

So how long can we expect this shoveling toward futility to continue? Well, good luck figuring out when NFL owners will actually vote on the Los Angeles issue. Dates have been thrown around this past week like undersized running backs.

Given the confusion, Mayor Faulconer may well get his wish that this process gets dragged into his re-election efforts. The question remains, however, whether a self-described popular mayor who’s offering gobs of public dough to a disinterested team hobbling toward an anemic 2-14 season can seal the deal.

This may be one political pothole too deep for this mayor to fix.

Spin Cycle appears every week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | Opinion

Sordid

Edwin Decker

Tales

If I were a fundamentalist Christian president

S

en. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got himself into some hot water recently when he said you need to fear God to be president.

Speaking at the National Religious Liberties Conference, which was established to (excuse me while I double over in violent fits of laughter) address the persecution of Christians problem, the presidential candidate was asked how important it is for a president to “fear God.” “Any president who doesn’t begin every day on his knees,” Cruz said, “isn’t fit to be commander-inchief of this country.”

And oy did Atheist Nation throw a hissy fit. Most of the secular talking heads, bloggers and message boarders—basically any unbeliever with a throat or an Internet connection—was yammering about how this is blasphemy against the principle of separation of church and state, and the Establishment Clause, and the No Religious Test Clause, and the Are You Kidding Me With That Ridiculous Nativity Scene on the Courthouse Lawn Clause.

Well sure, we definitely need to keep Christianity’s stupid, sprawling tentacles as far away from our government as possible. But that’s on us, not Ted Cruz. Because when you think about it, it makes perfect sense for him to hold this opinion. Cruz is a Christian fundamentalist who takes the Bible literally. He believes, for instance, that his deity—the all-seeing and all-powerful (though somewhat of a childish, tantrum-throwing) Christian God—wiped out an entire planet of people because some didn’t idolize him enough. If you believe that, of course you would want a Christian in the White House to make sure we all worship God properly.

Mike Huckabee, the Republican presidential hopeful who famously said that we need to “amend the Constitution [to meet] God’s standards,” told a crowd of Houston Hispanics in May that “the Supreme Court cannot overrule God” when it comes to issues of same sex marriage and abortion.

Those comments also set Skeptic Central into a tailspin. But again, if you believe, as Huckabee does, that gay marriage is causing society to crumble before our eyes and that God is about to take his cosmic sledgehammer unto our cities so that there’d be nothing left but rubble, roaches and slabs of Arby’s meat—well, naturally you’d want the Constitution to sanction the Bible.

At a campaign rally in Illinois last week, Donald Trump joined the effort to boycott Starbucks because it had the nerve not to recognize Christmas on its coffee cups. Trump went so far as to say he was not going to renew the lease of a Starbucks in one of his buildings. Then he bemoaned the persecution of Christians during the holiday season.

“If I become president, we are all going to be saying Merry Christmas again,” said the War-onChristmas torn candidate.

And yeah, that’s scary rhetoric. It almost sounds like he plans to make Merry Christmas-ing mandatory. But guess what? If you believe, as Trump believes, that a snub like that might provoke the good

8 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

Lord to rain fire and brimstone onto all of our heads and houses as he did on Sodom and Gomorrah, hell yeah, you’d make it mandatory to say “Merry Christmas.”

Let me tell you something, friends. If I were elected president, and happened to be a fundamentalist Christian—the kind who believed the Biblical stories of God’s wrath, such as the trials of Job, the decimation of Jericho, the judgment against Amalek, the slaying of Onan, the head-fuck of Abraham the utter screw-over of Lot and his lot—the first thing I would do is amend the Constitution so only Christians can be president and that they rule with complete autocracy. Yes, it’s extreme, but no sense in taking any chances. I have seen the devastation of tsunamis and, frankly, I’m in no mood.

If I were president, and a fundamentalist, all Starbucks cups would commemorate Christmas with a mandatory image of the Nativity scene.

However, in addition to three kings presenting gold, frankincense and myrrh—there will be a fourth king presenting coffee beans with a caption that reads, “Because Jesus’ got work to do.”

If I were a Christian president, gay marriage would be illegal across the land. I know, I know, there’d be an uproar. But I would just have to be straight with my LGBT brothers and sisters and say, “You know I love you—but do you really want the Lord our Father to turn the water into blood? Can you handle a plague of locusts? Do you know what havoc locusts can wreak on your styling gel?

If I were the fundamentalist president of the United States of Christianica, you are goddamn right we’d be saying Merry Christmas again. We’d be saying it all day, every day or be banished to the North Pole for slave labor—forced to assemble dollhouses and drum kits while being systematically molested by Santa’s squadron of secret torture elves.

And we wouldn’t stop at Christmas, either. As your Christian overlord, it would be mandatory to say “Merry Thanksgiving,” and “Happy Easter” as well. In February we would say, “Have an ass-kicking Ash Wednesday;” in March, “Have a good Good Friday, yo,” followed by “Have a smoking Pentecost!”

There is no Christian holiday we would not acknowledge with a sappy greeting and, for good measure, I would make some up, so “Merry Magdalene Day to you, my friends,” and “Have a holly-jolly RomansGot-Swallowed-Up-By-The-Red-Sea Anniversary, sweetheart. I got you a gift!”

The point is, if I were a president who believed that God was the twisted prick that the Bible says he is, this country would be kissing Christ’s ass so hard and so deep, the entire state of Maine would be dripping in Jesus fromunda. Thankfully, that’s not the case.

Now take down that ridiculous Nativity scene from the courthouse lawn!

Sordid Tales appears every other week.

Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | Food

by michael a. gardiner

the world

The gratis salad of tofu with beet and raspberry vinaigrette seemed generous but less than promising. Looks can be deceiving. The tofu glistened, and in that moment I realized it was completely different from any I’d tasted before.

There were hints of beans, nuts and bread fresh Tofu’s more than a missed steak out of the oven, and even a bit of sweetness. Nevermind the perfectly fresh greens or surprisingly well-balanced dressing; the tofu was the undisofu gets no respect. Its reputation as a puted, brilliant star of the dish. “meat substitute” precedes it. Bad tofu— Dao Fu bills itself as offering “Vietnamese & and that’s most of the stuff you can buy— Japanese Cuisine” (in awkwardly-plated, enorisn’t just boring, it’s bad. Really bad. Good tofu, mous portions), though Tao’s affinity for spice on the other hand, is glorious. suggests otherwise. A five on a scale of one to 10 A tofu craftsman (artisanal or industrial) was more than enough for this spice lover. Chimakes the product by curdling soy milk—much nese and broader Southeast Asian influences as cheese is made by curdling animal milk. The seem as prominent as those of Michael A. Gardiner Vietnam or Japan.

The sweet-savory-sour-bitter flavor of the spice blend in the fivespiced bean curd and pepper stirfry, for example, gave the dish a pronounced Chinese character. As good as the noodles were, the vegetables were even better. Perfectly cooked zucchini maintains its texture, as does baby bok choy, with a pleasing hit of bitterness. But once again that tofu was the star.

The story with the stuffed tofu, eggplant and pepper was similar.

Two vegetables and that tofu were stuffed with fish paste, sautéed and arrayed around a cube of rice laced Stuffed tofu, eggplant and peppers with garlic chips before being doused with too much sauce. It looked awkward craftsman makes soy milk by soaking, grinding, and tasted like a Chinese-Thai cross, and it’s hard boiling and straining dried soybeans, before addto work up much angst over the appearance. ing a coagulant (acid or salt) to separate solids The same might be said for the lily bulb with from liquids, and pressing the curds in a forming asparagus and oyster mushroom. It was a dish block. The result is tofu. As with cheese, though, that ought to have been all about the perfectly the quality of the milk and care with which tofu cooked vegetables. Asparagus spears prepared is made can yield vastly different products, rangwhole and al dente are not exactly common in ing from the splendid to supermarket-grade meAsian cuisine. But, once again, it was the tofu, diocrity. fried this time, that stole the show.

That is why Dao Fu (3332 Adams Ave.) in Dao Fu also offers meat dishes, but that raises Normal Heights can change the way you see tofu. a question I’d never thought to ask: Why? With Terms like “house-made” and “hand-crafted” get tofu this good, it’s the meat that seems like a misthrown around a lot, but at their best they contake. note care, craftsmanship and an unwillingness to settle for less than the best ingredients. That The World Fare appears weekly. is precisely chef-owner Eric Tao’s relationship Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com. with his tofu.

fare

T

#SDCityBeat

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

Up Front | Food

by ron donoho

urban

eats Which came first?

P

re-opening parties are not the optimal opportunity to judge or review a restaurant. But The Crack Shack (2266 Kettner Blvd.) had already received heaps of attention and platitudes, so participation in an invite-only fête at this egg-citing new chicken-centric eatery in North Little Italy seemed a solid enough basis for reportage.

For a week, I kept telling people I was going to that new place on Kettner called the Cluck Shack. It’d really beaked my attention (pause to slap knee). Right up until the moment I gazed upon the all-open-air dining area and saw the actual name painted on the wood paneling that surrounds the kitchen, I was sure it was called Cluck Shack.

Nope, it’s Crack Shack. A restaurant called Crack Shack has opened right next to the stunning, high-end, always-packed Juniper & Ivy, owned by Mike Rosen and run by Top Chef Richard Blais. The Shack is a project created by those two guys. Knock eggshells, here’s to their success. But I haven’t felt the urge to question the naming of a new restaurant so much since Kimpton opened downtown’s Hotel Palomar and initially called its onsite eatery Suite & Tender.

The idea feathering the nest at Crack Shack is all-day chicken food service. You know what I mean. For breakfast (dress warmly in the cool fall mornings), lunch and dinner you can amble in and order eggs, sandwiches or entrees made from America’s favorite fowl. Happily, the chickens are free-range, and the eggs are organic.

At the Crack Shack media party, we got to sample tray-passed appetizers (the Crack Shack menu calls appetizers “Other Cluck”). One

10 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

server wore t-shirts that read: “Cluck Off. I’m Hangry.” The chicken croquettes were fine, and the chicken oysters (pickle brined, with Meyer lemon and mustard seed tartar) were delicious.

I love a menu that goes for laughs—even at the expense of defenseless chickens—and noted that the Coop Deville (fried chicken with pickled Fresno chiles, lime mayo and Napa cabbage) could be worth a try. There’s also an Anti-Salad Power Bowl, heaped with smoked chicken and soft-boiled eggs. But not everything tastes like chicken; the Chicken of the Sea sandwich is actually wood-fired albacore. ron donoho

A repurposed Abbey Road at The Crack Shack The grounds at the Shack are nothing if not meant to make you smile. There’s a bocce ball court at the end of the property closest to Juniper & Ivy. It was amusing to sip a cocktail (yes, Crack offers a full bar), toss bocce balls and admire an enormous wallpaper re-creation of the Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover. Because we are at Crack Shack, the Beatles’ visages on the wallpaper have been replaced with rooster heads.

The whole place measures 4,000 square feet, and has room for 150 diners. It was designed, hatched if you will, by Bluemotif Architecture, which is also responsible for Juniper & Ivy and the nearby, Orchid-award-winning Kettner Exchange. Now there’s a new sunny side up in the northern end of Little Italy.

Urban Eats appears every other week.

