San Diego CityBeat • Dec 2, 2015

2 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

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December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Up Front | From the editor

Homeless stats get worse

T

he polarity of perception that individuals have of street people is astounding. That’s a problem that leaks into the way we legislate, administer and act on the overall problem.

Sadly, San Diego lacks credible political will to fully transition to solutions that could end the cycle of homelessness here. We saw a 3 percent rise countywide in homelessness this year and now have the fourth biggest homeless population in the country, according to a federal count. Also this year, the downtown population surged 26 percent. And our so-called Navy Town trails other U.S. cities in the quest to get veterans off the street.

Advocates who stand in the corner of the less fortunate interact with CityBeat on a regular basis.

We sometimes even receive and run letters from homeless people.

In this issue, there’s a letter from a homeless man commenting on a previous letter from a fellow street soul who had a bad run-in with Rural/Metro ambulance staff (page 6).

Yes, we lean from the left around here.

There’s another segment of our society that sees the sum of the homeless population—in San Diego that was 8,742 at last count—as bums. A bunch of lazy drug fiends who sponge off the rest of us who pay taxes and work for a living.

In general, it’s best to ignore the screeching trolls who post that kind of inhumane dreck on social media and in comments sections on media websites. Discourse consisting of such black-and-white exhortations is toxic and exhausting. Whether you’re ranting about Muslims or Christians, blacks or whites, women or men, or homeless people, a broad brush rarely paints an accurate picture of a demographic.

How does your heart not ache for the men, women and children who have no place to go but the streets? There are veterans suffering from PTSD out there. There are mentally ill; people who lost their jobs through no reason of their own; and folks who got sick and couldn’t pay medical bills.

Not everybody has a family safety net.

Admittedly, there’s a segment of the homeless population with no desire to clean up and get off the streets. A few are indeed just camping out like urban cowboys.

But here’s a hypothetical test question for those who see things as all-or-nothing. What if there are 10 homeless people living on a block? Half of them are “bums” and half are down on their luck and need support to rejoin the working world. Ignoring them isn’t an option here. You have two choices: Give each of them $1,000 and bus them all to another location; or house every one of them and give them individual counseling.

What would you do? Discuss. (And yes, it would be hypocritical to say all Democrats would house them and all Republicans would ship them.)

Note that sweeping adrian fallace / flickr the homeless away has been the failed solution of the past. If you chose to bus away the block of 10 human beings know this: You’re immediately out $10,000 and a new homeless population will be back soon to perpetuate the cycle.

Housing-first options have been shown to work, and to save communities money—as ambulance trips to the ER decrease and cops spend less time arresting and booking recidivists with no roofs over their heads.

It’s been an industry that we managed. It should be viewed as a condition that needs to be eradicated.

Our region is filled with well-intentioned governmental, nonprofit and faith-based organizations that do what they can. As of yet, however, no one has stepped forward to carry the flag of eradication. Not the mayor, not a paid consultant, not a community stalwart.

San Diego’s Regional Continuum of Care Council is on the right track. This group is attempting to coalesce all the current forces. But the RCCC needs and deserves public support and attention for trying to house the homeless; more so than the local NFL team deserves to be in the spotlight for its quest for a bigger, glitzier home.

—Ron Donoho

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com

This issue of CityBeat lost a rap battle to Pope Francis.

Volume 14 • Issue 17 Editor Ron Donoho Music Editor Jeff Terich Arts Editor Seth Combs Web Editor Ryan Bradford

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 Human Resources Andrea Baker

Art director Carolyn Ramos

editorial Interns Torrey Bailey Nancy Kirk

Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami

Columnists Aaryn Belfer Edwin Decker John R. Lamb Alex Zaragoza

Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse

Vice President of Operations David Comden

MultiMedia Advertising Director Paulina Porter-Tapia

Publisher Kevin Hellman

Advertising inquiries Interested in advertising?

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

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

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

4 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

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December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Up Front | Letters

OUR SAFETY FIRST Your editorial this week [“Playing politics with Syrian refugees,” Nov. 25] is disappointing for it flies in the face of known facts— that 80 percent of the Syrian “refugees” are young men, not women and children.

Even the FBI states they cannot properly/ completely “vet” any of the refugees. Is protecting our fellow Americans “playing politics with Syrian refugees,” as your headline screamed? Protecting our citizens is the foremost responsibility of our nation’s leaders, period.

Lou Cumming, La Jolla

READING VS. LISTENING Jim Ruland’s article [“Is Listening Reading? On the pleasures and perils of listening to audio,” Nov. 18] works when he makes fun of himself as a reader navigating the audio book world. Otherwise, there are a few ambiguous statements that make it hard to understand what he really wanted to say.

The title alone “Is Listening Reading?” pokes you in the ribs. Of course, listening is not reading. Different parts of the brain are being used. Never fear. He doesn’t make an argument for the title anyway. Instead, Ruland states that there are “considerable disadvantages” to listening to a book rather than reading it. So now I’m glued to the

article to count these considerable disadvantages. What I found were minor drawbacks that may be specific to a particular listener. Silly me.

First, you’re not able to flip around pages when listening. Since there’s quite a bit of ambiguity in this paragraph (“... searches the digital file until the connection is confirmed”...What connection?). I could only infer that he’s referring to how you have the option to go back and search something that you may have missed when reading, but you’re not able to do this when listening. Okay that’s one disadvantage. Especially, if you weren’t paying attention and have to backtrack. I’m just as guilty of doing this as Ruland. At least he admits to listening while driving or walking the beach.

The other disadvantage or advantage, depending on how you interpreted his writing, was whether the impressions of characters came from the author’s prose or the person doing the reading. This is where I actually tweet the readers and authors, “Did the author advise you to inflect emotions or is this your impression?”

In the end, he mentions that you don’t have the “option of throwing an audiobook (i.e. my iPhone) across the room.”

Let’s face it. This alone could encourage more listeners to buy and read books instead. The big punchline at the end of the joke.

All kidding aside, if Ruland ever comes across a book like Americanah that has

6 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

quite a few words that the average American reader may not know how to pronounce, he would see another benefit of listening over reading. I wish I had listened to more books when I was younger. It definitely has taught me to pay attention to details, taught me the proper pronunciation of words and improved my comprehension skills.

There are folks who prefer to listen to books and there are folks who prefer to read books. Listening versus reading may end up being like that familiar fallacy of comparing apples with oranges.

Stef Burn,

Downtown San Diego

SEEING EYE-TO-EYE Homeless, on a walker, veteran Greg Kowalski wrote a letter to CityBeat [“Nonambulatory,” Nov. 11] about how people ignored him when he fell and fractured his femur. I am non-ambulatory, as well. Greg, I understand. We are invisible to many. I was run over by a truck; people on the sidewalk walk into me instead of moving to the side. Old friends don’t see me. I think they are afraid I am contagious and will catch my disease if they come close or call. Hang in there, buddy.

Yosel Tarnofsky,

North Park

On the

Cover Jeff “Turbo” Corrigan shot the cover photo of timelessly cool vocalist Birdy Bardot, whose real name is Emily Reilly. “Working with Emily was a pleasure, she has a great attitude and plenty of energy,” says Corrigan. “She kept pace with my ideas and was really comfortable in front of the camera. Her outfit selection was perfect.”

Corrigan wanted a colorful, ’60s vibe, and remembered seeing some panels at the W Hotel that fit the bill, so that’s where they wound up. “It was great talking music in between exposures,” Corrigan says. “We have a lot of common acquaintances so it was good to catch up on the local music scuttlebutt.” jeffcorriganphoto.com

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Up Front | opinion

spin

John R. Lamb

john r. lamb

cycle No more free passes for the mayor It isn’t necessary to see a good tackle.

You can hear it.

—Knute Rockne

T

here comes a time in every politician’s shelf life when it’s a good idea to check the expiration date. Or at least the “sell by” numbers. In the case of San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, this appears to be happening now.

For some time, Spin Cycle has made the case that while Faulconer is a personable enough fellow, his sweet spot in governing lay not in the grimy ditches of everyday, sleeves-rolled-up sausage making but rather in the rarefied air of ribbon cuttings, repeated mantra pronouncements and economic boom-time largesse.

A man who cut his teeth in the back-patting world of public relations prior to his ascension to the San Diego City Council a decade ago, Faulconer seems more attuned to a highball clinking, private suite kind of environment than the raucous realm of the bully mosh pit.

His official calendar, which Spin has observed over the last few months, says little about any particular passion, other than a penchant for staff meetings, photo-op appearances and light Fridays. Compared to his disgraced predecessor, Bob Filner, Faulconer follows a much more choreographed dance pattern.

As this edition of CityBeat hits the streets, National Football League owners will have converged on Dallas for a much-ballyhooed meeting that sports pundits gallantly predict will either settle the Los Angeles “mega-market” sweepstakes once and for all, or do nothing of the sort.

On this topic, Faulconer has been nothing short of robotic for months. “Productive” meetings with NFL executives and owners. Repeated calls for the Chargers to “return to the negotiating table,” ignored since June. Forever “working hard” on a “plan that is fair.”

But thanks to the efforts of Voice of San Diego, the curtain has been pulled back on this little dance routine to reveal…well, let’s give the floor to San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Dan Swain regarding Faulconer’s recent claims of dogged negotiations with NFL honchos.

“Now we know better. The intervening months have been mostly theater, the negotiating equivalent of a half-time show; the kind with a marching band, not Beyoncé,” McSwain wrote in a scathing indictment published Saturday.

Why was this such a big deal? This was the local Gray Lady speaking, the muscled arm of the San Diego mainstream media that in the past has been, shall we say, hesitant to spray vinegar in the direction of a sitting Republican pol.

But when Voice revealed recently it had pried from the mayor’s hands the 24-page, blank-filled “term sheet” the city had offered the NFL back in September—and the NFL’s withering two-page response— Faulconer’s easy glide into re-election may have hit a speed bump.

“McSwain’s article could be a catalyst for increased (and deserved) scrutiny of not just his Chargers stadium charade, but also his failure to confront neighborhood infrastructure needs and Convention Center expansion, both priorities he promised to address,” emailed long-time political consultant Tom Shepard.

To date, Shepard has no dog in the burgeoning hunt to succeed Faulconer. But Shepard is the consultant behind Faulconer nemesis/activist attorney Cory Briggs’ hotel-taxreform initiative that is circulating citywide for voter signatures and a spot on the June ballot.

Nonetheless, Shepard smells blood in Faulconer’s chlorinated pool.

“The strategy employed by Faulconer’s handlers of superficial political posturing while avoiding a substantive response to this and other key issues could cause voters to turn against him if and when it’s exposed,” he wrote Spin.

McSwain’s column drew the attention of Mighty 1090 sports-radio jock Dan Sileo. In a brief interview Monday, McSwain eased up slightly on the mayor, arguing that Faulconer “has been fairly nimble politically” on the matter and rightly sees little value in “negotiating with myself” while the Chargers focus to the north.

But McSwain noted that politicians in St. Louis have taken a different tack, “mak-

“

Faulconer’s

easy glide into re-election

may have hit a

“

speed bump.

#SDCityBeat

NFL Commish Roger Goodell to Mayor Faulconer: “Knock knock. Anybody home?” ing a pretty specific offer” to the Rams, another Los Angeles suitor, “and taking political heat for it. That’s something the mayor of San Diego has not been willing to do.”

In contrast, as McSwain pointed out, San Diego’s offer in its term sheet has moved little at all in recent months and remains elusive—literally, there are blanks— on many levels, from the number of parking spaces to what the city expects the Chargers to pay in rent for a new stadium in Mission Valley, Faulconer’s preferred location.