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | Drink

the

by andrew dyer

beerdist Slicing South Bay stereotypes

T

he opening of Machete Beer House (2325 scraping startup funds from any and all available Highland Ave.) in National City in Febsources. ruary marked the beginning of a renais“Part of being able to open this place, I sold my sance year for craft beer in the South Bay. Since car,” Trejo says. “I got money wherever I could.” then, two breweries and another taproom have Trejo’s experience in the industry has resulted opened in neighboring Chula Vista. A pair of in an impressive and carefully curated rotation recent standing-roomof local beer, which he andrew dyer only events at Machete says rivals some of San made it difficult to Diego’s better-known understand how such craft destinations. a large, underserved “I don’t want to toot market could have my own horn or anybeen ignored by the thing,” he says, “but I industry for so long. hear it from customPartners Eddie Trejo ers all the time that we and Joann Cornejo tohave as good or better day appear prophetic list than any of the craft because they coined beer bars around the the #southbayuprising county. We’re as relevant hashtag. as any other bar that’s But the demand in craft-focused.

We’re the market was not alcraft beer just as much ways so evident.

Eddie Trejo and Joann Cornejo as Churchill’s or HamilTrejo says it was obton’s or Small Bar.” vious why industry growth stalled where median With a one-year anniversary fast approaching, incomes dipped and the population became more look for more special events and perhaps even a colorful. “There’s been this big idea in people’s collaborative brew. heads that certain demographics don’t want craft “We’ve talked to a couple breweries and we’ve beer, which is wrong,” he says. “It’s just a percepbeen shooting the idea around, but we don’t have tion of cultural differences that caused that.” anything concrete yet,” Trejo says.

Many San Diego breweries and tasting rooms Machete’s first-year celebration will mark feature an undeniable racial homogeneity in both more than just the opening of one bar in one staff and clientele, which perhaps contributes to neighborhood. It’s the beginning of the longthis perception. But where the establishment stumawaited realization of the potential of this combled, the former Brewery Tours of San Diego guide munity to support and participate in one of the and distributor sales rep saw an opportunity. most exciting sectors of San Diego culture and “You’re never 100 percent on any business, industry. Trejo says things are just getting started but I was fairly confident I’d be alright,” Trejo for craft beer in the South Bay. says. “There wasn’t a real taproom anywhere in “I think it’s got a really bright and really huge the South Bay, but there was a market for it, a lot future, that’s part of why I opened here,” he says. of people who were into beer and just no local “I’m confident in that.” outlets.”

The Beerdist appears every other week.

Trejo and Cornejo had to take some extraordiWrite to andrewd@sdcitybeat.com nary steps to realize their vision for Machete, like

#SDCityBeat

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

Up Front | books

The floating

by jim ruland

library Is listening reading?

L

ately I’ve been listening to a lot of books on Audible.com, the largest audio book producer and retailer in the United States. I pay a flat monthly fee and accumulate credits that I can save or spend on books that I select from the website. Audible has been a subsidiary of Amazon.com since 2008, and its retail site is easy to navigate, making it a snap to buy, download and listen to books through my iPhone. It even interfaces with my Goodreads, another company owned by Amazon, so I can post my review as soon as I finish listening.

But is listening to a book the same as reading?

I don’t think so.

It’s a different kind of interaction with the story. Other than convenience, there aren’t many advantages to listening to a book rather than reading it. In some regards, listening presents considerable disadvantages.

On different occasions I was listening to audiobook collections of linked stories: Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and Other Stories, which I talked about in my most recent column, and Ann Beattie’s The State We’re In: Maine Stories. One of the pleasures of reading stories that share characters or allude to common events is the frisson of recognition that arises when your brain makes a connection that you can’t quite articulate.

While reading a book in the traditional manner, one simply flips the pages or searches the digital file until the connection is confirmed.

But “flipping around” an audio file is impractical and irritating. The ear doesn’t “remember” in quite the same way that the eye does. It was not unusual to feel a flickering sense of familiarity as I was introduced to a character I thought I’d encountered before, which then it disappeared.

I was always feeling like I was missing out on something.

Of course, part of this has to do with the way I consume audio books: I listen to them while driving my car to and from Los Angeles or while walking in the park or on the beach. If I listened to these books the same way that I usually read books—sitting on my couch or reclining in bed, attentive and reflective, with my attention directed solely at the page or screen—I would probably miss less.

However, the format’s failings are counter-

12 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

balanced by the contributions of the voice actors who read the work. Take for example, In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware and read by Imogen Church. The novel is set in England, a place I know mostly from books, music and the BBC. Although the story is told from the point of view of an introverted crime writer who goes to a remote house in the woods to celebrate an old friend’s hen night (the British equivalent of a bachelorette party), it’s really an ensemble story with six characters, all of them English. It’s a psychological thriller in the Agatha Christie mold.

Ware alludes to Christie’s And Then There Were None several times.

Church’s brilliant reading makes each character clear with a personality all his or her own, and she uses variations of London accents to make distinctions that this American listener would have missed on the page.

Clearly, Church is more than just reading. The experience is comparable to listening to a performance by an exceptionally talented monologist. As a result, I have strong feelings about and attachments to each of these characters. The narrator strikes me as a bit neurotic though she’s not nearly as highstrung as the maid of honor, who seems to be on the verge of a breakdown. And the bride comes across as both mysterious and coolly manipulative. How much of these impressions come from Church’s performance or Ware’s prose?

The answer, I think, is both. They’re entwined in much the same way that nature (prose) versus nurture (performance) arguments always end up circling back on each other. For a novel of suspense, which In a Dark, Dark Wood most certainly is, the combination is supremely compelling.

I do have some issues with the way Ware reveals information about her protagonist. While the reader learns about the guests as the gathering unfolds, the author deliberately withholds information about the narrator’s past, which could be revealed at any time. That’s not suspense; that’s manipulative story telling and it’s no less irritating in audio format than it would be between the covers of a book. Sadly, the option of throwing an audiobook (i.e. my iPhone) across the room makes it prohibitively expensive.

Write to jimr@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

ENCINITAS

1

DIY HOLIDAYS

Been to the mall lately? It’s already a crowded mess of holiday-rabid shoppers vying for parking spots who find out the store they’re going to “just ran out” of that gift. We’re not humbugging, mind you.

We just like to think our readers would opt to buy their holiday gifts at a local boutique (check out our holiday gift guide in the Dec. 9 issue for some great options) and appreciate a personal touch when getting gifts.

That’s what makes Handmade Holidays, a series of workshops at the Lux Art Institute (1550 S. El Camino Real) in Encinitas so great.

Starting on Thursday, Nov. 19, and continuing through Saturday, Dec. 19, Lux will offer a variety of workshops for crafty folks whose creativity isn’t limited to boozy eggnog recipes. Learn simple printmaking techniques to craft one-of-a-kind wrapping paper and cards (Thursday, Nov. 19). Make your own wooden or-

BARRIO LOGAN

naments (Wednesday, Dec. 9) for the tree or to give as gifts. The workshop series will offer a wide variety of options at—best of all—an affordable price (most start at $50).

“It really is simple enough for students to continue at home,” says Amanda Rouse, who teaches the marbling workshop AMANDA ROUSE Monday, Nov. 23. “I provide information on where to buy supplies and demonstrate the process,” For those unfamiliar with marbling, Rouse says: “Marbling is an ancient Persian decorative process used to color paper and objects. It was commonly used inside the cover of handmade books. Artists float paint on a cellulose liquid, making intricate patterns and designs that are transferred to paper.”

Rouse says her class is a bit of a catch-all in that marbling can be used to make cards and ornaments as well as scarves and bandanas.

Marbling workshop There will also be classes on crafting paper succulents (Dec. 5), block printing on fabric (Dec. 12) and Shibori dyeing (Dec. 9). luxartinstitute.org

LITTLE ITALY

2 NO STRINGS ATTACHED 3 MAGIC MAN

Fresh Sound organizer Bonnie Wright has been dedicated to bringing avant-garde music to San Diego since 1997. While we’re not historically inclined to run out to see a concert featuring a solo clarinetist, we’ll make an exception for Wright’s latest concert featuring Vasko Dukovski. The classically trained, multidisciplinary musician has no fear blending sounds that don’t traditionally © 2015 ENSEMBLE ÉCHAPPÉ complement one another, which are often paired alongside theatrical vocals or upbeat instrumentals. In addition to his solo caVasko Dukovski reer, he’s the co-founder of The Grneta Ensemble, which won the prestigious Arriaga Chamber Music Competition in 2010. Dukovski will perform his program “Space and Time: Sound in Space,” which features composed and improvised clarinet pieces.

The concert will take place at the Bread & Salt space (1955 Julian Ave.) on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for everyone else. freshsoundmusic.com

Funding for local art has been a slippery slope around town, but Little Italy isn’t about to say arrivederci to its cultural presence.

Instead, the Little Italy Association is hosting Minor Magic, an art exhibit featuring local illustrator and graphic designer Randy Crawford. The exhibit will raise money to revamp the neighborhood’s art scene, including a new mural near the intersection of Grape and State streets. Starting Saturday, Nov. 21, Crawford’s Photoshop-savvy manipulations of San Diego spots and foreign urban scenery will show at the New City America office (710 W. Ivy St.) with a private reception from 6 to 9 p.m. While there, guests can meet and greet Crawford while munching on tasty bites. Entry is free, but RSVP is required at rsvp@littleitalysd. com. The exhibition will be open to the public on weekdays until Dec. 30. minormagic.net RANDY CRAWFORD

HDowntown at Sundown at MCASD - Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. MCASD’s new 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, a book club and live music. From 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. Free. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org Free Third Thursday at MCASD - La Jolla, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla. On the third Thursday of every month, visitors receive free admission to both MCASD locations, plus free Gallery Guide-led tours. From 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. Free. 858454-3541, mcasd.org HPresence Exhibition Tour at SDSU Downtown Gallery , 725 West Broadway, Downtown. Matthew Strauss will give a personal tour of the 31 works in Presence: Selections from the Matthew and Iris Strauss Family Foundation Collection, which centers thematically on art featuring women. At 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19.

Free. art.sdsu.edu/sdsu-downtown-gallery Queer Geographies: Video Art and Panel at UCSD SME Presentation Lab, Voigt Drive and Matthews Lane, La Jolla.

Selected video works by Lebanese Artists curated by Lasse Lau which considers issues such as suburbia, displacement and xenophobia. There will be a panel moderated by MFA candidate Patricia Zambrano. From 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19.

Free. visarts.ucsd.edu San Diego Mesa College Fall 2015 Student Art Show at Mesa College Art Gallery, 7250 Mesa College Drive, Clairemont. The annual exhibition includes close to 100 artworks in drawing, design, digital media, printmaking, photography and more. Prints, handmade cards, jewelry, ceramics and fashion items will be available for sale. Opening from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. Free. 619-3882829, sdmesa.edu/art-gallery Ernesto Neto: Mother body emotional densities, for alive temple time baby son at MCASD - Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. A new exhibition from the Brazilian artist who specializes in hanging polyp-shaped sculptures stuffed with fragrant spices like lavender, cloves, and turmeric. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Free-$10. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org HJudith Barry: Voice Off at MCASD - Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. The experimental video artist presents her two-channel video and sound installation in which videos are projected onto each side of a wall dividing the gallery. Viewers must navigate the two spaces through a passageway in the projection. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Free-$10. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org HRobert Irwin: Light and Space at MCASD - Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. The iconic local artist debuts a new installation that uses fluorescent light tubes to create a mass-less, enveloping perceptual experience. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Free-$10. 858-4543541, mcasd.org HSize Matters at Low Gallery, 1878 Main St., Barrio Logan. The closing reception for the juried exhibition featuring small (no more than 10”) photographic works by 35 artists including Ann Marie Donahue, Will

“Trolley Crossing, Little Italy”

#SDCityBeat

HPOSEUR at UCSD SME Presentation Lab, Voigt Drive and Matthews Lane, La Jolla. A group show of sculptures and paintings by Los Angeles-based artist Kara Joslyn and Mexico City-based collaborators SANGREE (René Godinez Pozas and Carlos Lara). From noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. Free. visarts.ucsd.edu

H = CityBeat picks

Gibson, Hans Gindlesberger, and more.