In their Nov. 10 response, NFL executives lamented that “specific proposals on financial terms, currently undefined in the term sheet, would be necessary for a meaningful evaluation of the proposal. Those terms include such critical economic issues as base rent, facility rent, capital reserve obligations of the Chargers, and whether there would be ticket and/or parking surcharges…”

Protection of parking spaces in relation to future development “also need to be better understood,” the NFL wrote. “How these terms are addressed, plus any improvements to the proposed financial obligations of the Chargers, will be material in affecting the attractiveness of the proposal to the club and, by extension, the membership’s evaluation of the proposal.”

The NFL’s letter also noted that “the steps needed to achieve project certainty (or to understand that project certainty is not achievable) and the timing for doing so remain unclear,” including “the inherent uncertainty of a [stadium] referendum vote,” the potential for litigation over both the city’s fast-tracked environmental impact report and possible sale of leaserevenue bonds to finance the city’s portion of stadium construction costs, and “any potential impacts” of the proposed Briggs ballot measure.

Spin has learned that the city has responded in a letter to the NFL concerns,

but by press time the mayor’s office had been unresponsive to requests for its release.

Without the letter, Spin can only speculate about the sunshine-y prognosis proffered by the ever-optimistic Team Faulconer.

The mayor’s office will no doubt flick away questions about the viability of the new stadium EIR and bond sales, having mentioned frequently Gov. Jerry Brown’s October decision to certify the project for expedited environmental review and the city’s recent Fourth District Court of Appeal victory allowing the bond sales (a decision Briggs has said he will appeal to the California Supreme Court).

Regarding a stadium ballot vote as proposed by Faulconer in June, the city assuredly will point to the mayor’s approvalrating polling that shows he can persuade a majority of voters to side with him (a scenario likely emboldened should the Chargers get on board).

As for the Briggs referendum, well who the hell knows at this point, since the mayor’s office and his financial backers among the hotel crowd have said little one way or the other about the proposal—only that it is complex and in its early stages of gestation.

Perhaps in Faulconer’s world of perfect intervention, the Chargers would miraculously come out against the Briggs plan, which in a nutshell would raise the city’s hotel-tax from 10.5 percent to 15.5 percent while eliminating the legally murky 2 percent surcharge that hoteliers voted amongst themselves to impose.

Indeed, who knows? If NFL owners put off a decision on the L.A. market for a year, maybe a downtown venue re-enters the discussion—and a substantive mayor’s race is born!

Spin Cycle appears every week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | opinion

divided state of

america

chad peace

Whose election process is the best?

C

alifornia Secretary of State Alex Padilla and San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez recently took a trip to Colorado to take notes on ways to increase election turnout.

In the 2014 general election, Colorado’s voter turnout was more than 54 percent, the third highest in the nation. In that same year California had a record low voter turnout, just 42 percent.

Perhaps Colorado’s higher voter turnout was due, in part, to the fact that it was the first time every registered voter in Colorado received a mail-in ballot two to three weeks before Election Day. Additionally, in 2014 Colorado implemented Election Day Registration (EDR), allowing voters to register and correct their voter registration up to the day of the election. “[The] lessons from [Coloradoans] are building up vote-by-mail,

more in-person voting options and providing geographic flexibility for voters around the county,” Padilla said. “Their cost of administering elections is down 30 percent, and more importantly voting rates have gone up 20 percent. I think that’s a win-win.”

Its pretty intuitive: Make voting easier and more people will vote.

That’s also the theory behind Gonzalez’s “New Motor Voter” bill passed earlier this year, as well as the Secretary of State’s decision to not challenge a court ruling that will allow ex-felons to vote. “[B]y and large campaigns and candidates don’t talk to voters that aren’t registered,” Secretary of State Padilla said about the bill.

“Once they’re registered, you can bet campaigns will start reaching out to them as well.”

But the problem with turning to Colorado as an example of how

elections can better serve voters is that the general election statistics from that state tell only a part of the story.

For example, in addition to a contentious race for governor, Colorado had four statewide initiatives on the 2014 general election ballot concerning abortion, gambling, government accountability and business regulation.

Sure, mail-in ballots likely had a positive effect on voter turnout.

But just ask any political consultant what a heated governor’s race and hot-button initiatives will do for voter turnout, and they will all have the same answer—it will increase it, a lot.

By contrast, in California, the governor’s race was a snoozer.

And the statewide initiatives, although important, did not garner a significant level of excitement among the electorate.

To read a little bit more into the

story, Colorado’s primary election voter turnout was just 17 percent.

This is a full 8 percent lower than California. Yes, during the stage of the election when the viable candidates are determined, Colorado’s voter turnout percentage was almost 50 percent lower than California’s.

“

Its pretty intuitive: Make voting easier and more people

“

will vote.

It’s an irony that should be given serious thought by anybody working to advance voter rights.

Of note, critics of California’s top-two nonpartisan primary system are quick to point out that California’s primary turnout decreased in 2014.

But at the same time critics are blaming top-two for lower voter turnout, California’s primary election turnout actually exceeded

8 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

primary election turnout in Colorado—a state our legislators have turned to for elections advice.

So how do we explain this apparent anomaly?

Colorado has closed partisan primaries, which means that because the Republican and Democratic parties are the only major parties in the state, you have to be a registered Republican or Democrat to vote in either primary election.

In California, since the adoption of our nonpartisan system (in every election except for the office of president) we don’t have partisan primaries. Instead, every voter gets the same ballot. The voter then gets to choose from a list of every candidate running for that office—regardless of the voter or the candidate’s party preference.

In short, it is an election that serves voters first.

Given that 67 percent of new voters in Colorado are choosing not to join a political party and that less than 17 percent of voters are participating in the all-important primaries in Colorado, serious reformers from that state are actually looking at ways to reform its primary election system—and guess which state they are looking at really hard?

Yup, California.

We should spend more time thinking about that irony, too.

Write to chadp@sdcitybeat.com.

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

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Up Front | Opinion

Sordid

Edwin Decker

Tales

A gender-bending argument against unisex restrooms

A

fter enjoying a most excellent breakfast in a Sacramento restaurant called The Tower, I headed to the restrooms only to discover about eight people—oh, be still my beating bladder—waiting in line!

Actually, there were two lines. To make matters worse, each comprised both men and women.

This could only mean one thing. It meant they were waiting for the dreaded unisex bathrooms.

And ain’t that some shit? Indeed, it seems an increasing number of establishments are going the way of unisex accommodations in an effort, no doubt, to evenly distribute the waiting time between the sexes. And while I’m sure this sounds reasonable to women—who surely must be tired of wasting away in endless bathroom queues—to me it’s a raw deal.

You see, as a straight, white and male individual (SWAMI), I have enjoyed the privileges that society has to offer people: superior education, safe neighborhoods, preferential treatment from authority figures, freedom from bullying and/or harassment, higher wages, inheritance advantages and the opportunity to date white girls without the scorn of suspicious parents. But now, as our culture becomes increasingly aware of and opposed to SWAMI entitlements they are systematically being revoked.

And you know what? I feel I have been a pretty good sport about it.

I didn’t complain in 1986, when three million illegal immigrants were awarded amnesty, thereby making it harder for white people to get those coveted low-wage jobs.

I didn’t complain about the recent, nationwide legalization of gay marriage, even though it has clearly contributed to the demise of straight marriage, including the collapse of my own wholly heterosexual marriage.

Nor did you hear me raise a stink about the Black Lives Matter movement, even though it hogged all the media attention away from the valiant fundraising efforts of my White People without Yachts Foundation.

But unisex bathrooms? I may have lost my white privilege and my hetero privilege but hell no, I will not let go of my male privilege—the most privilegy privilege of them all.

No justice, no peace!

The first time I encountered a unisex operation was a couple of years ago. I had to pass water really, really badly and the long, mix-gendered lines sent me spiraling into the seven stages of grief. First there was shock (“Can this be real?”). Then came denial (“There is no way this is going to catch on”). Followed by anger (“You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you to Hell!”). Followed by guilt, depression and finally acceptance as I walked to the back of the

line with throbbing gonads and prayed to the excretion gods that the unisex concept would not catch on. Because, let’s face it, the tried-and-true system of male- and female-only restrooms keeps the men’s wait at a minimum—thanks to the magic and genius of the external phallus which can be whipped out and watered in the time it takes a woman to retrieve the owner’s manual for her vagina.

Say what you want about the vajay-jay’s role in childbirth, it is clearly the inferior organ. Not only because it can’t be used to write your name in the snow, but because of how much it slows you down in the lavatory. And sure, it may seem unfair that it was men who got the coveted male sex organ, but it makes sense. As far as genitalia goes, God had two options. As much as he wanted to award a phallus to everyone, he knew somebody had to have a receptacle for the whole thing to work. So he gave it to females, for the simple reason that men are movers and shakers who don’t have time to be dicking around with vaginas. We don’t have time to be unbuckling belts, lowering and raising toilet seats or wiping ourselves after the simple act of relieving our bladders. It was clearly God’s intent to make this a swift and convenient prick-friendly process so men could get back to running governments and building rocket ships.

To undo this advantage would not only be a detriment to mankind, but an affront to God. We shall overcome. We shall overcome.

That said, I will concede that there are many out there who abuse their SWAMI privilege. They use it to intentionally hurt those who are not members of the advantaged class and absolutely should have their entitlements revoked. But can we agree that those of us who did not abuse our privilege should be able to keep them? I mean, I’m one of the good ones, right? I’m the guy who always nods and says, “Sup?” to black people I pass on the street. I am the guy who always asks the women I trick into sleeping with me if they climaxed before gathering my clothes and rushing out the door. And I am the heterosexual who went to the drag club and didn’t flip out when the pudgy, old Motown queen sat on my lap and crooned “Love to Love You Baby” into my wilting ears.

Afterward, I went to the restrooms which were marked His and Hers. There were four gals waiting for Hers and a man dressed like Betty Page waiting for His. Betty was in and out before anyone in the Her line got in. Power to the pee-ple,” I thought.

“Power to the pee-ple, right on!”

“

It may seem unfair that it was men who got the coveted male sex organ, but it makes sense.

“

#SDCityBeat

Sordid Tales appears every other week.

Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com.

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

Up Front | Food

by michael a. gardiner avocado, chunks of tomato, onion and a lime-soy marinade, this was as close as García got to traditional mariscos. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Yellowtail appeared again on the menu, also seared with a soy-serrano-ginger sauce, acThe middle path at Muelle 3 companied by fried calamari and a green salad.

Spectacular? No. It was the best ingredient availhe food at Muelle 3 (Blvd. Teniente Azueable with nothing done to screw it up. That may ta 187, Malecon, Ensenada) isn’t traditionsound like Muelle 3 lacks ambition. It doesn’t. It al Mexican mariscos or modern BajaMed. is its own ambition.

But it’s exactly what you want in a dockside resMussels steamed with clams and served taurant at a working Baja Mexico fishing port. with perfect French fries is one of the best Somewhere between the perfection of Manzadishes at Muelle 3. García simmers the bivalves nilla Restaurant’s tiraditos and the rustic charm of (mussels harvested from Punta Banda at the roadside ceviches stands Muelle 3 (Pier 3). David south of Ensenada’s bay) with tomatillos and Martinez started the fresh green chiles Michael A. Gardiner eatery with his brothfor a tangy, savory, er and Benito Molina slightly briny flavor (of Manzanilla), but profile. It’s moules bought them out sevet frites transported eral years ago. Chef from Belgium to Aldonéy García has Baja. continued with MoThe climax of lina’s culinary spirit Muelle 3’s tasting (and some recipes). menu was a trio feaAs befits a resturing a clam chowtaurant located steps der, a cheese empanfrom fishing docks and ada and a smoked the Mercado Negro marlin pescadillo. market, the seafood The clam chowder coming off those boats was ordinary, at determines Muelle 3’s best, over-creamed daily menu. and under-clammed.

It’s never a bad García’s “empanaSan Quintin Oysters with Mignonette idea to start a Baja da” was a light affair meal with oysters. These were from San Quintin, of phyllo dough rather than the more traditional 185 kilometers south. What they lacked in size pastry. The highlight was the pescadillo, a cross they made up for in deep, briny flavor. A classic between a quesadilla and a taco stuffed with samignonette, augmented by a hit of hot sauce, was vory smoked marlin. It’s an Ensenada specialty the perfect accompaniment. that is illegal on the Alta side of the border.

Molina’s influence was evident in the yelMuelle 3’s presentation might not scream lowtail tiradito. It was fantastically fresh fish “fine dining.” García may not be the next Baja presented with just enough manipulation—lime super chef or the picture of traditional Mexican juice, soy sauce, a touch of olive oil and finely cuisine. The path he and Martinez have charted diced ginger and serrano chiles—to enhance its is a different one—a middle one. It’s everything natural qualities. Perhaps it wasn’t presented you want and need in Baja seafood and nothing you don’t. with BajaMed beauty but those flavors were simple, pure and eloquent.

The World Fare appears weekly.

A mixed ceviche was at the other end of the Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com. traditional/new continuum. Featuring shrimp, octopus and yellowtail with a generous slice of

the world

fare T

10 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2 , 2015

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Up Front | drink

bottle

By Jen Van Tieghem

Rocket

ran’s 2012 Zinfandel of California. I was immediately struck by the vegetal qualities of the aromatics—green bell pepper and eucalyptus notes punctuated by bold leather and faint vaow that the temperature has dipped nilla. However, upon drinking this one I was (below 80 degrees) it’s time once again struck by a lot more fruit than expected. to drink red wines. I was sharing a Dark red berries and a touch of tobacco red blend with a friend recently and she made this layered wine one I wanted to asked me why blends weren’t more popukeep revisiting. While not technically a lar. After a little chat about the wonderful blend, this wine does include some old world of Bordeaux, I decided to look for vine Petite Sirah that I think adds to its some tasty blends closer to home. beautiful balance.

Given that “blend” is a broad categoSticking with my California theme I ry, you have to do some research to find picked up the 2012 Sparrow Hawk Reserve something you’ll enjoy. Think about the Red Wine from Napa County. Mainly I varietals you like on their own and how grabbed this because it was convenient and they might enhance one another. I found inexpensive at Costco. But I started to have a good example of this in Experience high hopes when the blend of Cabernet Wines’ red blend from Napa Valley. ZinSauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot imfandel makes up the majority of this blend mediately revealed hints of molasses, bak(62 percent) along with Cabernet Franc, ing spices and a bit of pepper on the nose.

Petite Sirah and a touch of Merlot. The The wine was equally strong on the palate result is a deep purple wine that embodies with berry flavors and strong tannins. The latlush earthy notes along with bright cherry flavors. ter pairs well with a rich fatty cheese.

A kick of anise hit me in a pleasant way before a With so many bold reds to be found, I’m golong smooth finish. ing to cross my fingers for more cool weather and One grape I’ll always turn to is Zinfandel. more excuses to drink California blends.

From jammy versions to earthy styles, I tend to love it all. I recently popped open a bottle of Be- Write to jenv@sdcitybeat.com

A few of my favorite reds

N

#SDCityBeat

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

Up Front | Drink

the

by andrew dyer

beerdist Craft’s billion-dollar reckoning

I

can’t blame Ballast Point’s Jack White and Yuseff Cherney for selling their brewery to Constellation Brands. One billion dollars goes a long way toward convincing anybody to do anything.

But where does that leave San Diego’s craft beer industry? Independence and dedication to the DIY ethos can fly out the window once a banker adds that third comma. When Big Beer enters a community, the craft identity is officially up for sale, available to the highest bidder.

Jacob McKean, founder and CEO of Modern Times Beer, thinks consolidation threatens to undermine and dilute what makes locals so passionate about craft beer.

“I think the biggest danger these sales pose is making beer fans jaded,” McKean said. “They undermine the trust and enthusiasm beer drinkers have for craft beer and risk turning them into cynics.”

McKean adds that there’s a misconception that Big Beer is somehow forcing itself on craft breweries. “That’s not the case,” he said. “All of these companies sold because they wanted to sell.”

There are political reasons some craft beer fans have an aversion to brands associated with the major beer companies. For years the majors— in addition to peddling sub-standard swill—spent millions lobbying federal and state legislators to prevent independent breweries from thriving, thus putting a majority of markets in their stranglehold of suck.

12 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2 , 2015

According to Opensecrets.org, a site that tracks money in politics, only AB/Inbev, MillerCoors and Coca-Cola spent more beverage industry lobbying dollars than Constellation Brands. Some people may prefer to keep politics out of their beer, but in today’s market, ignorance is not bliss.

Now, money gets siphoned into the pockets of greedy bankers and corporate bean counters. And as the craft label in the beer industry is commoditized and dipdx beer geek / flickr luted, the need has arisen for a new label/hashtag to better represent what craft used to mean. The guys at Three B Zine are pushing for “IndieBeer,” a term which some believe says more about San Diego beer today than craft does.

If San Diego had a Mount Rushmore of beer, Ballast Point would be on it. The value in Ballast Point was not just the product, but also the brand and all it represented. A locally owned company with humble beginnings in a Linda Vista strip mall and the scrappy entrepreneur turning his passion into an empire is the type of capitalist wet dream we’re told is only possible in America. As Ballast Point’s renown grew, so did San Diego’s. The authenticity people associate with San Diego beer is there because of breweries like Ballast Point. In helping build this brand association, it was uniquely positioned to leverage it into a pants-shitting payday.

The Beerdist appears every other week.

Write to andrewd@sdcitybeat.com

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | technology

all things

tech

by tom siebert

Black Friday, R.I.P.

I

n the same way video killed the radio star and digital cameras punk’d Polaroid and Kodak, technology and societal trends are well into the process of making Black Friday their latest blood red victim, a CTRL Delete on the keyboard of retail history.

When rare wind and rain woke me very early Black Friday morning, and I was compelled to leave bed anyway by the remains of two Thanksgiving dinners demanding exit. I figured I might as well see what the madhouse was like at the mall. I had nothing better to do and I’m fascinated by things that repulse me.

Except there was no madness. By 6:30 a.m. at Mission and Fashion Valley, Black Friday had already come and gone. At 7:30 a.m., the line for Best Buy still had fewer than 100 people.

At first I thought this was a good thing— people are rejecting consumerism! But as I dug a bit deeper, I realized no, actually, it means the battle to preserve the sanctity of Thanksgiving has been lost.

By cloudy and wet sunrise Black Friday morning, most of the hardcore shopping was already done and the money spent. Black Friday is now sloppy seconds, like the turkey that’s been sitting in cold gravy overnight.

According to the e-commerce software consultancy Channel Advisor, online shopping on Thanksgiving Day 2015 rose 43 percent over last year. Combine that with Target, Macy’s, Best Buy and other big box stores opening at 6 p.m.

Thanksgiving night, and the Door Buster thrill is gone.

“The psychology of shopping has changed,” said Nii Ahene, Chief Operating Officer of CPC Strategy, a San Diego company that helps businesses steer people to their products via Google and other search engines. “People no longer feel ‘stuck’…they can buy whenever they want and it gets shipped to them.”

Which leaves two kinds of hardcore Black Friday shoppers: The ones who want to be there and the ones who have to be there.

“The big difference now is that there’s a real vector to avoid all that craziness if you want to,” says Jim McArthur, founder of the local innovations agency Command & Control. “There are still people who enjoy putting their battle gear on and physically throwing themselves into the fray, but usually there’s almost always a way to get a better deal online.”

Unless you can’t, because the deal isn’t quite good enough or you’re not Internet savvy or you don’t have a credit card. Which brings us back around to the technology divide between the haves and have-nots, when the people who show

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up at Door Buster openings to get a flat screen TV for $199 are the ones who most desperately need to (if anyone can be said to desperately need a flat-screen TV).

Combine them with the cut-throat consumer crazies who live for getting the cheapest deal possible in their cart, and you begin to see how technology has led to not only diminished crowds on Black Friday, but also the increase in violence and pillaging behavior you’ve watched across YouTube for the past couple years.

What’s happening with shopping reminds me of TV producer Tim Kling’s notorious “saps and dipshits” comment from several years ago. Kling is the creator of Heroes, the NBC superhero adventure series that started strong but then quickly sucked, which returned earlier this year.

Kling was talking about how Heroes’ problems stemmed from being a serialized narrative amid a sea change in how television is being watched—

A sparse Black Friday crowd at Best Buy pre-recorded and/or streamed, binged, commercials excised, etc. All the smart people, the tech savvy, the demographics with the money—they control their experience with the show.

What you’re left with for people who actually watch television live are the “saps and dipshits who can’t figure out how to watch it in a superior way.”

This explains why television is splintered between a small amount that is excellent—usually on premiere platforms like HBO, Showtime and Netflix—and absolute dumbed-down, sex-obsessed, lower common denominator dreck like “reality” television. The television business model now depends on either a subscription model or the glaze of the saps and dipshits who don’t have a DVR and can’t afford HBO. The same is becoming true for holiday shopping and most likely all shopping. The smart money stays home and shops all month long.

The only people out on Black Friday are the saps and dipshits. But maybe it was always that way. I mean…I was there.

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

DOWNTOWN

1 ALL’S FAIR

Wouldn’t it be great if you could find the best local artisans and crafters in one place? That way, you wouldn’t have to go from store to store to find all your holiday gifts.

Lucky for us, local craft enthusiasts Jennifer Byard and Rebecca Chase had the same thought.

Their annual Makers Arcade Holiday Fair is packed with unique, handmade items that are varied enough to ensure patrons will find something for everyone on their list. Held Saturday, Dec. 5, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Port Pavillion at Broadway Pier (1000 N. Harbor Dr.), Byard says they had to move the event from the Moniker Warehouse to the larger Port Pavilion in order to have enough room for the nearly 100 vendors they’ll have this year.

“We always felt like we wanted to do something larger,” says Byard, who along with Chase started the Makers Arcade with smaller events BALBOA PARK

held in South Park. “We’d both been to the larger fairs in L.A. and San Francisco and thought that San Diego really needed a well-curated arts and crafts fair here that was community minded and a real shopping event.”

Byard also stresses the “fun” aspects of the Holiday Fair. RathCOURTESY OF MAKERS ARCADE er than be content with having just the shopping aspect, the event will also include cocktails, craft beer, food trucks, live music and a lounge area for patrons to rest their legs. There will also be crafts and games for folks bringing kids.

“You can stay Makers Arcade there all day long if you want,” says Byard. “And people do. That’s our favorite part about doing it. Hearing the comments from people about how much fun they’re having. Sure, they can get their holiday shopping done, but they also have a good time hanging out and meeting people in their community.”

Admission is $3 in advance, $5 at the door. makersarcade.com POINT LOMA

2 DRESS UP

Now that we’re done (for the time being) indulging on a smorgasbord of fattening holiday foods, it’s the perfect time for a lengthy bike ride. Luckily, the San Diego Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a local nonprofit dedicated to combating homophobia of all kinds, is hosting its second annual Red Dress Ride on Sunday, Dec. 6, starting at noon at Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama. Riders of all genders and persuasions are encouraged to don their best red dress and join others on a leisurely bike ride through the city culminating in an after-party at Numb3rs Night Club (3811 Park Blvd.) in Hillcrest at 5 p.m. The ride is in commemoration of World AIDS Day and the $10 suggested donation benefits The Sisters & Team Cretins AIDS/LifeCycle teams. reddressday.org

3 VINO FOR VETS

Just because it doesn’t snow here doesn’t mean San Diegans are standing jacketless in the 50-something degree weather throughout the holiday season. The Wine Pub wants to make sure the city’s homeless veterans aren’t, either. To help keep them warm, the shop is hosting Winter WINEderland, a pop-up boutique event that will reward donors of used jackets, sweaters and blankets with half-off sparkling wine on Sunday, Dec. 6. from 3 to 5 p.m. The Wine Pub’s (2907 Shelter Island Drive #108) outdoor patio will be decked out in twinkling lights and a fire pit to show items from Teeter, Point Loma Gifts, Concordia and Meg Tyndall Design. The event is free but donations are encouraged, and all collected clothing will be given to Veterans Village of San Diego.