From 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Free.

619-348-5517, lowgallerysd.com HAll You Can Eat at 3rdSpace, 4610 Park Blvd., University Heights. An showcase of food-themed art from pop-surrealists Terri Mitchell and Matt Stallings.

Includes food and drinks. Opening from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21.

Free. 619-255-3609, 3rdspace.co HCooked Just Right at Said Space, 766 South Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas. New works by Encinitas artist Andy Davis, who specializes in free-flowing paintings that blend abstraction and psychedelia. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21.

Free. saidspace.com HCross City at La Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan.

The third annual exhibition features artists from San Diego and Tijuana in an effort to promote cross-border unity and collaboration. Features work from Adrian Garcia, Elsoldelrac, Once Cero Dos, Panca and dozens more. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 21. Free. facebook.com/ events/1500236253637504/ HMinor Magic Art Show Benefit at New City America, 710 W Ivy St., Little Italy. A fundraising art show featuring the works of local artist Randy Crawford with proceeds benefitting the Little Italy Association’s efforts to promote arts and culture in Little Italy. Must RSVP to rsvp@ littleitalysd.com. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. Free. 619-2335009, littleitalysd.com HThe Comic Book Art of Star Wars at San Diego Comic Art Gallery, 2765 Truxtun Rd. Barracks 3, Point Loma. A limited engagement exhibition featuring 30 pieces of original Star Wars comic book art from the original ‘70s Marvel series.

Features a special appearance by artist Howard Chaykin. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. Free. 858-2701315, sdcomicartgallery.com Value Scale: SDAI Affordable Art Fair at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. This curated selection of 20 artists features original contemporary art in a variety of media priced at $500 or less. Artists include Hung Viet Nguyen, Edwin Nutting, Ricardo Sanders and more. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. Free. sandiego-art.org Talmadge Art Show at Liberty Station Conference Center, 2600 Laning Rd, The 23rd annual event showcases 81 artists and their handmade items, such as jewelry, clothing, ceramics, photography and more. There will also be a food truck and a raffle. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 22. Free. 619-559-9082, talmadgeartshow.com

BOOKS Adam Brookes at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The thriller author and former correspondent for the BBC will be promoting Spy Games, the second in the series featuring Philip Mangan, a foreign correspondent and sometimes spy. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. Free. 858268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Kristin Higgins at Barnes & Noble Mira Mesa, 10775 Westview Pkwy., Mira Mesa.

The New York Times bestselling author signs her newest novel, If Only You Knew, alongside a cheesecake sampling. From 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. Free.

858-684-3166, stores.barnesandnoble. com/event/9780061740657-0 Tierrasanta Talks at Tierrasanta Seventh-day Adventist Church, 11260

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

November 18 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

COMEDY

Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Tierrasanta.

Author Caitlin O’Connell discusses her research of African bull elephants’ social world, which is featured in her new book, Elephant Don. At 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 18. $10-40. 858-5769990, adventuresbythebook.com

Adam Sandler, David Spade, Nick Swardson and Rob Schneider at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. What appears to be most of the cast of Grown Ups perform standup comedy and funny bits. At 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 18. $35-$80. sandiegotheatres.org

HPhil Cousineau at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The award-winning writer and filmmaker will sign and discuss his new book, The Book of Roads: Travel Stories from Michigan to Marrakech. At 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 19. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com Rosanna Pansino at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The creator and host of Nerdy Nummies, the Internet’s most popular baking show, will sign and discuss her first book, The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook. At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy. com HDavid Sedaris at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. One of America’s preeminent humor writers and the author of Me Talk Pretty One Day will do one of his signature reading performances as well as sign books after the show. At 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22. $35-$50. 619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org Greg Blake Miller at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals Program, Miller will sign and discuss his book, Decemberlands: Holiday Stories. At noon. Sunday, Nov. 22. Free.

858-454-0347, warwicks.com

DANCE All School Studio Showcase at Jean Isaacs Dance Theater, 2650 Truxtun Road, Point Loma. Jean Isaacs dance students and choreographers present 14 creative and complex dances ranging from Latin Jazz to modern, tap to musical theater. At 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. $10-$15. 619-885-1803, sandiegodancetheater.org

HOLIDAY EVENTS Fantasy on Ice at NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma.

The annual skating rink features holidayrelated activities and performances, as well as handmade goods and artwork for sale. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. $12-$40. 619-573-9300, ntclibertystation.com Passport Shopping Spree at Downtown Encinitas, South Coast Hwy 101 and Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Through Dec. 17, stop at up to 15 participating Encinitas businesses and get your passport stamped for a chance to win a $1000 shopping spree. See website for complete details and list of participating busiCROIX-ROUGE FRANÇAISE À PARIS

nesses. Various times. Thursday, Nov. 19. encinitas101.com

MUSIC Dan Reagan Quartet at The Studio Door, 3750 30th St., North Park. The twotime Grammy Award-winning trombonist premieres his new quartet featuring guitarist Louis Valenzuela, bassist Mackenzie Leighton and drummer Isaac Crow.

From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. $5. thestudiodoor.com HMiya Masaoka at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. The experimental sound artist performs rare musical works by Marcel Duchamp, as well as original works based on Duchamp’s ideas of sound, chance and movement. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. $15$20. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org Dance Rhythms: Music of Mexico, Argentina and Spain at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Guest conductor Carlos Miguel Prietowill leads the Symphony through a performance of music from Alberto Ginastera, Manuel de Falla and the United States premiere of a “Concierto Voltaje for Timpani and Orchestra” by Gabriela Ortiz.

At 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20 and 2 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 22. $20-$96. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.com HJazz @ The Jacobs: Living Jazz Legends at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. The San Diego Symphony’s brand new jazz series kicks off with a concert from tenor saxophonist Charles McPherson and an all-star band. The concert will open with a set from The Young Lions. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. $20-$65. 619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org Reggae Fest at Del Mar Racetrack, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Iration headlines this semi-annual fest. Concert takes place on the Seaside Stage after the last race. From 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. $6-$20. 858-755-1141, delmarscene.com HVasko Dukovski at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. The New York-based clarinetist performs a set of experimental music as part of the Fresh Sound concert series. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. $10-$15. freshsoundmusic.com Neave Trio at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The award-winning trio is comprised of violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Toni James and have performed in places like Belgium, Russia and Guatemala. At 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22. $25-$30. 760-839-4190, artcenter.org

SPOTLIGHT In support of the victims of the terrorist attack in Paris, Adventures by the Book will host Je Suis Paris, a silent auction to benefit the French Red Cross. Prizes include dinners with well-known local authors like Susan Vreeland (Lisette’s List), Michelle Gable (A Paris Apartment) and Laurel Corona (Finding Emilie), all of whom have featured the City of Lights in their books. There will also be French wine and books for purchase. Takes place Sunday, Nov. 22 at 6 p.m. in The Cheese Store of San Diego (1980 Kettner Blvd.). adventuresbythebook.com

—Nancy Kirk

14 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi at Temple Beth Shalom of Chula Vista, 208 Madrona St., Chula Vista. The kosher concert features American violinist and composer Yale Strom and offers barbecued hot dogs and veggie burgers. From 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22. $20-$25. 619420-6040, bethshalomtemple.com Chamber Concert Series: Eric Lu at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. The winner of this year’s U.S. Chopin Competition, who has also received praise at competitions around the world, plays a concert of classical chamber music. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 23. $40. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org Swing Dancing at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. The swing dance lesson is followed by a night of dancing and live music from The Whitney Shay Quartet. Event takes place on an outdoor terrace. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23. Free. 619-2365800, swingdancingsandiego.com

“Wake Up” by Matt Stallings is on view in All You Can Eat, a show featuring works from Stallings and Terri Mitchell opening from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, at 3rdSpace (4610 Park Blvd.) in University Heights.

Yuri at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. The Mexican singer, actress, and TV host stops by on her current Invencible Tour. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24. $46.50-$86.50. 619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org HSan Diego Jazz Fest at Town & Country Hotel, 500 Hotel Circle N., Mission Valley. A gathering of dozens of jazz bands from all over the world representing a wide variety of styles: traditional jazz, Dixieland, ragtime, swing and rockabilly.

From 7 to 11 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25 and Thursday, Nov. 26, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 27, 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 28, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 29. $20-$50. 619291-7131, sdjazzfest.org Víctor Manuel at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The Bronx-born Latin music artist has had 42 charting singles on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and comes trough town on his Que Suenen Los Tambores Tour. At 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 25. $45-$65. 619-5701100, sandiegotheatres.org

OUTDOORS Thanksgiving Childrens’ Camp at Living Coast Discovery Center, 1000 Gunpowder Point Dr., Chula Vista. This children’s camp explores nature and wildlife through hands-on activities such as microscope observations and shark and bird feedings. One to three day options available. From 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23. $24-$137. 619-409-5900, thelivingcoast.org

PERFORMANCE HTurkey Calling Show at Geisel Li-

brary, UCSD campus, La Jolla. The annual event is presented in the style of an old-time live radio broadcast and discusses how the American turkey became popular in European art. Features live music by Teeny-Tiny Pit Orchestra.

From noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25. Free. library.ucsd.edu

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HLong Story Short: Cold Turkey at San Diego Writers, Ink, 710 13th St., Downtown. So Say We All’s monthly improv storytelling night features five minute stories about quitting performed with no notes. Anyone can take the stage. From 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. $5 suggested donation. sosayweallonline.com

SPECIAL EVENTS HArab Film Festival at Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. The annual fest features films from eight countries reflecting the diversity of the region. See website for full schedule and times. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, 4:50 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, and 2:05 to 6:45 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22. $10. 619-238-8777, sandiegoaff.org Fantasy on Ice at NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. The annual skating rink features holiday-related activities and performances, as well as handmade goods and artwork for sale. Rink will be up through Jan. 3. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 19. $12-$40. 619-5739300, ntclibertystation.com

#SDCityBeat

EVENTS The BLVD Market at The Boulevard Center, 2855 El Cajon Blvd., North Park.

The monthly market features local cuisine such as Heart & Trotter, Abu’s Kitchen, Wicked Maine Lobster and Casanova Fish Tacos. The nearby outdoor Calypso Club also offers cocktails, wine and beer.

From 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Free. theboulevard.org MO Stacks Poker Tournament at Stone Brewing World Bistro & GardensPoint Loma, 2816 Historic Decatur Rd #116, Point Loma. The Texas Hold-Em tournament offers participants Stone beer and appetizers with buy-in. Benefits “Movember” charities for men’s health related to prostate and testicular cancer.

From 5 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. $50. 619-269-2100, rondonoho.wix. com/mopoker HNorth Park After Dark at North Park along 30th St., Between 3700 and 3900 block, North Park. Over 25 businesses in the heart of North Park, from galleries to boutiques, will remain open until 9 p.m. and offer specials, refreshments and entertainment. From 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. Free. northparkmainstreet.com ScholarShare’s Toddler Time: Sensory Sensations at New Children’s Museum, 200 W. Island Ave., Downtown. Explore the world of animals at this family-friendly event hosted by ScholarShare. Children are invited to create animal homes and habitats. From 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Free. thinkplaycreate.org Holiday Fantasia at Estancia La Jolla Hotel, 9700 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla. This fundraiser includes boutique shopping, luncheon, fashion show, and a live and silent auction. Benefits The San Diego Chapter of Childhelp, which works toward the treatment and prevention of child abuse in San Diego. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. $100-$125. 858-550-1000, childhelp.org/ holidayfantasia Encinitas Fall Street Fair at Downtown Encinitas, South Coast Hwy 101 and Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. The streets of Encinitas will feature 450 vendors, live music stages, a beer garden and much more.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26. Sunday, Nov. 22.