MIA BOLTON

Emoji Art Show at Hess Brewing North Park, 3812 Grim Ave., North Park. Local artists present original pieces based on the popular texting ideograms and symbols.

Artists include Amber Dawn Gomes, Carrie Anne Hudson, Tayler Shaw and more.

Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2. Free. mikehessbrewing.com HSusana Echevarria at Teros Gallery, 3888 Swift Ave., City Heights. Works from the Mexican-born artist focusing mainly on drawings, photographs and prints during the hippie-driven days of the early ‘70s. Opening from 5 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 3. Free. facebook.com/ events/903713699716264 HArt of the Heart at Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 16, Point Loma. This art show celebrates the lifelong work of silkscreen artist Susie Reneau, an artisan whose work was featured in more than 60 shows throughout the past 50 years. Opening from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4. $3-$5.

619-233-7963, womensmuseumca.org Friday Night Liberty at NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. This monthly gallery and studio walk features open artist studios, galleries, live performances, shopping and entertainment throughout NTC’s Arts and Culture District. From 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4.

Free. 619-573-9300, ntclibertystation.com HPaintings by Anna Zappoli Jenkins and Dan Adams at Martha Pace Swift Gallery, Building 201, 2820 Roosevelt Road, Point Loma. A “double-solo exhibition” with an exciting collection of new and recent work from the local artists. Opening rom 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4. Free. facebook.com/events/546182985541869/ Someone Who Is Not You at UCSD Visual Arts Facility Performance Space, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. UCSD MFA candidate Bill Basquin presents works based on a month-long solo camping expedition in the Mexican Wolf Recovery Area of New Mexico. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4. Free. 858-534-2230, visarts.ucsd.edu

14 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

Grandmother’s Tea: Helen Foster James at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The special edition of Warwick’s ongoing Toddler Storytime series will feature James reading and signing her new children’s book, Grandma’s Christmas Wish. At 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

FASHION HMayStar’s Fashion Whore at U-31, 3112 University Ave., North Park. The monthly fashion and dance party celebrates its tenth anniversary and its final show ever.

Designers included in the fashion show include Miss Alphabet, Cotton Candy Punk Couture, Cat Lewis and more. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Free-$5. 619-5844188, clubfashionwhore.com

FOOD & DRINK Brew School’d Improv at Green Flash Cellar 3, 12260 Crosthwaite Circle, Poway.

Five beer experts take the stage and tell their truly unbelievable backstories, but only one of them is telling the truth. Four beer tastings included in the show. From 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4. $22. 858-6220085, cellar3live.eventbrite.com HTurista Libre: Tijuana Taco Tour at Turista Libre Meeting Spot, 727 E. San Ysidro Blvd, Tijuana. Tickets include roundtrip border transportation, courses at three taquerias and dessert at an artisan ice cream parlor with more than 80 flavors. At 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. $45.

858-754-9406, turistalibre.com HSono Fest and Chili Cook-Off at San Diego Ceramic Connection, 3216 Thorn St., South Park. The chili cooking competition features a craft beer and wine garden, local handmade vendors, live music, and of course, many choices of chili made by competing restaurants. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6. $15-$20. 619281-CLAY, sonofestchilicookoff.com

For What It’s Worth at TPG2, 1475 University Ave., Hillcrest. New and recent works from Josh Hunter, Andrew McNamara, Steven Van and other pop-surrealist artists. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. 619-203-6030, tpg2.net

HWinter WINEderland at The Wine Pub, 2907 Shelter Island Dr., Shelter Island. A pop-up boutique featuring four local vendors on the outdoor patio. Guests are encouraged to bring gently used jackets, sweaters and blankets to benefit Veterans Village of San Diego. From 3 to 5 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 6. thewinepubsd.com

BOOKS Suzette Valle at Upstart Crow, 835 West Harbor Drive, Seaport Village. The local blogger signs and discusses her new interactive handbook about classic and contemporary films, 101 Movies to See Before You Grow Up. At 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3. Free. 619-232-4855, upstartcrowtrading.com

HElias Weiss Friedman at Warwick’s

Winter WINEderland

Layla Fiske at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., downtown. Meet and converse with the local author of The Fig Orchard, which was named one of “The Best Books of 2014” by Kirkus Reviews. At 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6. Free. 619-236-5800, sdfocl.org

A San Diego Experience at The Frame Maker, 3102 Reynard Way, Little Italy. An art exhibition and book signing for Bill Mosley’s new book, Verticals Over San Diego, reflecting the changes in the center city landscape from a painter’s perspective. Opening from noon to 3 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. 619 260 2600, theframemaker.com

HTake Your Child to a Bookstore Day at various locations. Held the first Saturday in December, the sixth annual event celebrating the magic of bookstores will include special activities and events at stores throughout the city. See website for full list of stores and details. From 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. takeyourchildtoabookstore.org

Red Dress Ride

Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The photographer stops by for a meet-andgreet-style appearance to promote his new book, The Dogist, a collection of his photographic encounters with over 1000 dogs. At noon. Sunday, Dec. 6. 858-4540347, warwicks.com

H = CityBeat picks

HOLIDAY EVENTS HSparks Holiday Bazaar at Sparks Gallery, 530 6th Ave., Gaslamp. A onenight-only pop-up shop event featuring local craft vendors and artists displaying their work. Artists include Alexandra Hart, Hillary Papirio, Seth Papac Jewelry and more. From 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3. Free. 619-696-1416, sparksgallery.com Coronado Christmas Parade & Open House at Coronado, 3rd & Orange, Coronado. The 40th annual Christmas parade and events include Santa’s arrival by ferry, snow mountain, downtown open house, the tree lighting ceremony and a concert by the community band. From 2 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4. Free. coronadovisitorcenter.com

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 #SDCityBeat

EVENTS noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. thirdavenuevillage.com Holiday Tree Lighting & Winter Wonderland Festival at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. Children will have the chance to frolic in real snow, decorate their very own Christmas cookies, visit with Santa, and create fun, hand-made gifts for their loved ones at this 11th annual event. From 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. 760-8394190, artcenter.org

“Crumple (geometric solids and variations)” by Kara Joslyn is on view in POSEUR, a group show that runs through Dec. 11 at the Structural & Materials Engineering Visual Arts Gallery at UCSD (9500 Gilman Dr.) in La Jolla.

HDecember Nights at Balboa Park, Balboa Park. The 38th annual festival features museum exhibitions, international cuisine, concerts in the Hibben Gallery, and many more holiday traditions. From 3 to 11 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4 and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. sdmart.org HHoliday Wonderland at Petco Park, Park & Imperial, Downtown. This annual event will feature light displays, Polar Express trains, a Candyland area, live reindeer, real snow and photo opportunities with Santa near a 40-foot-tall Christmas tree. Held on 12 days from Friday, Dec. 5, through Wednesday, Dec. 24. From 5 to 10 p.m. $10-$15. sandiego.padres. mlb.com/sd/ticketing/holiday.jsp HGarden of Lights at San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas. The San Diego Botanic Garden transforms into a winter wonderland from Dec. 5, through Dec. 30, with over 100,000 sparkling lights illuminating the Garden for a magical holiday experience.

From 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. $6$14. 760-436-3036, sdbgarden.org HHoliday in the Village at Third Avenue Chula Vista, Third Ave., Chula Vista.

The fourth annual holiday event features entertainment, free children’s activities, as well as retail, dining and service specials from the unique shops that make up this quaint business district. From

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Holidays in the Village at Spanish Village Art Center, 1770 Village Pl., Balboa Park. The holiday celebration includes a teddy bear scavenger hunt and photos with Santa, as well as food, entertainment and art in the courtyard. From 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. 619702-8006, spanishvillageart.com HJingle Paws Walk at Cuyamaca Water Conservation Gardens, 12122 Cuyamaca College Dr. West, El Cajon. The ACES Foundation hosts this sixth annual walk (1K and 5K) and fair featuring vendors with pet related items, animal rescues, food, a silent auction and Santa photos.

From 9 a.m. to noon. Saturday, Dec. 5.

Free. 619-660-0614, acesfoundation.org HLittle Italy Christmas Tree Lighting at Little Italy, Little Italy. The 16th annual event features festive decorations, live entertainment, a visit from Santa, Little Italy Mercado vendors and, of course, the lighting of a 25-foot tree. From 4 to 8 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. littleitalysd.com HMakers Arcade Holiday Fair at Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier, 1000 North Harbor Dr., Downtown , Downtown. Nearly 100 local artists and crafters will gather to show off their handmade goods. The event also features craft cocktails and beer, live music, food trucks, swag bags and more. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. $5. makersarcade.com HNorth Park Toyland Parade & Festival at North Park along 30th St., between 3700 and 3900 block, North Park. The 52nd annual event is back! The parade starts at University Avenue and Utah Street at 11 a.m. while the festival happens from noon to 3 p.m. in the heart of North Park. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. toylandparade.com OB Holiday Parade at Ocean Beach, Newport Ave & Abbott St, Ocean Beach.

The annual parade and street fest includes floats, marching bands, community characters and, of course, Santa Claus. At 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. obtowncouncil.org Peace on Earth Holiday Bazaar at MidCity Gym, 4302 Landis St., City Heights.

The annual event features more than 25 local community organizations offering food, performances, gift items, and re-

sources promoting a peaceful and environmentally conscious world. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Free.

619-516-3082, peacebazaar.net HSouth Park Winter Walkabout at South Park, 30th & Juniper, South Park. A quarterly evening festival that showcases all the unique and independent businesses within South Park. Enjoy complimentary treats, live entertainment, special offers and discounts, roaming carolers and more. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. southparkscene.com WSSD Winter Faire at Waldorf School, 3547 Altadena Ave., City Heights. This annual fest offers kid-friendly activities, musical entertainment, earth-friendly vendors and a candlelight story at sunset.

From noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5.

Free. wssdwinterfaire.org Cardiff Kringle Mingle at Cardiff Town Center, 2087 San Elijo Ave., Cardiff-bythe-Sea. Holiday celebration for the entire community with live music, holiday treats, kid’s craft zone, Swedish Glogg Garden, a tree lighting and a free professional photo op with Santa. From 1 to 5 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 6. Free. cardiff101.com La Jolla Christmas Parade & Holiday Festival at La Jolla. The annual event in downtown La Jolla along Prospect St. includes marching bands, floats, equestrian units, vintage automobiles and an appearance by Santa Claus. From 1:30 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6. Free. ljparade.com Santa by the Sea at Del Mar Village, Camino Del Mar and 15th St., Del Mar. Take your own personal holiday pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus, listen to seasonal tunes performed by the Original Dickens Carolers, enjoy hot cocoa and cookies from local restaurants, or just hit up the tree lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. at this annual Del Mar holiday fest. From 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6. Free. 858-7353650, delmarmainstreet.com

MUSIC The Choice Entertainers at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The group known for their trademark harmonies and street corner doo-wop will perform as part of the Center’s First Wednesdays concert series. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2. Free.

760-839-4190, artcenter.org The Ten Tenors at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The Australian tenors and composers perform renditions of holiday classics like “Joy to the World,” “White Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland” and more. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3. $35-$70.