Free. encinitas101.com HJe Suis Paris at The Cheese Store of San Diego, 1980 Kettner Blvd. #30, Little Italy. This Adventures by the Book benefit for the French Red Cross effort to provide humanitarian relief for victims and survivors of the terrorist attacks in Paris will include wine, cheese, and numerous silent auction items. At 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22. Donations suggested. 619-5440500, adventuresbythebook.com

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HVisiting Artist Lecture: Judith Barry at MCASD - La Jolla, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla. The award-winning artist will discuss her installations that involve architecture and design, film and video, performance, sculpture, photography and new media. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. $5-$15. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org HAfter the Fact: Photographing People, Places, Things at Sparks Gallery, 530 6th Ave., Gaslamp. Local photographer David Wing will discuss his artistic process and the work on display at his current exhibition, A San Diego Retrospective. From 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. Free. 619696-1416, sparksgallery.com

Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Patrons will learn how to use simple printmaking methods and a special paper cutting technique to create their very own set of 10 Holiday Cards. From 6 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 19. $50. 760-436-6611, luxartinstitute.org Life Science for Elementary Students at Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, 1875 El Prado, Balboa Park. The hands-on science workshop focuses on low-cost activities related to molecules and organisms for third to fifth graders. From 5 to 7 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 19. $15. 619-238-1233, rhfleet.org HHandmade Holidays: Marbling at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Join visiting artist Amanda Rouse as she teaches modern and

ancient techniques to marble paper and cotton fabric. From 9 a.m. to noon. Monday, Nov. 23. $62. 760-436-6611, luxartinstitute.org Internet Marketing Secrets for Authors at Inspirations Gallery, 2730 Historic Decatur Rd. Suite 202, Point Loma.

Mark O’Bannon leads a class on what every author ought to know about writing and marketing. From 7 to 9 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 23. Free. 619-255-9483, sandiegowriters.org Introduction to Calligraphy at Waypoint Public, 3794 30th St., North Park.

Learn the basics of calligraphy with Taryn Sutherland, who specializes in custom and hand-painted signage. Class provides starter kit with Japanese black ink, instruction sheets, and more. From 6 to 9

p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24. $145. 619-2558778, waypointpublic.com Jeremy Frey at Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Observe a basketweaving demonstration

by Jeremy Frey, who specializes in ash fancy baskets and has work featured in the Smithsonian. From 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. $8-$10. 619-239-0003, mingei.org Gratitude Poetry at The Ink Spot @ Art Center Lofts, 710 13th St., Ste. 210, Downtown. The workshop examines contemporary poems that focus on gratitude and remembrance, followed by a critique of each participants’ original poems.

From 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 21. $45-$54. sandiegowriters.org

Visiting Artist Lecture: Lasse Lau at UCSD SME Presentation Lab, Voigt Drive and Matthews Lane, La Jolla. New Yorkbased artist and filmmaker Lasse Lau’s work has been exhibited internationally at places such as the Hamburger Bahnhof and Wolfsburg Kunstverein in Germany.

At 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. Free. visarts.ucsd.edu Art and Music: Continuing Conversation at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. The discussion is led by San Diego Opera’s Director of Education and Community Engagement, Dr Nicolas Reveles, and covers the way composers take inspiration from stylistic movements in visual arts. At 10 a.m.

Friday, Nov. 20. $8-$16. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org Lecture and Tour Series at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. San Diego Opera’s director of education and community engagement, Dr. Nicolas Reveles, explores stylistic movements in the visual arts community. At 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20. $8-$16. 619-2327931, sdmart.org National GIS Day at World Resources Simulation Center, 1088 3rd Ave., Downtown. Learn about the way geographic information systems (GIS) technology and how it relates to renewable energy. From 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. $10.

619-865-5904, wrsc.org

WORKSHOPS Beginner Ukulele at La Jolla Community Center, 6811 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla.

Learn how to play “Sloop John B,” “Day O” and “Jamalaya” on the ukulele. Students bring their own instrument. At 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. $12. 858-4590831, ljcommunitycenter.org HHandmade Holidays: Greeting Cards & Wrapping Paper at Lux Art

#SDCityBeat

November 18 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

THEATER DAREN SCOTT

for a muddled conclusion. Eddie Yaroch, whether in present-day or historical roles, shines, and does so more brightly than do the proffered truths of this play.

The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence runs through Dec. 6 at Moxie Theatre in Rolando. $25-$30. moxietheatre.com

* * *

Eddie Yaroch (left) and Justin Lang in The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence

Watson aims at modern truths

T

ime travel propels Moxie Theatre’s production of Madeleine George’s The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence. There’s a lot going on here. The play is a treatise on the complex, symbiotic relationship between human beings and the increasingly technological world in which we live. It’s also a cautionary narrative about the perils of relying on the safety of externals at the expense of open emotion.

And it’s a “curious case” of love designed to conquer all but in the end, unable to.

The eponymous Watson is four different characters, all played by Justin Lang.

Among them is Sherlock Holmes’ faithful cohort, of course. Another is that computer that whipped up on humans on Jeopardy. The Watson who’s one-half of the love story (a hormonal computer dweeb) is earnest and sensitive to the point that you prefer a robot. Jo Anne Glover is the object of his affections. Her character, Eliza, is achingly confused about the value and integrity of genuine feelings. This makes

16 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

The staccato-paced scene changing of Tanya Barfield’s Bright Half Life suggests an advanced acting class exercise in which students on a nearly bare stage (substantial sets aren’t really necessary in this one) are compelled to change attitudes and emotions on a dime. The effect can be entertaining or exasperating depending on one’s tolerance for and appreciation of this whirlwind theatrical device. It helps that Diversionary Theatre’s production of Bright Half Life co-stars two likable actors, Rin Ehlers Sheldon and Bri Giger, portraying a frequently nervous lesbian couple whose relationship goes from the office to the bedroom to co-parenting a couple of kids to separation—decidedly not in chronological order. The 65-minute play directed by Lydia Fort bounces around in time, providing a brisk but choppy look at a relationship with all its highs and lows.

It’s neither as sexy nor as profound as it tries to be.

Bright Half Life runs through Nov. 29

at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights. $29-$51. diversionary.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: War of the Worlds: A staged production of H.G. Wells’ classic about an alien invasion. Adapted by Howard E Koch, it opens for five performances Nov. 18 at the Arthur Wagner Theatre at UCSD. theatre. ucsd.edu Much Ado About Nothing: The Bard’s witty comedy about how a war of words can sometimes lead to a marriage of hearts. Part of the Old Globe’s “Globe for All” program, it opens for four performances Nov. 21 in the Globe’s House of Charm rehearsal room. theoldglobe.org Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The extravagant musical production based on the movie about a grumpy hairball and the belle who loves him. Performed by the touring Broadway cast, it opens for eight performances Nov.24 at the Civic Theatre in Downtown. broadwaysd.com The Last Book of Homer: A free staged reading of José Rivera’s comedy about a screenwriter named Numb Nuts who gets kidnapped in Mexico while filming a movie about the Trojan War. Presented by Amigos del Rep, it happens Nov. 24 at the Lyceum Theatre in Downtown. sdrep.org

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

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Art

CRAFTING A FUTURE Ceramic artist Beliz Iristay helps orphans envision career paths

by Seth Combs

B

The Rancho el Faro Orphanage veladoras

Enrique Botello eliz! Beliz!”

She talked to the staff. Almost in Del Mar involved setting up a makeshift photo booth, They love Beliz Iristay immediately she started teaching similar to the ones you see at red-carpet gatherings, and at the Rancho el Faro the girls the basics of ceramics. In having people dress up for pictures dressed in traditional her spare time, she began applying burkas.

Orphanage in Baja CaliA recent piece she did for the cross-border IV Bienal for grants and received one from fornia. She’s in the cafeteria being the Synergy Art Foundation. With Ciudad Juárez-El Paso Biennial 2015 consisted of a series bombarded from all directions. the grant, she had the girls begin of broken tiles that featured lips meant to represent the The faces of the girls, who range work on a series of ceramic tiles silenced voices of women who mysteriously disappeared in age from four to 18, light up at that could be sold as a set of coast- and were later found in mass graves in Juarez. the sight of her. Some girls want to “Since I’ve started to work with other materials and ers at the neighboring wineries, know if they’ll be doing an art projwith the profits going back to the experimenting with different mediums, I feel much more ect today. Others just want to give children and the orphanage. They comfortable speaking out,” Iristay says. “I wouldn’t be able her a hug. One girl, Paulina, has produced about 500 tiles and sold to do that back in my country, but I see these opportuniother things in mind.

“She asked if I brought any ties here.” sets of four for $5 each. cake,” Iristay says, laughing. Play“It was a huge success and we Iristay points out that there are more girls at the orsold out of the tiles,” Iristay says. phanage since the last time she was there. Most have trouing coy, she looks down to the girl.

“Maybe I have. I guess we’ll see.”

“But it was really important, be- bled backgrounds that include abandonment, death and Beliz Iristay with one of her ceramic “horns” cause it was a big help to the girls abuse of all kinds. A new project Iristay has the children Yes, she has brought some cake.

Down a dirt road and surroundpsychologically, emotionally and working on is handmade veladoras. The children craft the receptacle for the candles, ed by the vineyards of the Valle de Guadalupe region of Baja, mentally.”

When you get to know Iristay, illustrate them and etch their Rancho el Faro offers a glimpse into how many locals still hopes and dreams onto them. live outside of the tasting rooms and wineries. The region is it’s easy to understand why she decidedly rural and Iristay, who grew up in Izmir, Turkey, feels so strongly for these girls.

One candle has a girl’s rendering appreciates that.

Growing up in Turkey gave her of herself as a police officer. AnA rising artist in both the Baja and San Diego art scenes, a sense of how hard it can be for other is a doctor. The idea is that she has a house in San Diego, but lives on a Valle ranch a young girl in a patriarchal sowhen someone lights it, those most of the time with her husband, son and three dogs. ciety. She got into ceramics after dreams will come true.

“I told them it doesn’t matter On the ranch, she churns out her trademark raku ceramic high school and began studying about the future,” Iristay says. pieces that incorporate both traditional and unconven- the oldest traditional ceramics in “Just put whatever comes to your tional methods.

Turkish culture. She uses these Iristay has immersed herself in the local communi- methods and patterns in her mind. I had to help them a little bit, but I didn’t have to change a ty. She teaches raku classes and traditional firing tech- work today. thing.” niques to locals and tourists. Three years ago, a woman She moved to the United States Beliz Iristay creating raku ceramics in one of Iristay’s workshops told her about the orphan- in 2004 and dove head-on into The first round of candles is at her Valle de Guadalupe ranch for the girls to keep, but Iristay age and asked if she’d contribute one of her art pieces the local art scene. She’s become for a fundraising auction. Iristay heartily agreed. After increasingly known for what she calls her ceramic “horns” hopes the girls will want to make more to sell, with the visiting the orphanage, she says she felt a maternal con- (which can be seen at beliziristay.com). Iristay maintains money going to a trust fund for when they have to leave she’s a mixed-media artist. Perhaps because of her time at the orphanage. nection to the girls.

“I immediately started thinking afterward, ‘What more the orphanage, her recent work has taken a much sharper, can I do?’” more feminist turn. Some of her pieces at a recent show beliz CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

#SDCityBeat

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

Culture seth combs

beliz CONTINUED from PAGE 17

Beliz Iristay with the girls of the Rancho el Faro Orphanage

“I think every project is taking us somewhere,” Iristay says. “They are liking it and that’s what really matters, but I really don’t want them to get bored.”