760-839-4190, artcenter.org Leftover Cuties at Sweetwater High

SPOTLIGHT While it can sometimes be hard for San Diegans to differentiate the seasons, the holidays are always made apparent by December Nights in Balboa Park. The 38th annual festival offers free entry to park museums, musical and dance performances, international cuisine and more. The festivities begin Friday, Dec. 4, from 3 to 11 p.m. and continues Saturday, Dec. 5, from noon to 11 p.m. balboapark.org School, 2900 Highland Ave., National City. The L.A.-based jazz-pop band are mostly known for having composed the theme music to the Showtime original show, The Big C. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4. $20-$28. amsdconcerts.com The Rite of Spring at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. This San Diego Symphony concert of Stravinsky’s famous ballet score features guest conductor Mirga Granzinyte-Tyla and violinist Karen Gomyo. At 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4 and Saturday, Dec. 5, and 2 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 6. $20-$96. 619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.com La Jolla Symphony & Chorus at Mandeville Auditorium, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The local symphony is joined by special guest soprano Zen Wu to perform selections from John Luther Adams, Ori Talmon, Samuel Barber and more. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5 and 2 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 6. $15-$29. 858-534-TIXS, lajollasymphony.com The Milk Carton Kids at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The Grammynominated folk-harmony duo stop by in support of their third album, Monterey. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. $27.50-$42.50.

619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org HMerideth Kaye Clark at North Coast

Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. The singer-songwriter and Broadway vet performs Joni Mitchell’s iconic album Blue in its entirety as part of North Coast Rep’s Acoustic Mondays series. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7. $17$22. 858-481-1055, northcoastrep.org

PERFORMANCE HMythBusters at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. The stars of the Emmy-nominated Discovery Channel series present a fantastical evening of on-stage experiments, audience participation, rocking video and behindthe-scenes stories. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. $37.50-$77.50. broadwaysd.com

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HNon-Standard Lit: Tina Hyland and Omar Pimienta at Gym Standard, 2903 El Cajon Blvd. #2, North Park. The second fall reading in the Non-Standard Lit Reading Series features experimental writing from Hyland and poetry from Tijuana artist Pimienta. At 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6. 619501-4996, gymstandard.com/

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

SPECIAL EVENTS

Christmas Across the Pond at Old Town Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St., Old Town. Write Out Loud presents its annual holiday program with local writers reading stories from Robert Louis Stevenson, John B. Keane, Dylan Thomas and more. At 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7. $5-$20. writeoutloudsd.com

HThe Nightmare Animations of Grace Rhee at The Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. The Korean animator presents her horror films and the films that have influenced her in this cinematic evening presented by San Diego Underground Film Festival. From 7 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6. $5 suggested donation.

858-534-2311, sdundergroundfilm.com

Red Poets Society at Kafe Sobaka Restoran Pomegranate, 2469 Broadway, Golden Hill. The twice-monthly poetry, prose and spoken word open mic co-hosted by Tazha Williams and David Proulx includes Sunny Rey as the night’s featured poet. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9. $5 suggested donation. 619-2974007, facebook.com/sdredpoets

HSTEAM Maker Festival at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math.

This fest features over 40 STEAM booths featuring kids’ projects, over 40 Maker showcase booths, music, vendors, workshops, community awards, interactive learning areas, and more. From 10 a.m.

16 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. $6-$8. 858755-1161, steammaker.org

cess. From 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3. $10. 760-436-6611, luxartinstitute.org

2:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. $40$50. 619-255-9483, sandiegowriters.org

HRed Dress Ride at Plaza de Panama, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Inspired by the red dress day, an annual fun and leisurely bicycle ride held on the first Sunday in December to commemorate World AIDS Day and benefit the AIDS/ LifeCycle. At 11 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 6. $10 suggested donation. 619-239-0512, reddressride.org

History for the Holidays at Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House, 410 Island Ave., downtown. The lecture discusses the informative and amusing stories that make up San Diego culture, and is presented by history expert Jack Innis. From noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6. Free. 619-2334692, gaslampfoundation.org

Winemaking Demonstration at Curds and Wine, 7194 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. Learn how to make your own wine from start to finish during this hands-on demo. From 1 to 3 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5. Free. 858-384-6566, curdsandwine.com

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS Studio Series: Charles Moxon at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Lux’s newest resident artist Charles Moxon leads an engaging discussion about both his work and artistic pro-

WORKSHOPS Love Me First Holiday Workshop at Inspirations Gallery, 2730 Historic Decatur Rd. Suite 202, Point Loma. Learn how to truly enjoy the holidays by exploring the self through writing prompts, mind-body exercises and more. Led by holistic wellness professional Lara Eisenburg. From

HCustom Wooden Ornaments at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Stamp, paint, bedazzle, and bejewel your own set of three wooden ornaments to adorn your holiday tree, gifts, or just to spruce up your home.

Part of Lux’s Handmade Holidays series of workshops. From 9 a.m. to noon.

Wednesday, Dec. 9. $35-$50. 760-4366611, luxartinstitute.org

#SDCityBeat

THEATER Zen and the art of parenting

DAREN SCOTT

B

efore you let holiday shopping get the better of you, consider catching Sarah Ruhl’s The Oldest Boy, which winds up its run at the San Diego Repertory Theatre on Dec. 6. A heady, expressive performance by Amanda Sitton, beautiful sets by Sean Fanning and haunting Tibetan music arranged by Michael Roth are just three of the reasons to bond with this enlightened story. It’s about parents confronting the heart-rending decision of whether to let their 3-year-old son, evidently the reincarnation of a lama (or teacher), grow up without them on the other side of the world in a monastery. Sitton portrays the boy’s mother and does so with such sensitivity that you’ll feel you are in her shoes.

Ruhl’s play has its draggy places, such as the Act One meet-cute flashback about the mother and the boy’s father (Napoleon Tavale). But what Ruhl (The Vibrator Play, The Clean House) imparts about academia, teachers and those who make the greatest sacrifices is smart and important. The sheer peace of the Buddhist way pervades all as Ruhl’s narrative melds with the production’s exquisite music and dance.

The Oldest Boy runs through Dec. 6 on the San Diego Repertory Theatre’s Lyceum Stage, downtown. $33-$66. sdrep.org H H H If Jeff Bridges’ antihero from The Big Lebowski were to have a son, KJ from An-

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OPENING: Lamb’s Festival of Christmas: The annual musical theater performance features classic songs and is set in Little Italy in the late ’40s. It opens Dec. 2 at the Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado. lambsplayers.org 2015 in Review: A Living Newspaper: A sketch comedy theatre review of all the notable and pop culture tidbits of the year. Presented by Black Kat Theatre, it opens for six performances on Dec. 3 at Desi’s Bar & Grill in Point Loma. blackkattheatre. com The 1940s Radio Hour: A family-friendly musical about a quaint New York radio station that’s about to air its last broadcast of holiday music. It opens Dec. 5 at the New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. newvillagearts.org

Amanda Sitton in The Oldest Boy nie Baker’s play The Aliens would do nicely.

Now, Lebowski was a good-hearted stoner, while KJ is a good-hearted slacker (though he does like to drink tea laced with psilocybin mushrooms). But they’ve got enough in common that when you experience KJ (Brian Butler) hanging out behind a coffeehouse with his pal, Jasper (Reed Willard), you may have a stoner-slacker flashback.

This is not to minimize Baker’s play, running through Dec. 12 at ion theatre, which is strangely mesmerizing despite the fact that it mostly consists of KJ and Jasper and the teenager (Tyler Oakley) they befriend sitting around near a dump-

ster, shooting the you know what. But Baker’s script possesses a sneaky intelligence to it, and there’s a sweetness to the relationship between KJ and teenager Evon that’s hard to resist. There are no aliens, by the way, in the extraterrestrial sense. That’s the name (one of them) of KJ and Jasper’s on-and-off band.

The Aliens runs through Dec. 12 at ion theatre’s BLKBOX @ 6th & Penn in Hillcrest. $9-$40. iontheatre.com

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

Greetings!: A cast reading of the holiday-themed Tom Dudzick comedy about a Catholic family trying to keep it together after they realize their son’s new girlfriend is a Jewish atheist. Presented by the Carlsbad Playreaders, it happens on Dec. 7 at the Schulman Auditorium in the Carlsbad City Library. carlsbadplayreaders.org This Wonderful Life: James Leaming stars in a one-man stage adaptation of the classic holiday film, It’s a Wonderful Life. Written by Steve Murray, it opens Dec. 8 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org

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

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

JESSY PAR R

CULTURE | FASHION

r a t S y Ma

says goodbye to

Fashion Whore shion shows, the local After a decade of indie fa

nightlife icon calls it quits

by Seth Combs

J

UST BEFORE MY INTERVIEW with local party promoter MayStar, she texts to ask me if she should wear makeup. It strikes me as an odd question even from someone like her. That is, someone who has spent much of the last decade throwing independent fashion shows and lavish parties for San Diego’s weirdo cliques.

“Do you want me to be no makeup May or do you want me to be MayStar? LOL,” reads the text.

I tell her to do whatever is most convenient and don’t think much about the interaction until later when I’m sitting with her at a Golden Hill wine bar. Halfway through our interview I realize there are, indeed, two Mays. There’s MayStar, the host of Club Fashion Whore and other local indie parties that have been held at varying San Diego clubs for more than 10 years. And then there’s May (technically, May Jacob, although she’s not keen on people knowing her surname), the pragmatic, behind-the-scenes promoter who will be ending Fashion Whore on Dec. 5 at U-31.

I start to think about the differences between the two: MayStar works a room, champagne in hand, making small talk with fellow scenesters. She giggles demurely even when she doesn’t find someone particularly funny. She mixes the word “like” into her sentences far too frequently.

Luckily on this night I happen to be talking to May. She’s not wearing any makeup. There is no superfluous use of the word “like” throughout the interview.

“The MayStar character was almost like a release for me,” she says. “It’s almost like a character, but that character is such a huge part of me. It’s natural and it’s not forced, but it only happens in that setting. A party isn’t real life so in a lot of ways I’ve been living a life of escapism.”

First held in 2005 at the former San Diego Sports Club

18 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

in Hillcrest (which later morphed into the Ruby Room and is now The Merrow), Club Fashion Whore started out as a dance night centered on the emerging electroclash music scene. A UC San Diego theater graduate, May was attracted to the theatrical elements of electroclash. Given the genre’s popularity in the international fashion world, Fashion Whore soon morphed into an event that featured fashion shows from regional designers, as well as monthly pop-up bazaars for local crafters to sell their wares. While most people don’t remember electroclash or the San Diego Sports Club, Fashion Whore was ahead of its time in that it embraced the local craft community and gave it a forum to show off products.

“To be honest, the fashion show was just a marketing idea to get people to come to my dance party,” May says.

The night soon became her trademark event and was popular enough that the owner of the Sports Club built a custom runway for the fashion shows. May soon expanded her nightlife reach, adding an 18-and-over event called Pop Noir at the downtown club Static Lounge.

However, being the sole employee of what has ostensibly become a nightlife event company has taken a toll on her. May has been the host of the events, as well as the company’s sole promoter, organizer and web designer.

At the height of her popularity, she would be hosting and promoting four events a month at clubs throughout San Diego and Tijuana. Over the years, she says she developed a wicked case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Early last year her boyfriend since her teens was diagnosed with thyroid cancer (he’s currently in remission). May says these things were enough to make her want to quit doing events, but

that ultimately she’s quitting because, well, she’s just not feeling it anymore.

“Sometimes when I thought of quitting, I’d tell myself I need to make it to 10. I’ve been wanting to quit for a while, but I needed that 10,” says May, who adds that she’s had to move Fashion Whore to almost a dozen different clubs over the years. “I have over 6,000 people on my mailing list, but a lot of those people have moved. Some of them have babies now.”

Sitting with her on this night, it’s easy to speculate why an event like Fashion Whore isn’t doing as well anymore.

The San Diego scene has always been ambivalent about fashion and the people who once came to her events are, indeed, now growing up and settling down.

When asked why she doesn’t try to market her event to a new, younger crowd, May says it was a lot easier to promote events in the past when Facebook would allow users to invite all their friends. She admits she could probably find new and inventive ways to market her event and keep it going a little longer, but after 10 years, she just wants to move on.

How does it feel to leave a brand you spent more than a decade building? May, the real May, doesn’t shed any tears or wax nostalgic.