As she gathers the children in the orphanage’s makeshift art studio, it quickly becomes clear these types of arts programs—here in a relatively small orphanage in a small town in Mexico—are truly invaluable. One girl in a black shirt named Lupita just turned 18 and will soon be leaving the orphanage. She wants to be a photographer and says she was inspired by the art classes.

18 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

Iristay goes around the table and asks the girls what they think about the art classes. Most emphasize how important the program is in their lives.

“Inspirational,” says Carmen, who adds that she now wants to be a painter because of the classes.

Lupita adds that she likes how she learned how to work with her hands.

“I like that you bring cake,” another girl says.

Everyone laughs.

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Art Aldryn Estacio

Seen Local up in the sky

A

ldryn Estacio’s obsession with aerial drone photography has spread to his three-yearold son who’s starting to get in on the action.

Don’t rush to judgment or duck-and-cover just yet.

Estacio isn’t letting his son pilot any of the six aerial vehicles he uses to take gorgeous bird’s-eye pictures of San Diego over the past two years.

“He has his own mini one,” says Estacio. “He’s there enough for him to keep smashing the small drone into the ceiling.” seth combs Estacio is more than aware of the debates surrounding drones. It’s become all too common to hear about some idiot flying one into a building (or the White House, for that matter) or using one to spy on neighbors. At the highest levels, they can be used to drop bombs. At the lowest, they’re just annoying and, even then, still Aldryn Estacio potentially dangerous.

Estacio thinks the media gives drones a bad rep, but agrees that not everyone should own a drone even when, as more companies get into the market, prices for them are dropping.

“What’s out there making the news is, of course, the bad stuff,” says the San Diego native, adding

on the seen

courtesy of the artist

In this semi-regular department we ask some of our favorite local artists and curators what new shows or artists are worth checking out. Whether it’s a particular piece, an entire exhibition or just a current obsession, here are some artsy options from eyes we trust.

David Peña A panel from Historia Curator and Incorrecta

by Toni Larios Co-founder of Out Here “I came across the work of Tijuana artist Toni Larios recently. He’s does sculptural work, but it’s his drawings and paintings that resonate the most with me. His work on the site Historia Incorrecta (historiaincorrecta.tumblr.com) features these hand-illustrated comics showing Tijuana through his own personal lens. There’s just something about the textures he uses and people he chooses to portray. He has this chaotic, digital way of portraying the city: the police cars, the dogs and cats, the plastic bags everywhere, and even the very specific architecture. There’s a lot of attention and detail in the work that just speaks to me as someone who lives there.”

#SDCityBeat

La Jolla Cove that most people who use drones do so responsibly.

“It takes practice and people should take a class if they’re planning on flying them commercially. They should probably have liability insurance and things like that, but people need to understand just how powerful these things can be.”

While most people might be unfamiliar with Estacio’s fine-art photography (flytpath.com), they’ve likely seen his video work. An aerial video he shot of the San Diego coast can be seen every weekday morning on San Diego 6 News. While he used to construct the drones himself, he’s built up enough of a reputation that companies like EZDrone and DJI now sponsor him. And he just self-published a coffee table book of his pictures titled San Diego: A Collection of Original Fine Art Aerial Drone Photography.

“It’s reopened my eyes up to a lot of different places and things,” says Estacio, who wants to eventually release another book of photos of the entire California coast. “Everyone knows the same places in San Diego, the same spots. With drones, you’re seeing stuff that you’ve known about for years but never saw or you’re seeing it in a whole new way. I’m always rediscovering my own city, which is awesome.”

—Seth Combs

Ash Eliza Smith Artist and UCSD Associate Director for Art & Technology “I am super excited about the performance series this Thursday inside of Magpie Collective’s domed ‘Nomadic Atelier’ (collectivemagpie.org).

The acoustics alone induce goosebumps and it is part of a larger UCSD exhibition series, 3 x 3, that is up in ARTifact Gallery and features mixed-genre collaborations from graduate and undergraduate students. Some standouts from Ship in the Wood’s Convergence show at Cabrillo National Monument this past Saturday were Kim Schreiber’s ‘Affective Meditation’ performance on the cliffs and Mike Calway-Fagen’s mythical plane flight over the ocean (mikecalway-fagen.com).”

Chantel Paul Program Coordinator, SDSU Downtown Gallery “I was really impressed by the exhibition, Size Matters, at Low Gallery in Barrio Logan (1878 Main St.).

It’s all about celebrating small photographs, focusing on works that are no bigger than 10 inches. Richmond-based artist and publisher, Gordon Stettinius, juried the show and included an array of photographic approaches. Some of my favorite pieces were tiny portraits, about 1.5 by 2.5 inches, by Amy Friend (amyfriend.ca). She uses vintage photographs and reworks them, piercing holes in each image to ‘reuse’ light as part of the way the pieces are displayed.

I’ve known about Amy’s work for some time, but had never seen it in person and was captivated by their intimate size. It’s great to see this work by emerging and established national photographers in one exhibition in San Diego.”

—Seth Combs

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

Culture | Voices

There she

alex zaragoza

Goz

Minnie Mouse says it’s time to move the body

I

t’s strange and off-putting to talk about your dead aunt with a person wearing Minnie Mouse ears. I learned this on Halloween night.

I was sitting uncomfortably on a stool in the smoking patio of my go-to neighborhood bar, dressed as a ’60s mod version of the Bride of Frankenstein. The control top underpants, thick layer of costume makeup and rickety stool weren’t the sole sources of my discomfort. I was sitting there, a single 31-year-old dressed up for Halloween, drinking at 6 p.m. in a nearly empty bar. I felt like a recently divorced, middle-aged dad rocking a fresh ear piercing.

Just as I was looking to push the eject button and head home to Netflix and my Hitachi Magic Wand, my sister’s name popped up on my phone. My stomach suddenly sank. It can’t be good.

As my best friend Michelle says, “Anytime a family member actually calls I assume someone’s dead. Otherwise they’d text.” I answered. Our tia Raquel died.

We had to tell mom.

I went home, washed off the Franken-makeup and headed to the hospital where my aunt’s lifeless body was laying in an ER. She had been sick, but her passing was very sudden. She feared hospitals, dreading the possibility of never leaving and that’s just what happened. We don’t all get to die warm and old and surrounded by those we love, or mid-orgasm, sandwiched between two ripped soccer players, as I envision one day meeting my end.

We die how we die, and there’s usually no telling how that’s going to go. Yup, this column is gonna be goth as fuck.

One thing about death is that it can have moments of humor and absurdity. People react to death in fascinating ways. The recent news story about the homeless Chinese woman falling asleep and never waking up at a Hong Kong McDonald’s, laying there lifeless for 24 hours before anyone thought to check on her, is sad and telling of the way our society behaves around certain people— but also total clickbait. Ten people I know shared that story on Facebook, accompanied by a McRib joke or the like. People die. We’re all going to die.

Quick, make a joke before I freak out.

There, at the hospital, we surrounded my aunt’s body while trying to understand what happened. A nurse dressed as Minnie Mouse discreetly wiped cupcake frosting from her lip and provided some insight. They’d have to move her before her body started to decompose. Cool. Thanks, Minnie. Enjoy your cupcake.

My cousins got into an argument over whether my aunt’s body had started going cold.

“She’s still warm,” said one wistfully.

“No, she feels cold to me,” replied the other one, placing his hand on the curve of my aunt’s neck.

They then proceeded to grab at my dead aunt, arguing back and forth in growing intensity about the temperature of her body. When it was clear no one would be stopping this, and my aunt’s body was starting to rock from their repeated temperature checks on different parts of her body, I sheepishly interjected. “Hey guys, umm, does it really matter if she’s, umm, warm or cold? Either way, she’s, umm, gone.” They turned to me with a glare and I slowly backed out of the room so they could continue their pointless argument.

A nurse not dressed as a beloved Disney character came in to snip a lock of my aunt’s hair as a memento for her son. A distant relative made a joke that my aunt did not want a haircut. We smiled respectfully, but as the nurse’s scissors sliced into her hair we heard a long, loud moan. My eyes widened, my heart skipped and I slowly turned around to see a cousin standing solemnly behind me.

Another cousin met my eyes and we burst out laughing, and couldn’t stop.

In Mexican culture, death is both feared and revered. You honor your dead. You prepare for death by being a good person, loving God and by having a priest bless you before you bounce out of the planet. That’s how you get to heaven. If you’re good but godless as I am, people express deep concern for your soul. Regardless of your culture, the fear of death has a major impact on the way you live your life. That’s why people YOLO, or whatever.

At the hospital, I remembered that scene in Moonstruck where Olympia Dukakis says men cheat on their wives because they fear death. And I thought about how in some way everything we do is because we fear death. Despite YOLO being a stupid acronym, you really do only live once and while we can’t know what happens to us after we die, we can control the legacy we leave behind. My tia Raquel leaves one of a funny, giving and feisty adoptive mother who loved baking and covering her small apartment in sunflowers. It might be modest, but it’s important to those who loved her.

I don’t believe in heaven. I mean, if I have a choice in what will happen to me after I die, I’d go with heaven, or haunting my best friends by making their vibrators go off in the middle of the night. I don’t have that choice as far as I’m aware, but I will work on my legacy. That I can do.

There She Goz appears every third week.

Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com.

“

Anytime a family member actually calls I assume someone’s dead.

Otherwise they’d text.

“

20 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Culture | Film

The Hateful Eight

Holiday Movie Preview

Diversity of genres and topics defines year-end rundown

by Glenn Heath Jr.

A

s the calendar year comes to a close, film-going audiences will be bombarded with a gaggle of releases ranging from Oscar contenders to Hollywood blockbusters to small art-house fare. ’Tis the season for choices at the multiplex, but how does one go about prioritizing? What follows is an attempt at separating the proverbial wheat from the chaff.

The first must-see film of the holidays is Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin, which arrived last Friday, Nov. 13. An anti-war Western dressed up as classic Wuxia, this story of a trained killer operating at the height of the Tang Dynasty is both abstract and poetic.

The visuals are lush with color and detail while the swordplay is swift. Hopefully you’ve had the chance to see it already on the big screen at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, but if not please stop reading this article, rectify that immediately and get thee to the Landmark Hillcrest.

On Friday, Nov. 20, the Digital Gym Cinema brings Jafar Panahi’s sublime Taxi to San Diego. The master director continues to release new content despite the Iranian government’s attempts to thwart his creativity by way of a filmmaking ban and an order for house arrest. Like his previous two films This is Not a Film and Closed Curtain, Taxi functions as a type of protest cinema against these efforts. Panahi drives around Tehran posing as a cab driver, engaging in conversations with passengers that may or may not be staged. By merging documentary and fiction, he explores the fragile nature of artistic expression within an oppressive environment.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part II will be released Friday, Nov. 20, in anticipation of the Thanksgiving Holiday. This will be the franchise’s final segment and promises all out war between badass revolutionary Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and forces of capitalistic evil led by President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Director Francis Lawrence (Constantine) has helmed the last three entries, providing the series with fluid action set pieces and strong widescreen visuals.

22 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

Ryan Coogler’s Rocky reboot, Creed, releasing on Wednesday, Nov. 25, stars Michael B. Jordan as the son of legendary boxer Apollo Creed who attempts to make his mark on the boxing world with the help of Mr. Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). Despite my hatred for Coogler and Jordan’s previous collaboration Fruitvale Station, this seems like a great attempt at a unique kind of genre revisionism, paying homage to its predecessors while putting a fresh spin on these characters.