“If you had asked me two years ago I would have said yes, I’m proud of it,” she says. “It’s not even the amount of work, but it’s almost like I just want to be normal or work for someone else and just have a break from the constant hassle. I want to put my phone in a drawer. Yes, I’m proud I made something out of nothing, but it was at the expense of myself. I feel like I’ve given away my youth to San Diego, and they don’t give a fuck. They don’t care.”

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

20 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Art past, does deal in the varying ways humans interact with the environment. Constructed out of old filing cabinets and fashioned to resemble a Stonehenge-like monument, “Information Retrieval” is meant to be both engaging and participatory. The cabinets will monument of memory be filled with wooden dioramas that will be The last in our series on the artists awarded backlit using motion-sensing lights. There will also be a recorded, spoken-word elegrants through the Creative Catalyst Fund. ment. People will look through little peepo call Matthew Hebert an installation holes to see the dioramas and, he hopes, be artist is sells him short. He’s as much a inspired to submit their own memories to the project using an online woodworker and deseth combs submission form on his signer as he is a fine artist. website (eleetwarez.net).

And as diverse as his work “I’ve done a few of these has been over the years, if projects where you’re pullthere’s a simple categoriing from the community zation for the bulk of it, it’s and it’s a challenge,” Hethat Matthew Hebert is an bert says. environmentalist.

Still, the Escondido Arts “I’m collecting memoPartnership found the idea ries about people’s experifor the piece interesting ences with the landscape enough to award Hebert that have somehow been a Creative Catalyst Grant. impacted by technology,” Hebert will install the says Hebert, describing piece for one day in Herihis new “Information Retage Garden Park during trieval” installation, which the Escondido Art Walk. will be unveiled Dec. 12 at Heritage Garden Park in Matthew Hebert It will be installed again at the California Center Escondido. “I want it to be monumental, but I also want it to kind of be for the Arts in January. Only a few of the dioramas will be up at the Dec. 12 event, but absurd.”

Hebert’s work isn’t preachy and doesn’t Hebert hopes that he’ll have enough useable have an overt, environmental agenda. “Infor- submissions afterward to put a diorama in mation Retrieval,” much like his work in the every one of the cabinets.

Seen LocaL

T

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“It’s a bit more of a roll of the dice, but I like that,” says Hebert when asked if he thinks he’ll have enough useable stories from the community to complete the piece.

“That’s why I wanted it to look like Stonehenge, because I imagine that was a huge gathering place for that community. Hopefully they’ll gather at this one.”

—Seth Combs

says she wanted to work in a neighborhood that was more diverse. Even with her day job, she never stopped crafting things like piñatas and party streamers.

She ultimately created an online shop and named it Dulce Diego (dulcediego.com), and says it was always in the back of her mind to open some kind of store to sell her handmade goods. She rented out a small space in La Bodega Gallery and started to make other items like aprons, pillows and tote bags, in addition to her popular “Sacred Heart” hearts and crafts and “Frida” piñatas. Given the size of a lot Leading up to the holidays this space will of her products she says she had to look for include profiles of local crafters whose a larger workspace and now has a studio in wares would make excellent gifts.

University Heights. On December 12, she’ll be opening a Dulce Diego store in the Por ini Mann-Deibert has always been Vida Coffee & Gallery building in Barrio Lothe life of the party. Ever since her gan. There will also be five or so other craft college days in Boston she’s been stores in the space she collectively calls “ El crafting unique party favors for herself and Mercadito.” She says she also wants to use friends. When those friends started refer- the space for community projects as well. ring her to strangers, she realized she might “My role individually will be to try to be on to something. help individual kids in the neighborhood “Even when I got to San Diego, me and who might have some art stuff to my friends were throwing parties all the sell and to try to create a space for time,” says Mann-Deibert. “Just inthem to build that entresane, themed parties where we preneurial spirit,” says would make everything. From Mann-Deibert. “They althe invitations to the piñatas.” ready have the spirit, but After college she moved to maybe not the resources.

San Diego and was working in Even when I was in school, community-focused healthcare all I wanted to do was help in Coronado before deciding people. To help build a comshe’d much rather work in munity.”

Barrio Logan. She’s always

—Seth Combs loved Mexican culture and Piñata by Gini Mann-Deibert

G

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Culture | Film

She got game

Chi-raq

Spike Lee’s incendiary vision of community building

by Glenn Heath Jr.

S

pike Lee’s Chi-raq oozes with the kind of mad raq’s (Nick Cannon) Spartans and Cyclops’ (Wesley urgency most American films lack these days. Snipes) Trojans. A rhyme-happy narrator named Its wild panic is understandable considering Dolmedes (Samuel L. Jackson) comments willingly the epidemic of gun violence to have hit the South from the sidelines.

Side of Chicago from 2001 to 2015, leaving a higher This all comes after another young child is gunned body count than the most recent wars in Afghanistan down in broad daylight, leaving her mother (Jenniand Iraq. More than 7,000 killed and counting. The fer Hudson) sobbing quietly in the streets trying to situation has become so dire community members scrub the blood from the asphalt. Realizing these efhave resorted to referencing their city by a morbid forts are futile, she dumps the bloody water back on nickname to reflect the carnage. the stain, spreading it with her hands. While most Most of Lee’s recent output has been messy, brash of the film is bombastic, this heartbreaking moment and determined. Chi-raq takes this trend to the ex- unfolds in near quiet. treme, meshing tones, colors and arguments in a Chi-raq is not about grieving or pity, but the act fantastical alternate reality where stereotype has of demanding justice in a world where there is very permanently overwhelmed subtext. In brazenly sa- little to offer. The sex strike mushrooms into a global tirical ways, the film takes aim phenomenon after Lysistrata at a host of complicated issues and her followers occupy a such as racism, militarized poNational Guard barracks, culchi-raq lice tactics, gun regulation, lowminating in a gorgeous split Directed by Spike Lee income housing and economic screen musical number scored inequality. Contradiction reby The Chi-Lites’ “Oh Girl.”

Starring Teyonah Parris, sides in every spoken verse.

Despite compromising offers Nick Cannon, Samuel L. Jackson Some of Lee’s half-conand threats, the women (moststructed ideas drift into the ly) stay strong in their resolve. and John Cusack realm of sanctimony, while Aside from a few plastic Rated R others are brilliantly confrondigital news cutaways to other tational in just the right ways. protests afar, Lee stays localUltimately, Chi-raq becomes a ized to examine how the varimosaic of divisive personalities and perspectives ea- ous male-centric institutions react. Somewhat surger to be heard, the best of them seeking to promote prisingly, the only “pillar” of the community that levelheaded reason and institutional resolve within a doesn’t display a harsh or vindictive response is the community that’s slowly being sabotaged both from church, whose virtue and fortitude are personified by outside and within.

John Cusack’s Father Mike Corridan. His memorial Over black we hear an approaching train, then for the fallen child carries inside it multiple convergthe deep beats of an incoming gangsta rap song. The ing truth bombs that mostly ring true. opening credits play out like a karaoke video, with As the police, the mayor, military, news media lyrics appearing on the screen highlighting the in- and community organizations all try to dismantle terwoven connection between gang violence and Lysistrata’s strike through various means, Corridan communal insecurity. Then another series of words and the church remain dedicated to the community’s flash in bright red: “This is an emergency.” Lee has best interest. How radical this seems nowadays. no other choice but to make this movie, logic and Chi-raq, which opens Friday Dec. 4, ends not in a convention be damned. shootout but a “sex-off.” Still, the community’s desire to Chi-raq loosely adapts the Athenian play Lysistrata be better interrupts even that. There will be no getting

by Aristophanes that tells of a woman who attempts off until the guilty have been revealed and the innocent to end the Peloponnesian War by withholding sex. can rest easily. Lee’s latest may be the epitome of a hot Lee’s equally determined heroine (played with fury mess, but it’s one we need now more than ever.

by Teyonah Parris) leads a similar strike of her own in response to the ongoing gang war between Chi- Film reviews run weekly.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

22 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

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Culture | Film

Entertainment

Last gasps

I

f David Lynch and Wim Wenders had a demented movie love child, it would look like Rick Alverson’s Entertainment. Drenched in an unsettling and oppressive tone, the film explores the numbing banality of protracted alienation through one man’s dour worldview.

Gregg Turkington, better known under his Neil Hamburger persona, stars as a lowly unnamed Comedian drifting between dive bar gigs in the California desert.

He performs a verbally abusive stand-up show while cradling three identical drinks in his hands.

Patrons often sit silently while the Comedian asks one offensive question after the next in an exaggerated stage voice.

The violence and aggression of the Comedian’s performances aren’t initially apparent in his day-to-day experiences. Soft spoken and demure, he rambles his way through one-sided conversations with an estranged Cousin (John C. Reilly) and another performer named Eddie The Opener (Tye Sheridan). His most verbose exchanges come while attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter over the phone.

Entertainment moves from awkward character study to a surreal vision of earthbound pur-

#SDCityBeat

gatory. As the Comedian grows more disconnected with reality it’s unclear if he actually happens upon a pregnant woman who has gone into labor at a grimy rest stop. A verbal confrontation with a strung out drifter named Tommy (Michael Cera) inside a gas station bathroom has all the qualities of a horror film. There’s also a game of Marco Polo ripped directly from your worst nightmares.

Alverson’s efficient direction and Turkington’s oddly human performance treat these ambiguous images and experiences as normal. It’s the audience that must decide whether or not they can stomach such a world where a mime defecates into a hat instead of attempting to escape a box.

Entertainment, which opens Friday, Dec. 3, at the Digital Gym Cinema, challenges our tolerance for comic absurdity by making it confrontational. At times, it’s hard to figure out whether you should be laughing, gasping or both.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

Opening A Royal Night Out: On V.E. Day in 1945, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret are allowed out to join the festivities in this romantic drama. Opens Friday, Dec. 4, at the Angelika Carmel Mountain Cinemas.

Power narrates this documentary about the life and death of iconic rock star Janis Joplin. Opens Friday, Dec. 4, at the Reading Gaslamp Cinemas in San Diego.

Killing Them Safely: A documentary that looks at the risks involved in the use of police Tasers, which have caused hundreds of deaths in the past two decades.

Screens through Thursday, Dec. 9, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Krampus: A boy accidentally summons an evil Christmas demon after he has a terrible Holiday season.

Mediterranea: Two refugees make the dangerous trek from North Africa to Italy, then try to start a new life despite egregious economic hardships and social alienation.

Screens through Thursday, Dec. 9, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Wonders: Secluded beekeepers that live in the Tuscan countryside see their lives uprooted when they are visited by a silent young boy and a reality television crew.

The World of Kanako: A troubled exdetective furiously hunts for his missing daughter in this stylish revenge thriller from Japanese director Tetsuya Nakashima. Screens through Thursday, Dec. 9, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

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

Chi-raq: Spike Lee’s latest controversial satire takes place in urban Chicago, where gun violence has become an epidemic.

Entertainment: A lowly travelling comedian roams the California desert performing at dive bars while descending deeper into a state of psychosis. Screens through Thursday, Dec. 9, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Flowers: A young woman trapped in a loveless marriage begins to receive bouquets of flowers daily from a mysterious admirer. Opens Friday, Dec. 4, at the Reading Gaslamp Cinemas in San Diego.

Janis: Little Girl Blue: Musician Cat

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

jeff corrigan

Music

A

ABout 20 minutes into our conversation, Birdy Bardot starts talking about going record shopping at swap meets. She goes often, she says, to find unusual curiosities she can add to her collection. She’s particularly drawn to albums from the ’60s, and most recently she nabbed a couple of early Beatles finds.

“To me, records are very precious,” she says on a Sunday afternoon over coffee at Influx in Golden Hill. “This is pressed onto wax, and it’s a precious commodity. But they’re selling it for pennies. It’s like a treasure hunt. I saved it from a box and now I can listen to it.”

It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Bardot, whose real name is Emily Reilly, holds vintage physical media so dear. Her music at times carries with it a certain vintage, stylish charm, recalling the likes of ’60s French ye-ye singers, or Lee Hazlewood’s recordings with Nancy Sinatra. And on the cover art of her debut album she displays a cool, pre-Summer of Love aesthetic, clad in a peacoat and large, round Jackie O sunglasses. But vinyl has an even greater significance to Bardot beyond format or nostalgia: Her new album and band came together almost directly as a result of record shopping in Ocean Beach.

In early 2014, Bardot had started up a partnership with Al Howard of The Heavy Guilt and The Midnight Pine after making several shopping trips to Cow Records, where Howard logs shifts between time spent playing with any number of different bands. They were mutual fans of each other’s music, Howard even going so far as to call Bardot’s other band, The New Kinetics, his favorite local band. The reciprocal admiration prompted Howard to ask Bardot if she’d be interested in working on a collaborative project together, and a little more than a year later, the first Birdy Bardot album materialized.

The 11-song album, released in July via Red-

24 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

woods Music, is an eclectic set of pop songs that feels at once entirely modern and of another time. It’s drenched in reverb and steeped in a lightly psychedelic haze, and each song carries a faint touch of darkness around the edges, whether in a hip-swinging number such as “Omens” or the bluesy “I Get Gone.” There are plenty of upbeat tracks throughout, like “Heart and Smoke,” which Howard refers to as “an ass-kicker.”

Even more striking are the subtler tracks, such as “Dirge” or the slowly building opening track “Treading Water,” the mood of which Bardot says came about pretty naturally.

“I don’t think I had anything in mind when we started it,” she says. “It was winter when we started writing, so it was that slow time of year. That’s why I think the songs started out kind of slow and pensive. That part was pretty organic. It was just kind of what we were feeling at the time.”

Bardot—a subtle but powerful vocalist with a background in formal voice training—is backed on her debut album by an all-star team of San Diego musicians. Many of them are in her live band, including Howard, Josh Rice and Jason Littlefield of The Heavy Guilt,

birdy CONT’D ON PAGE 25 #SDCityBeat

Music jeff corrigan

good bearing on what we can realistically do with a couple brains and a couple arms. It kind of set a mark as to what level each record has to be at. We just want to make solid music, and we want to make timeless music.”

Just a few months after Birdy Bardot’s self-titled album came out digitally and on CD, Redwoods issued the album on a limited number of vinyl copies, ready to become someone else’s precious commodity. And they’re almost already sold out. In fact, if you shop at Cow Records, you’re

likely to hear Howard spin the album on the store turntable, in kind of a local spin on High Fidelity’s Rob Gordon selling five Beta Band CDs after playing “Dry the Rain” inside Championship Vinyl.

In fact, Bardot’s seen listeners become converts in real life.

“The night that the vinyl came out, Al was testing the vinyl on the player at the record store,

and some guy from Chicago was like ‘hey, I want to buy this record’,” Bardot says. “It was literally one of the first sales, because the box had just been opened.

And he took it with him. This random person was just flying in for a business trip, and wanted to buy some records. And it just happens to be your album—that’s pretty cool.”

To hear a track, go to sdcitybeat.com and search for “Birdy Bardot”

theredwoodsmusic.com/birdybardot

birdy CONTINUED from PAGE 24 Transfer’s Matthew Molarius, Mrs. Henry’s Daniel Cervantes and Taurus Authority’s Jake Najor. Each player came to the project gradually, adding their own unique parts over the course of the year, each new track ever so slightly helping to shape the recording you hear today. Both Bardot and Howard say the band played a huge part in crafting the Birdy Bardot sound, injecting new life into the humble project begun by the two songwriters.

“For that record, all the way, it was like one instrument at a time,” Howard says. “We just build collage art around it. Jake [Najor] dictated a lot of the direction that those songs would take. There would be an acoustic guitar, or keyboard, then he would just hit it. And it’s like, ‘that’s what it is!’”

“They’re very easy to work with,” Bardot adds, discussing her band. “They’re super motivated, and always in good spirits.

Considering how hard they work and how many bands they’re in, they’re never crabby. It’s always just like ‘Let’s go, let’s do this!’ It’s

#SDCityBeat

a really cool vibe to be in a group with them.”

Bardot’s album came to be the first record released on The Redwoods Music, which is run by Howard, Rice and Molarius. It’s as much a label as it is a collective, with each record sharing many of the same musicians, many of whom also happen to have a creative and curatorial role in how the label operates. In fact, it’s not too far off from Motown or Stax in how it employs a house band role in its recordings. Since Bardot’s album dropped, Redwoods has also issued a 7-inch by The Midnight Pine and a new album

by Dani Bell and the Tarantist. At the time, however, the venture was just beginning to crystallize, and the Bardot project ended up being the catalyst that launched it all.

“I don’t think at the time we quite knew what we were doing yet,” Howard says. “We have a lot of ideas. Probably too many ideas.

So we just throw a lot of things at the wall and see what’s sustainable. But now I think we have a

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

Music

notes from the smoking patio locals only

A

group of San Diego music scene vets are starring in a new short film called Deadline. Directed by Grant Reinero, who also performs in the band Stewardess, Deadline debuts on December 9 as part of the Four Points Film Project screening at downtown’s Reading Cinemas Gaslamp 15.

The Four Points Film Project challenges filmmakers to produce a four- to seven-minute film in just 48 hours, with certain guidelines provided to them.

“You have a weekend to produce a film with things they supply you: The name of a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and genre,” Reinero says. “You can’t work on it prior to those 48 hours. I stayed up all Friday night figuring out the script.”

The film stars Ben Johnson of The Long and Short of It; Eric Howarth of Hi-Speed Soul Records; Sonny Kay of Gold Standard Laboratories; and Brian Desjean of No Knife. The score for the film was written and composed by Demetrius Antuña from Kata.

Reinero says Antuña is exploring the possibility of taking on more film scoring roles in the future.

For Reinero, inviting people in the music scene to take part in the film felt natural to him, since they were all friends. “I’ve known them for years,” he

Deadline says. “It just comes down to who you know. They’re all very accomplished in their own right.”

Johnson portrays the main character in the film, who is faced with a challenge to work on a nuclear reactor. The line of dialogue that the Four Points Project supplied to Reinero was “Is that what I think it is?,” and one of the characters may not be as human as he looks.

“Ben Johnson plays the lead role of the nuclear physician’s assistant,” Reneiro says. “The prop they gave me was a kitchen utensil. And the genre they gave me was robot/android—I didn’t even know that was a genre.”

—Jeff Terich

Mystery Cave Ausarian Comforts (Psychic Fortitude)

I

f John Christopher Harris had released only his Natural Mind EP in 2015, he would have had a pretty good year. That EP showcased the breadth and imagination of the local electronic producer, reinforcing the fact that innovative beats and synth creations are bubbling up south of Los Angeles. That was just the beginning, though. Six months after the release of that excellent shortplayer, Harris unleashed another outstanding set of music bearing the Mystery Cave name, the 10track Ausarian Comforts.

Ausarian Comforts offers a greater volume of material than the EP, but there’s also a great deal of diversity to the tracks Harris assembles.

Harris is an eclectic producer, pulling from various different genres— glitch, hip-hop, IDM and ambient, to name a few—to create something wholly his own.

Yet the sequence on Ausarian Comforts is a trippy journey through the various influences and inspirations that run through Harris’ kaleidoscopic sample tapestry.

“Ancestral Ascension” starts off the album dramatically, its distorted swell of synths recalling Flying Lotus and Radiohead simultaneously. It’s a dense and booming beginning to a record that takes con-

26 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

tinuous detours and left turns throughout, from the world-glitch twinkle of “Ohm Loop II” to the West Coast dance floor bounce of “Chicken & Waffles” and the beat-driven dubstep spa session of “Pendulum.”

Harris maintains a careful balance between chill-out jams and harder-banging dance tracks on Ausarian Comforts, but most of the songs are, themselves, a balance between high-energy beats and laid-back atmosphere. “Little Buddha” runs higher on the BPM count than most tracks here, but if the beats were removed, it would feel more like a disorienting, amorphous ambient composition. The reverse is true on “Comforts”— synth melodies with urgency against beats with a lazy gait. And on “Golden Lampshade,” Harris turns a sped-up Grizzly Bear sample into a ghostly juxtaposition against a series of surging fade-in beats a la J Dilla.

There’s a lot to take in throughout Ausarian Comforts, even though the album itself isn’t a marathon by any means. Harris simply packs a lot into each production, creating 10 rich worlds to get lost in.

Once you’re there, you might as well get comfortable and simply soak it all in.

—Jeff Terich #SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Music

Jeff Terich

If I were u A music insider’s weekly agenda Wednesday, December 2

Pale Chalice’s new album earlier this year, but the San Francisco black metal band is well worth your PLAN A: Tape Heads, Mango Habanero, We Had time. They’re intense and loud, certainly, but their A Name @ Soda Bar. Ease into the week with some music has an ornate melodic sensibility that sets local surf rock from Tape Heads. It’s chill. them apart from other black metal acts. Check ‘em out. PLAN B: Cold World, Never Healed, Zoloa, Thursday, December 3 Discrepancy @ Che Cafe. My favorite thing about PLAN A: The Avengers, I Wish I, Social Spit, Cold World is the Danzig joke in their album title Widows @ The Casbah. The Avengers are punk How the Gods Chill. My second favorite thing is how rock legends. The Bay Area group first rose up in the much ass they kick. Top notch hardcore right here. late ’70s, then reformed in 2009 with a mix of original members and scene vets. They’re raw, loud and Sunday, December 6 snotty, but damned if they don’t write a catchy tune.

PLAN A: Snoop Dogg, Tha Eastsidaz, Dogg PLAN B: Jennie Vee, Vowws, Lowlands, Blood Pound, LBC Movement @ Observatory North Candy @ Soda Bar. Jennie Vee plays dark pop muPark. Snoop Dogg might be some distance from sic that’s a little goth, a little new wave and a lot of his heyday, but the dude’s still entertaining as hell. fun. She’s sharing the stage with Vowws, who have His recent funk collaboration with a great moody darkwave sound of Dam-Funk, 7 Days of Funk, was their own. BACKUP PLAN: Nebsuper fun, and you just know he’s ula Drag, The Hand of Gavrilo, going to be bringing out the hits: The Wind Playing Tricks @ The “Gin & Juice,” “What’s My Name?”, Merrow.

“Sexual Eruption.” I could keep going. PLAN B: Zig Zags, Grids, Friday, December 4 Wild Honey, Clean Room @ Soda PLAN A: Brothertiger, Bakkuda, Bar. You’re definitely going to need Nite Lapse, DJ Man Cat @ Soda some earplugs for Zig Zags, who Bar. Make sure to go back and catch play rock ‘n’ roll with ear-splitting my feature on Bakkuda from last ferocity. They mix punk, psych and week. She’s a one-woman electronic Snoop Dogg stoner rock into one crushing, but highly accessible assault. pop sensation. PLAN B: Winter’s Womb 666 w/ Hot Lunch, Harsh Toke, Carousel, Sacri Monti, Loom @ Til-Two Club. Let your win- Monday, December 7 ter season be filled with “holiday cheer”—the kind PLAN A: White Reaper @ The Hideout. Louisville that makes you see green little elves and flying rein- band White Reaper make the most out of a guitardeer—at this showcase full of great psychedelic rock based rock sound. There’s nothing on the surface bands. It’ll be loud and trippy, complete with a liq- about it that’s unusual, but their almost shoegazeuid light show from Operation: Mindblow. BACKUP leaning style of psychedelic punk is super catchy and PLAN: Tanlines, Io Echo @ The Irenic. rocks hard. It sure as hell gets my endorsement. PLAN B: Sallie Ford, Tacocat @ The Casbah. Sallie Ford is a versatile singer/songwriter who plays classic rock Saturday, December 5 PLAN A: Pale Chalice, Morphesia, Those Darn ‘n’ roll that sounds remarkably fresh. Sometimes she’s Gnomes @ Tower Bar. Admittedly, I slept on bluesy, sometimes she’s gritty, and sometimes she just rocks the fuck out. She’s playing with Tacocat, whose name is a palindrome. Fun!