Taxi Pixar will release its second film of 2015, The Good Dinosaur, also on Wednesday, Nov. 25. I’ve got it on good authority that this mostly non-dialogue film about a world where dinosaurs and humans co-exist will be an emotional and highly visual experience.

I’ll have more on this one next week.

Friday, Dec. 4, brings the release of Spike Lee’s latest satirical powder keg entitled Chi-raq, the nickname local residents have given Chicago due to the epidemic levels of violence occurring in certain impoverished neighborhoods. Starring John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes and Angela Bassett, the film appears to be a colorful, blunt exploration of America’s contradictory stand on race and gun violence.

Alice Rohrwacher’s The Wonders and Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth also arrive on Dec. 4. I’m not high on either of these European art films but each offers

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Film (the Point Break remake aside).

Hopefully the aforementioned films will make up for what has been an overall disappointing fall.

Now you’ve got your marching orders, so good luck.

Film reviews run weekly.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

Opening Brooklyn: Saoirse Ronan plays an Irish immigrant living in 1950s New York City who finds a new romance just as her past catches up with her.

The Assassin its share of interesting moments, specifically in their semi-serious critiques of celebrity culture.

Pretty much everyone on the planet looks poised to attend a screening (or 10) of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Friday, Dec. 12. The long awaited Episode 7 of the classic science fiction series originated by George Lucas seeks to hook a new generation with its bravura special effects, visual wonderment and catalogue of toys.

Christmas time brings the release of multiple Oscar contenders, including Adam McKay’s satirical drama The Big Short on Wednesday, Dec. 23, about the credit and housing crisis that crippled the country’s economy during the mid 2000s.

A trio of heavy hitters opens on Christmas Day. First there’s David O’Russell’s weird biopic Joy starring Jennifer Lawrence as Joy Mangano, the inventor of the miracle mop. Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro co-star, making this a bona fide Silver Linings Playbook reunion.

Todd Haynes’ 1950s-set Carol starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as secret lovers is a stunning melodrama that should vie for multiple Academy Awards. In the tradition of Haynes’ other work, the romance between the two characters is passionately handled but not immune to societal judgment and tragedy.

The Leonardo DiCaprio / Alejandro González Iñárritu Western The Revenant promises to be a harrowing and exhausting experience, following one man’s quest for revenge after his son is brutally murdered. Just take a look at the beautifully dirty and grueling trailer and you’ll get a sense of the film’s epic scope.

After the new year, look for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hate-

#SDCityBeat

ful Eight (Jan. 8), a talky and bloody Western set almost entirely in a snow swept mountain lodge. The film stars Kurt Russell as a dedicated bounty hunter attempting to bring a fugitive (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to justice who encounters a cast of shady and dangerous competitors.

Finally, Charlie Kaufman’s new stop motion animation Anomolisa (Jan. 15) continues the writer/ director’s obsession with mem-

ory, emotion and meta filmmaking. Featuring the voices of David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tom Noonan, this drama looks at a lonely customer service representative’s attempt to find love despite the crippling doubt of insecurity.

Kaufman explored similar themes in his screenplays for Being John Malkovitch, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The holiday release schedule looks more promising than usual

Gabo: The Creation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez: This decade-spanning documentary uncovers the pivotal moments in the life of the famous Latino author.

Screens through Thursday, Nov. 26, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict: This documentary revolves around the life of one of the premiere art collectors of the 20th century.

Taxi: Iranian director Jafar Panahi poses as a taxi driver while shuttling passengers

around Tehran in this genre hybrid that merges fiction and documentary in playful but impassioned ways. Screens through Thursday, Nov. 26, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Fool: A plumber sent to fix a leaky pipe in a derelict building discovers that other interests come before everyday citizens. Screens through Thursday, Nov. 26, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II: The final chapter in the saga of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), once a participant in the titular survival games and now a revolutionary hell bent on overthrowing the capital.

Secret in Their Eyes: Julia Roberts plays an investigator who goes on the hunt for her daughter’s killer in this remake of the 2009 Argentine film of the same name.

For a complete

listing of movies, please see

“Film Screenings” at sdcitybeat.com under “E vents.”

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

invisible hour

Music

Black Breath expands its punk fury

by ben salmon

From left: Elijah Nelson, Jamie Byrum, Neil McAdams, Mark Palm and Eric Wallace hen it came time to start writing songs for their third album, the members of Seattle-based punk/metal band Black Breath ran into some trouble: their own ambition and artistic restlessness.

“Anything that we were coming up with reminded us of songs that we’d already done—a three-minute song that’s fast, and maybe a slow part, and it ends how it ends,” guitarist Eric Wallace says. “None of it was really doing it for us, so I was a little discouraged. It was like, ‘Shit, do we just not know how to do this anymore?’”

Creative blocks exist, of course. But that seemed an unlikely problem for Black Breath, a relatively young band originally from Bellingham, Wash., that had released two excellent albums packed with belligerent death metal, crusty hardcore and blackened thrash since 2010. This is not a crew that would suddenly find itself bereft of interesting ideas and the means to execute them.

Bored with the thought of replicating the style and structure of its densely packed 2012 album Sentenced to Life, the members of Black Breath decided to challenge themselves by taking their typical pop-song forms and stretching them out to five, six, seven, even eight minutes long, while still retaining their punk fury.

In doing so, the band jump-started its creative process.

“Every time we’ve come up with a record, the things that we were doing were exciting to us,” Wallace says with a chuckle. “We were kind of hitting our heads against the wall, and we realized we had to

do something different in order to entertain ourselves.

“At the same time, everything’s just out of reach each time we write stuff. It’s always just a little harder, a little faster, a little more difficult than we can actually do, so it’s always a little push to get better to be able to pull it off to make the record.”

For inspiration, Black Breath looked to older bands such as Demolition Hammer,

50 minutes long, it’s an absolute beast.

Songs like “Pleasure, Pain, Disease” and “Burning Hate” retain the band’s familiar punchy riffs and hardcore pace, while the title track plods along angrily before zooming off into a twisted thrash groove. Then there are songs like “Seed of Cain,” which spend a minute dancing around a gentle intro before Black Breath begins to rain down the riffs. Throughout, vocalist Neil

HAVOK with Witchaven and Nukem nov. 20 • soda bar • Blackbreath.com Devastation and Morbid Saint, specifically albums by those bands from the late ’80s and early ’90s that featured an uncommon mix of thrash and death metal, and that “kinda flew under the radar for a lot of people,” Wallace says. Also pertinent: Metallica’s artistic leap between Kill ‘Em All and Ride The Lightning, though Wallace is careful not to compare his band to the Bay Area thrash legends.

“You can just hear a massive shift in where their brains were at,” he says.

“What they thought they could pull off just changed immensely, and that’s what we wanted to try to figure out: How do we make a bigger version of ourselves?”

Mission accomplished. Black Breath’s third album Slaves Beyond Death came out in late September, and at eight songs and

24 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

McAdams has traded in his old howl for more of a scorched rasp, though his bleak lyrical outlook remains. (Besides Wallace and McAdams, bassist Elijah Nelson, drummer Jamie Byrum and guitarist Mark Palm round out Black Breath’s lineup.)

But it’s the album’s instrumental closer, “Chains of the Afterlife,” where the band’s new musical vision really comes into focus.

At nearly eight minutes long, it’s a multisectioned epic for electric guitars, replete with quiet, beautiful passages nestled between skyscraping solos and thunderous riffs. It sounds nothing like the Black Breath that made Sentenced to Life.

And in a way, it’s not the same band, Wallace says.

“Even if we had tried, we couldn’t have pulled off this record five years ago,” he

says. “We just couldn’t have played it. A lot of it just has to do with where we happen to be at as far as proficiency (on our instruments).”

Perhaps it’s because it’s the final song on Slaves Beyond Death, but “Chains” also seems to point to a possible future path for Black Breath. It’s too soon to know if the band will continue to explore longer, more complex songs, Wallace says, but it’s certainly a possibility.

“After we finished making this record, we didn’t really feel like we wanted to stop,” he says. “We were kind of like, ‘Ahh, this was awesome, and we learned a lot in the process, and I think we can do this better. We immediately had a bunch of ideas about what we should do next time.”

But that’s next time. Right now, Black Breath is on the road, playing the new songs live and hearing what fans have to say about them, whether they want to or not. The overwhelming reaction seems to be: It takes a little longer to get into it, but once you do, it’s well worth the effort.

“There’s more depths to it. There’s more intricacies. There’s more fuckin’ notes. I get it,” Wallace says. “It takes more attention and that’s the idea. The idea was to make a more expansive record, so we did. For the people that that’s not their thing, it’s not their thing. And that’s fine, too.””

To hear a track, go to sdcitybeat.com and search for “Black Breath.”

#SDCityBeat

Music

notes from the smoking patio locals only

T

he Sess have announced their first show in seven years. After breaking up in 2008, the lo-fi, feedback heavy punk band has announced they’ll play a New Year’s Eve show at Soda Bar. Since their split, members of the band have gone on to perform with other groups, including Shiva Trash, Ale Mania, Beaters and Northern Tigers. In an email to CityBeat, bass player Mark Rivera says despite ending the band long ago, its members never stopped playing music together.

“With all of us being more or less family and some of us being immediate family, it was inevitable that we’d end up jamming together again,” he says.

“We’ve all jammed with each other outside of The Sess throughout the years, so you can say the reunion was inevitable.

“The stars aligned in a way that our heads and our hearts were in the right space to start the jams again, more than anything else,” he continues.

The band was in talks to play the show as early as this summer, and since then Rivera, keyboardist Aldo Bustos, guitarists Sam Rivera and Jeremy Rojas, and drummer Andrew Montoya have been reacquainting themselves with their old material. Rivera says the material still retained the excitement it did when they were first playing together.

The Sess “Once we agreed on playing the show, we started meeting every week to go over the material and decide on a set,” he says. “One of the deciding factors was in listening to our old recordings! It still sounded fresh and it inspired us to play music with each other again. After clearing some of the cobwebs, the sound came together naturally. We were able to connect with the music and with each other as if we’d never even stopped.”

There are no immediate plans to play any shows beyond the New Year’s Eve gig, but Rivera doesn’t count out the possibility there could be more.

“We’re doing as we do and have always done, play by ear,” he says.

—Jeff Terich

Luke Henshaw & Gabe Serbian Variations in the Key of the Afterlife (Three One G)

Y

ou have to hand it to the guys from The Locust. They could have just stuck to their punk-rock guns and played their costumed spaz-core the rest of their lives. Whether it’s Justin Pearson’s brief foray into EDM with All Leather or Bobby Bray’s abrasive brand of prog with Innerds, it says something about the members’ character, as well as their musical abilities, that they’re not afraid to experiment even if it means weirding people out.

Locust drummer Gabe Serbian has certainly weirded out audiences with bands like death-metalers Cattle Decaptation, but musically he’s mostly stuck to hardcore or some kind of derivation thereof. That’s why it’s, well, weird to hear such a beautiful and orchestral sound coming out my speakers when I listen to Variations in the Key of the Afterlife, a new side project from Serbian and beatmaker Luke Henshaw. The two met while working with Pearson on some songs for a film score. The spacey instrumentals on Variations, which they’ve

#SDCityBeat

described as “post-prog,” could have easily been the score for some kind of indie sci-fi thriller.

Comparatively, Variations reminds me a lot of The Chemical Brothers’ score for the 2011 Joe Wright film, Hanna, but there are also elements of the Holy Trinity of cinematic composers here (Morricone, Mancini and Mayfield). Matt Resovich (Little White Teeth), Alia Jyawook (Hot Nerds) and a host of other local musicians stop by to land a hand with string and brass arrangements, but Serbian’s live drumming anchors songs like “Sacred Mantras” and the paranoid “High Strangeness.” His playing is slow and deliberate, precise and exacting. Anyone familiar with Serbian’s catalogue knows he’s arguably the best drummer in town, but who knew he was capable of something like this?

Variations isn’t going to satisfy Locust or Cattle Decapitation fans, but it is a unique statement from a guy who’s unafraid to follow his instincts. variationsinthekeyoftheafterlife.bandcamp.com

—Seth Combs November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

Music

Jeff Terich

If I were u

Harp, Jake Bellows with Morgan Nagler @ The Casbah.

Saturday, November 21

Sturgill Simpson is one of the genre’s best songwriters right now, and he’s breathing new life into an old style. PLAN B: Kate Boy, Morly, Inspired and the Sleep @ Soda Bar. Kate Boy began releasing sleek, danceable synth-pop tracks a few years ago, but the Swedish group has finally released its debut album, One, and the dance party has finally made it to our corner of the world. BACKUP PLAN: Lucero @ Belly Up Tavern.

PLAN A: Author & Punisher, Muscle and Marrow, Skrapez @ The Hideout.

Tristan Shone has been on tour in support of his heavy, awesome new album Melk en Honing, and he’s bringing it back with this A music insider’s weekly agenda hometown show. His industrial machine music is an experience for the eyes and the for a long time, and I don’t see this being ears. Don’t miss it. PLAN B: Minus the Wednesday, November 18 Monday, November 23 anything but a party. BACKUP PLAN: Bear, Murder by Death, Aero Flynn @ PLAN A: The Lulls, Ditches, Gooon @ Big K.R.I.T., BJ the Chicago Kid, Scot- Observatory North Park. Minus the Bear PLAN A: Chance the Rapper, D.R.A.M., The Casbah. The Lulls were formerly ty ATL, Delorean @ The Observatory is touring for the 10th anniversary of Me- Towkio, Metro Boomin @ Soma. Chance known as Ed Ghost Tucker, and though North Park. nos el Oso, which means you’ll get to hear a the Rapper made a name for himself with the name’s different, their knack for great mid-’00s indie pop gem in its entirety. Get the outstanding 2013 mixtape Acid Rap. melodies isn’t. The whole show looks to Friday, November 20 Then he took a different course with Surf, there early for the gothic alt-counbe a good one since Gooon, who recently released by his band, Donnie Trumpet try of Murder by Death. BACKchanged from Emerald Rats, is kicking ev- PLAN A: Havok, Black Breath, Wit- UP PLAN: We Were Promised and the Social Experiment. One way or chaven, Nukem @ Soda Bar. Read Ben Jetpacks @ The Irenic. erything off. another you’re getting a fun, unpredictSalmon’s feature on Black Breath, who able hip-hop show. are the highlight of this set of contempoThursday, November 19 Sunday, November 22 rary thrash metal bands. They’ve released Tuesday, November 24 PLAN A: Yob, Black Cobra, Deep Sea three albums of buzzsaw riffs and furious PLAN A: Sturgill SimpThunder Beast @ Brick by Brick. Or- energy, and each time they get a little bit son, Billy Wayne DaPLAN A: Madball, Strife, egon doom metal band Yob create massive, better. PLAN B: Skinny Puppy, Youth vis @ Observatory Take Offense, PSO @ Soda powerful slabs of low-end roar. It’s intense Code @ Observatory North Park. My North Park. CounBar. Old-school New York stuff, but it’s also spiritual in a way other favorite thing that Skinny Puppy ever did try music is closer hardcore at its finest. Tuesmetal often isn’t. PLAN B: The Cult, Pri- was ask the U.S. government for royalties than ever to pop day night is a good night to mal Scream, Eric Bellinger @ House of for using their music to torture prisoners music these days, get some workweek aggresBlues. I wouldn’t have initially thought to at Guantanamo. That said, they’re indus- but the interesting sion out, so go there and pair The Cult with Primal Scream, but it trial legends. Their harsh electronic sound thing about its evorage. It’ll feel good. sort of makes sense. Both bands have been might be an acquired taste but a cathartic lution is the surge of Sturgill Simpson wielding their badass rock ‘n’ roll spirit one. BACKUP PLAN: The Good Life, Big really excellent country.

26 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

#SDCityBeat

Music

Concerts HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Broncho (The Hideout, 11/20), Soulfly (Brick by Brick, 12/5), El Vez (Casbah, 12/18), Creepers (Soda Bar, 12/21), The Sess (Soda Bar, 12/31), Dave Mason (Music Box, 1/13), Ty Segall (But, 1/13), Paula Cole (BUT, 1/14), Never Shout Never (HOB, 1/22), Steel Panther (HOB, 1/23), JD McPherson (BUT, 1/23), The Silent Comedy (Casbah, 1/30), Beats Antique (Observatory, 2/14), Radiation City (Casbah, 2/19), Lake Street Drive (Observatory, 2/24), St. Lucia (Observatory, 3/8), Eleanor Friedberger (Hideout, 3/11), High on Fire, Skeletonwitch, Tribulation (Observatory, 3/26), Prong (Brick by Brick, 4/22).

GET YER TICKETS X, Mike Watt (Casbah, 11/27-28), Maruta, Vattnet Viskar (Til-Two Club, 11/27), Venom Inc. (Brick by Brick, 11/28), Nikki Lane (The Irenic, 12/1), Snoop Dogg (Observatory, 12/6), The Bad Plus (Music Box, 12/8), The White Buffalo (HOB, 12/10), Three Mile Pilot (Casbah, 12/10), Finch (The Irenic, 12/11), The Maine (Irenic, 12/12), Common Sense (BUT, 12/12), Ghostface Killah (Observatory, 12/17), Macy Gray (BUT, 12/17), Bone Thugs N Harmony (Observatory, 12/18), Vince Staples (Observatory, 12/19), Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven (BUT, 12/27), Ozomatli (BUT, 12/28), Chet Faker (Observatory, 12/29), Donavon Frankenreiter

#SDCityBeat

(BUT, 12/29-30), The Academy Is… (Observatory, 12/30), Los Lobos (BUT, 12/31), Christian Death (Soda Bar, 1/17), Josh Ritter (Observatory, 1/18), Ladysmith Black Mambazo (BUT, 1/19), Shigeto (Soda Bar, 1/23), Killing Joke, The Soft Moon (BUT, 1/26), Richard Cheese (HOB, 1/29), G. Love and Special Sauce (BUT, 1/29), The English Beat (BUT, 2/5-6), Aaron Neville (Balboa Theatre, 2/11), Cradle of Filth (HOB, 2/18), At the Gates (HOB, 2/19), Dr. Dog (Observatory, 2/20), AntiFlag (Observatory, 2/25), Ani DiFranco (BUT, 2/25), Joe Satriani (Balboa Theatre, 3/1), Lewis Black (Balboa Theatre, 3/3), Galactic (BUT, 3/3), Gary Clark Jr. (HOB, 3/11), Junior Boys (Casbah, 3/18), Twentyonepilots (Viejas Arena, 7/24), Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/14), 5 Seconds of Summer (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/9).

November Wednesday, Nov. 18 Mac Miller at House of Blues.

Thursday, Nov. 19 Big K.R.I.T. at Observatory North Park.

Weatherbox at Soda Bar. YOB at Brick

by Brick. The Cult, Primal Scream at House of Blues. Ryan Bingham at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

Friday, Nov. 20 Ryan Bingham at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Havok, Black Breath at Soda Bar. Skinny Puppy at Observatory North Park. Broncho at The Hideout.

Saturday, Nov. 21 Everclear at Music Box. Minus the Bear at Observatory North Park. Author

and Punisher at The Hideout.

Sunday, Nov. 22 Rise Against at Soma. Lucero at Belly Up Tavern. Allison Weiss at The Casbah. New Found Glory, Yellowcard at House of Blues. Sturgill Simpson at Observatory North Park. Kate Boy at Soda Bar.

Monday, Nov. 23 Chance the Rapper at SOMA. TesseracT at House of Blues.

Tuesday, Nov. 24 Jackie Greene at Observatory North Park. Borns at Belly Up Tavern.

Friday, Nov. 27 Darwin Deez at House of Blues. Robert Delong at Music Box. Maruta, Vattnet Viskar at Til-Two Club. Nashville Pussy at The Hideout. X, Mike Watt at The Casbah.

Saturday, Nov. 28 X, Mike Watt at The Casbah. Venom Inc. at Brick by Brick.

Sunday, Nov. 29 Silverstein, Senses Fail at Observatory North Park.

Monday, Nov. 30 Intronaut at Soda Bar. John Waters at Observatory North Park.

December Tuesday, Dec. 1

Grouch & Eli, Chali 2na at Observatory North Park. Nikki Lane at The Irenic.

Thursday, Dec. 3 Charlie Hunter Trio at The Loft. The Avengers at The Casbah.

Friday, Dec. 4 Little Hurricane at The Casbah. Slightly Stoopid at Observatory North Park (sold out).

Saturday, Dec. 5 Little Hurricane at The Casbah. Pale Chalice at Soda Bar. Mythbusters Unleashed at Civic Theatre. Warren Haynes at Observatory North Park.

Soulfly at Brick by Brick.

Sunday, Dec. 6 Faster Pussycat at Brick by Brick.

Snoop Dogg at Observatory North Park.

Monday, Dec. 7 White Reaper at The Hideout.

Tuesday, Dec. 8 The Bad Plus at Music Box.

Wednesday, Dec. 9 Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox at House of Blues. Nik Turner’s Hawkwind at Til-Two Club.

Thursday, Dec. 10 Zappa Plays Zappa at Belly Up Tavern.

The Dustbowl Revival at Music Box. The White Buffalo at House of Blues.

music CONTINUED ON page 29

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

28 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

#SDCityBeat

Music music CONTINUED from PAGE 27 Friday, Dec. 11 Mike Krol at Soda Bar. The Highwayman at Music Box. Finch at The Irenic.

Saturday, Dec. 12 Agnostic Front at Til-Two Club. The Maine at The Irenic. The Dears at The Casbah.

Common Sense at Belly Up Tavern.

Sunday, Dec. 13 That 1 Guy at Soda Bar. Reverend Horton Heat at Observatory North Park.

Lights at House of Blues.

Tuesday, Dec. 15 Cheap Trick at Belly Up Tavern. (sold out) The 1975 at Observatory North Park (sold out).

Wednesday, Dec. 16 Poison Idea at Soda Bar.

Thursday, Dec. 17 Ghostface Killah at Observatory North Park. Macy Gray at Belly Up Tavern.

Flotsam and Jetsam at Brick by Brick.

Friday, Dec. 18 Wayne Hancock at Soda Bar. Rick Springfield at House of Blues. Bone Thugs N Harmony at Observatory North Park. El Vez at The Casbah.

Saturday, Dec. 19 Strung Out at Brick by Brick. Vince Staples at Observatory North Park.

#SDCityBeat

Sunday, Dec. 20 Littler at Soda Bar. Slow Magic at Observatory North Park.

Monday, Dec. 21 Anuhea at Belly Up Tavern. Creepers at Soda Bar.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., San Diego. Pacific Beach. Wed: Devan M. Naomi -N- Jaz. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: Fooz Fighters, Rage Again. Sat: Roman Watchdogs, Oddball, Midnight Track.

Sun: Karaoke.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, San Diego. Little Italy. Sun: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., San Diego. downtown. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Kabir Singh. Fri: Lil Duval. Sat: Lil Duval. Sun: Lil Duval.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., San Diego.

Fri: Lee K. Sat: Eli + Fur. Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., San Diego. North Park. Wed: Jo Livi, Ben Hazelwood. Thu: DJ Ikah Love. Fri: DJ Hevrock, Gingger Shankar. Sat: ‘Neon Beat’. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Mon: Tori Roze and the Hot Mess. Tue: DJ Marshall Islands.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla.

Thu: John Bennett. Fri: Modern Day Moonshine. Sat: Jewel City. Sun: Jesse Gawlik.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Yoga Six. Thu: The Dirty Work, Ryan Bingham, Jamestown Revival, Gold Star (sold out). Fri: Ryan Bingham, Jamestown Revival, Gold Star (sold out).

sPOTLiGHT It’s been a long time since Danny Elfman performed with Oingo Boingo, or Boingo as they were briefly known. But Johnny Vatos is keeping the Boingo name alive with Boingo Dance Party, whose repertoire includes Oingo Boingo classics like “Dead Man’s Party” and “Only a Lad,” along with some new jams. Their stop in San Diego coincides with FM 94.9’s Movember campaign to support men’s health causes, so it’s well worth bringing those bones to their Friday, Nov. 20 show at the Music Box. musicboxsd.com

—Jeff Terich Sat: Emancipator Ensemble, Blockhead, Manatee Commune. Sun: Lucero. Tue: BØRNS, Avid Dancer (sold out).

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

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., San Diego. Bay Park. Thu: YOB, Black Cobra, Deep Sea Thunder Beast. Fri: Failure Anthem, Stitched up Heart, Her Bed of Thorns, After the Fall. Sat: ‘Suicide Girls

Black Heart Burlesque’. Sun: Sirens, The Fine Constant. Mon: Amaranthe, Butcher Babies, Lullwater, Unicorn Death, Sight Unscene. Tue: Armed For Apocalypse, Catharsus, Pissed Regardless.

Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, San Diego. Bankers Hill. Wed: Gio & Diamond. Thu: Clay Colton Duo. Fri: Sue Palmer. Sat: Curtis Taylor Quartet. Sun: Danny Green Trio. Mon: Liz Grace Duo. Tue: Steph Johnson and Rob Thorsen.

music CONTINUED ON page 30

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

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

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, San Diego. Mission Bay. Fri: Jack Costanzo & The Bi-National Mambo Orchestra.

Sat: The Peter Sprague Group. Sun: Mundell Lowe.

F6ix, 526 F St., downtown., San Diego. downtown. Thu: Eric Bellinger. Fri: Aleks Exact. Sat: Krissy Mechelle and Sky Mcdonald.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., San Diego. downtown. Fri: Paul Devro. Sat: Savi.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego. downtown. Wed: Mac Miller, Alexander Spit, Njomza, Michael Christmas, Tory Lanez. Thu: The Cult, Primal Scream. Fri: DSB, The Pettybreakers. Sat: Cherub, Dreamers, Systems Officer, Scuffs. Sun: What’s Eating Gilbert , Yellowcard & New Found Glory , New Found Glory, Yellowcard, Tigers Jaw. Mon: TesseracT. Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: ‘This N That’. Thu: ‘Acid Varsity’. Fri: ‘Junglist Friday’. Sat: ‘Purps and Turqs’. Sun: Egrets on Ergot, Inner Ecstasy, Gnarvana, Grit. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Goodall Boys. Thu: Harmony Road. Fri: Bat. Sat: Pat Ellis and Blue Frog Band. Sun: Stilettos. Tue: Gene Warren.

Music Box, 1337 India St., San Diego.

Little Italy. Thu: The Dirty Knobs. Fri: 94.9 Presents MOVEMBER Boingo Dance Party.

Sat: Everclear, Fall to June, Hydra Melody.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Thu: ‘Wet’. Fri: ‘Uncut’. Sun: ‘R&B Divas’.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St., San Diego.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

downtown. Wed: The Upshots. Thu: The Bill Magee Blues Band. Fri: Rosy Dawn.

Sat: WG and the G-Men. Sun: Johnny Vernazza. Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Paddy’s Chicken Jam. Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Wed: DJ Kiki. Thu: ‘LEZ’. Fri: DJ DrewG, Will Z. Sat: DJs Luke Allen, DJ Hektik. Sun: DJ Hektik.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Chloe and Davies. Fri: True Stories. Sat: The Detroit Ruins.

Side Bar, 536 Market St., San Diego. downtown. Thu: Vince Delano. Fri: DJ Slowhand.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: David Ryan Harris, Tyler Lyle. Thu: Nombe, 9 Theory. Fri: Havok, Black Breath, Witchaven, Nukem.

Sat: Mr. Little Death, Soren Bryce. Sun: Kate Boy, Morly, Inspired and the Sleep.

Mon: Le Ra, No Girlfriends, Name the Bands, Adeumazel. Tue: Madball, Strife, Take Offense, PSO. SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego. Midway. Fri: blessthefall, Stick to Your Guns, Oceans Ate Alaska, Outlands.

Sat: The Acacia Strain, Counterparts, Fit for An Autopsy, Kublai Khan, Hannibal.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., San Diego. Midtown. Sat: ‘SD Union’.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego. Normal Heights. Thu: Tikitronic, Blue Sky Flu. Sun: LA Edwards, Ves Frank.

Garden’. Fri: Privatized Air, Off Center, The Holes. Sat: ‘Club Therapy’.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: The Lulls, Ditches, GOOON. Thu: Trails and Ways, The Verigolds, Bad and The Ugly. Fri: The Good Life, Big Harp, Jake Bellows. Sat: Holly Golightly, The Loons, Dani Bell and the Tarantist, Madly. Sun: Allison Weiss, Mal Blum, Winter, Kid in The Attic. Mon: DJ Artistic’s Hip Hop Battle Bot. Tue: Yuna, Francesca Blanchard.

The Che Cafe, UCSD campus, San Diego. La Jolla. Thu: Weatherbox, State Champion, Pretend, Little Heroine.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Fri: Broncho, The Shelters, Pearl Charles. Sat: Author & Punisher, Muscle and Marrow, Skrapez, Hexa. Tue: Millionyoung Crescendo, Mystery Cave, Astral Touch.

The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. La Jolla. Wed: Josh Weinstein’s Junkyard Tavernacle, Mimi Zulu. Thu: Lostboycrow. Sat: ‘The Art of The Solo’ w/ Mike Ruggirello.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Wed: Pete Sands, Black Kiss. Thu: Heather Nation Band, Ghost Lit Kingdom, The Wild Fires. Fri: Eken Is Dead, Thirty 30, Wolves of Eden, Fractured Sky. Sat: Infinite Death, Gravespell, Imbalanced, Sergulath. Sun: ‘The Back Room’.

The Balboa, 1863 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Bankers Hill. Fri: Family Tree Analog, Obligerant, Fictitious Dishes. Sat: Velvet Club, Sound Lupus, Artmonk.

The Office, 3936 30th St., San Diego.

North Park. Wed: Magic Wands. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’. Mon: Sights and Sages, Bad Vibes, Future Age, DJs Mike Delgado, Jeremiah BZ. Tue: ‘Trapped’ w/ DJ Ramsey.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd., Spring Valley. Spring Valley. Thu: ‘Darkwave

The T Lounge, 1475 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Thu: Stanza.

The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, San Diego.

Gaslamp. Wed: Ian Thompson. Thu: Shane Hall Trio. Fri: Cassie B Band, Charlie Rae Band, Ian Thompson. Sat: Coriander. Sun: Ilya Shatov, Justin Myers, Skyler Shibuya, Alyssa Walker. Mon: Acropolis Showcase. Tue: BB Gun. Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Thu: Blackbird Raum, Dirty Kid Discount, Sledding With Tigers, Bogsey. Fri: The Woggles, The Loons, The Schizophonics, The Vendettas. Sat: ‘San Diego City Soul Club’. Sun: Open mic comedy.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., San Diego.

Bay Park. Wed: Rockin’ Aces. Thu: Missy Anderson. Fri: Funk’s Most Wanted. Sat: Alan Iglesias and Crossfire.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Fri: The Fink Bombs, Franks and Deans, The Heiz. Sun: The Devfits, Hot Damn Sextet, Shades McCool & The Bold Flavors.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave., San Diego.

North Park. Wed: DJ Mo Lyon. Thu: ‘Throwback Thursday’. Fri: DJ Bodyrawk.

Sat: DJ Qenoe. Sun: Layne Tadesse, 7 Seal Club. Mon: DJ Kid Wonder. Tue: Karaoke.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, San Diego.

South Park. Wed: ‘Open Oscillator’. Thu: ‘Astro Jump’ w/ Kill Quanti DJs. Fri: ‘Fing in the Bushes’. Sat: ‘80s vs 90s’ w/ DJs Gabe Vega, Saul. Sun: Cruz Radical, Death Eyes. Tue: ‘Videodrome’.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., San Diego.

Ocean Beach. Wed: Sensamotion, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Luminaries, Atlantis Rizing, Kiyoshi, Seancy. Fri: The Maykers. Sat: Polyrhythmics, Jelly Bread. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Destructo Bunny, P-Low and The Bed Heads, Trans Conduit, We are Stars.

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

Last Words

Brendan Emmett Quigley

Seance Across 1. Shutout to Sporting Kansas City 4. Car co. that owns Chevrolet and Buick 10. Ride hailed from your phone 14. “I’ll take that as ___” 15. Tar’s affirmative 16. Concession stand purchase 17. “Before I forget,” initially 18. Measurement of powerful rain?

20. Blizzard component 22. School dance org.

23. Flat-bottomed boats 24. Russian wolfhound 26. Big name in steak sauce 27. Person who tells you when the mosh pit is going to break out?

33. It’ll open your pipes 35. Two-line square dances 36. Charlottesville sch.

37. Wedding reception flower 38. Davenports, e.g.

39. Now-or-never deadline 40. Pint selection 41. “Truth In Engineering” cars 42. ___ Corning 43. Diplomatic successes nobody sees?

46. Numbers that affect 55-Across 47. Greenland covering 50. Barbie fan?

53. Vegetable ball 55. Money put on Bills?

56. Question that elicits the response “It’s a shade of meaning”?

59. Data collectors from our phones 60. Passed down stories Last week’s answers

32 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

61. Like a rotten egg, often 62. Fish captured in pots 63. Frigate, for one 64. Aches (for) 65. “Spectre” director Mendes

Down 1. Wealthy one 2. First track on a mixtape 3. Mathematical symbol for the square root of negative one 4. Pinup’s leg 5. Unable to see the big picture 6. Pittance in the tip jar 7. Latin bone 8. She “dances on the sand,” according to Duran Duran 9. NFL games that feel more like touch football than actual football 10. Illegal lender 11. You put your weed in it 12. Emmy-winner Falco 13. “Just my rotten luck” 19. Mums’ mums, affectionately 21. Pale blue gas 25. Musician/artist sponsoring the biennial award Grant For Peace 26. “You may stop saluting” 28. Wears away 29. Do some tailoring 30. Actors are barely in them 31. “Wicked City” actor ___ Ross 32. Marine fish 33. Super boring 34. Frank holder 38. From out of nowhere 39. Taped-glasses type 41. ___ Ababa 42. Like Advil and Aleve, briefly 44. Warning on an airplane wing 45. One of the B vitamins 48. Totally stumped 49. Sunday prayer 50. Punching tools 51. “Fffffff...”

52. Indian wrap 53. “¿Qué ___?”

54. ___’acte 57. Arab League mbr.

58. USNA grad

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

34 · San Diego CityBeat · November 18, 2015

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

November 18, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 35