Tuesday, December 8 PLAN A: The Bad Plus, Joshua Redman @ Music Box. I first got into jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman back in college, thanks to the strength of his cool, rhythmically interesting album Beyond.

The Bad Plus, meanwhile, mix jazz with prog and rock sounds to make an accessible, if still unusual sound. Good stuff all around.

PLAN B: Ezra Furman and the Boyfriends, Guy Blakeslee @ The Casbah. Ezra Furman nods to the sounds of ’50s and ’60s rock while employing an entirely modern approach.

28 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

#SDCityBeat

Music

Concerts HOT! NEW! FRESH!

‘Lump of Coal’ w/ Foals, Run the Jewels (SOMA, 12/13), Dam-Funk DJ set (The Hideout, 12/19), Bridget Everett (HOB, 1/31), Seeker (Soda Bar, 2/2), ‘You Are Going to Hate This Fest’ w/ The Frights (SOMA, 2/13), Logic (SOMA, 2/14), Breaking Benjamin (HOB, 3/8), Modern English (The Hideout, 5/17), Journey, The Doobie Brothers (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/30).

CANCELED Warren Haynes at Observatory North Park, 12/5.

GET YER TICKETS 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), Crocodiles (The Hideout, 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), Luna (Casbah, 12/29), Donavon Frankenreiter (BUT, 12/29-30), The Academy Is… (Observatory, 12/30), Los Lobos (BUT, 12/31), Tim Heidecker (Casbah, 1/7), Ty Segall (But, 1/13), Christian Death (Soda Bar, 1/17), Devotchka (BUT, 1/17), Ladysmith Black Mambazo

#SDCityBeat

(BUT, 1/19), Steel Panther (HOB, 1/23), Shigeto (Soda Bar, 1/23), Killing Joke, The Soft Moon (BUT, 1/26), Julia Holter (The Irenic, 1/28), Richard Cheese (HOB, 1/29), G. Love and Special Sauce (BUT, 1/29), Childbirth (Soda Bar, 2/1), 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), Rihanna (Viejas Arena, 2/26), Joe Satriani (Balboa Theatre, 3/1), Lewis Black (Balboa Theatre, 3/3), Galactic (BUT, 3/3), Eleanor Friedberger (Hideout, 3/11), Junior Boys (Casbah, 3/18), Wolfmother (HOB, 3/23), High on Fire, Skeletonwitch, Tribulation (Observatory, 3/26), Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place (Casbah, 3/27), Alex G (Che Café, 4/1), Prong (Brick by Brick, 4/22), Thao & the Get Down Stay Down (BUT, 4/28), Twentyonepilots (Viejas Arena, 7/24), Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/14), 5 Seconds of Summer (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/9).

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

Friday, Dec. 4 Little Hurricane at The Casbah (sold out). 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. 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.

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 (sold out). Flotsam and Jetsam at Brick by Brick. Crocodiles at The Hideout.

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.

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.

Wednesday, Dec. 23 ‘Country Christmas’ w/ Nancarrow at Belly Up Tavern. Dave Koz at Balboa Theatre.

Saturday, Dec. 26 Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects at Soda Bar.

Sunday, Dec. 27 Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven at Belly Up Tavern.

music CONTINUED ON page 30

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

Music music CONTINUED from PAGE 29

Thursday, Jan. 14 Paula Cole at Belly Up Tavern.

Monday, Dec. 28 Ozomatli at Belly Up Tavern. Duke Dumont at Observatory North Park.

Tuesday, Dec. 29 Chet Faker at Observatory North Park.

Donavon Frankenreiter at Belly Up Tavern. Luna at The Casbah. Crazy Town at Soda Bar.

Wednesday, Dec. 30 The Academy Is… at Observatory North Park. Donavon Frankenreiter at Belly Up Tavern.

Thursday, Dec. 31 The Sess at Soda Bar. Los Lobos at Belly Up Tavern. Ziggy Shuffledust and the Spiders from Mars at The Casbah.

January Thursday, Jan. 7 Tim Heidecker at The Casbah.

Saturday, Jan. 9 Tommy Castro and the Painkillers at Belly Up Tavern. Tool, Primus at Viejas Arena (sold out).

Sunday, Jan. 10 Tool, Primus at Viejas Arena (sold out).

Wednesday, Jan. 13 Ty Segall at Belly Up Tavern. Dave Mason at Music Box.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

Friday, Jan. 15 Jerry Seinfeld at Civic Theatre (sold out).

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., San Diego. Pacific Beach. Wed: Open mic.

Thu: Karaoke. Fri: Lose Control. Sat: ‘Toys for Tots Benefit’ w/ The Great Pumpkin. Sun: Karaoke.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, San Diego. Little Italy. Sun: The Soul of Christmas, Daneen Wilburn.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., San Diego. Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Breezy Bliss’ w/ DJs Arran Lee, Josh Taylor, Jus Sven, Gianna, Viking. Thu: ‘My 80s Vice’ w/ DJ Girth. Sat: ‘JUICY’ w/ DJs Hevrock, Josh Taylor. Sun: Church w/ DJs Bass Exotic, Vinnassi.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Carly Aquilino. Fri: Carly Aquilino. Sat: Carly Aquilino. Tue: Carly Aquilino.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: Bixel Boys, Hotfire. Sat: AC Slater, Hotfire.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Adam Block Duo. Fri: Aquile.

Sat: Emotional Rescue. Sun: Nate Donnis.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: A JohnnySwim Christmas. Thu: The Venice Christmas

Show, Sister Speak. Fri: The Robert Cray Band, Shawn Jones. Sat: Slightly Stoopid, The Law, Tunnel Vision (sold out). Sun: Six String Society, Dulaney & Co. Mon: Billy Gibbons, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad.

Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., San Diego. Bay Park. Sat: Soulfly, Contortion, Nukem, Daemos, Hunt the Elite. Sun: Faster Pussycat, Gunner Gunner, Chamber Sixx, Malison. Mon: ‘Metal Monday’.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Wed: Aro Di Santi. Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joef & Co. Sat: Aire. Mon: Malamana. Tue: Gio Trio.

Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, San Diego. Bankers Hill. Wed: Pat Dowling. Thu: Liz Grace Duo. Fri: Rob Thorsen Quartet. Sat: David Patrone Quartet. Sun: Besos de Coco. Mon: Pat Dowling. Tue: Gio & Diamond.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, San Diego. Mission Bay. Thu: ‘Jingle Bell Jazz’.

Sat: Irving Flores Quintet w/ Charlie Arbelaez. Sun: Evil Genius.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: DJ Brett Bodley. Sat: DJ Kurch.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave. , San Diego. Downtown. Thu: Valentino Khan. Fri: BRKLYN. Sat: Karma. Sun: DJ Snoopadelic.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Wed: AOK Musik. Thu: Johnny Tarr. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: DJs E, Yo-

#SDCityBeat

Music dah. Mon: DJ Antonio Aguilera. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Sun: KIDZ Bop Kids.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Thu: Egyptian Lover, Swamp. Fri: DJ Icey. Sat: ‘Ascension’.

Sun: ‘Phonic’. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Sophisticats. Thu: JG Duo. Fri: Mystique. Sat: Pat Ellis & Blue Frog Band. Sun: Flipside Burners. Tue: Glen Smith.

Moonshine Flats, 344 7th Ave., San Diego. Gaslamp. Fri: Old Dominion.

Music Box, 1337 India St., San Diego.

Little Italy. Thu: ‘All Access Fest’. Fri: The Pettybreakers. Sat: Johnny Clark, Tetrack, Norris Reid, Roots Covenant. Tue: The Bad Plus Joshua Redman.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd., San Diego.

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

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

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Wed: DJ Kiki. Thu: ‘LEZ’. Fri: DJ John Joseph. Sat: DJs K-Swift, Taj. Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Fri: Chickenbone Slim.

Sat: Baja Bugs. Tue: Karaoke.

Side Bar, 536 Market St., San Diego.

Downtown. Thu: Vince Delano.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Tape Heads, Mango Habanero, We Had A Name. Fri: Brothertiger, Bakkuda, Nite Lapse, DJ

#SDCityBeat

Man Cat. Sat: Okilly Dokilly, Skapeche Mode, Name the Band. Sun: Zig Zags, Grids, Wild Honey, Clean Room. Mon: McClain Sullivan, Black Oak Hymnal, Noble War. Tue: Nebula Drag, Space Wax, Cold Threat.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego. Midway. Fri: A Hero Within, Sight Unscene, Media Solution, Weight of the Sun, Our Second Home, HOX, Bleach.

Sat: Seconds Ago, Heavyweight, Peace In Terror, Suntorn, Victimized, Purge.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd., Spring Valley. Spring Valley. Thu: ‘Darkwave Garden’. Fri: Ron Shumate Band. Sat: Never Pass Go. The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: Fuzz Huzzi, Hocus, Obligerant. Thu: The Avengers, I Wish I, Social Spit, Widows. Fri: Little Hurricane, Birdy Bardot, Rin Tin Tiger, Dani Bell and the Tarantist (sold out). Mon: Sallie Ford, TACOCAT. Tue: Ezra Furman and The Boyfriends, Guy Blakeslee.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Thu: Adeumazel, Gabonano, Dre Trav.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., San Diego.

North Park. Wed: Phutureprimitive, Bass Physics.

The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. Wed: The Dark Matter Turtles.

Thu: Charlie Hunter Trio, Bomb Squad.

Fri: Kendrick Scott Oracle, Kendrick Scott Oracle.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Wed: JB and the Movers, Jaeger Wells, Mike Wojniak, Karina Frost.

Thu: Nebula Drag, The Hand of Gavrilo, The Wind Playing Tricks. Fri: Ashen Earth, Fadrait, Festering Grave. Sat: The Rocketz, Hard Fall Hearts, Toothless George.

Mon: The Holy Broke, The Peripherals, Ashley Pond. Tue: Generik, 10-19 & J. Treel, ID, Ric Scales, Max Carnage.

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

North Park. Wed: ‘Salvation’. Thu: ‘Murray Christmas Party’. Fri: DJ Eddie Turbo.

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

The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, San Diego.

Gaslamp. Wed: Pat Hilton & Mann. Thu: Cassie B Trio. Fri: Coriander, Chad Lada Duo. Sat: Coriander. Sun: ‘G Street Sessions’. Mon: Tin Roof All-Star Jam. Tue: Giovana Band.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Tiltwheel, Western Settings, Gentlemen Prefer Blood. Fri: ‘Winter’s Womb 666’ w/ Hot Lunch, Harsh Toke, Carousel, Sacri Monti, Loom. Sat: The Israelites, Kingston a Go Go, DJs Erny Earthquake, King Dutty.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., San Diego. Bay Park. Wed: Seat Belt. Thu: Rockin’ Aces.

Fri: The Distractions. Sat: Colour.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Fri: ‘Hip Hop vs.

Punk Rock’ w/ AIDS Cop, Smoke Break, Atlantis Rizing. Sat: Pale Chalice, Morphesia.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, San Diego. South Park. Wed: ‘St. Vitus Dance Party’ w/ DJs Handsome Skeleton, Mario Orduno.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., San Diego.

Ocean Beach. Wed: Piracy Conspiracy, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Tape Heads, Jefferson Jay, Los Pinches Pinches. Fri: Poor Man’s Whiskey. Sat: ‘Ocean Boogie’. Sun: Sandollar, Sunny Rude, Crucial Blend, Hummingbird Hotel, Janelle Phillps, Preston Lee. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: MC Funk.

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

Last Words

Brendan Emmett Quigley

Affirmative action Across 1. Kitten’s cry 5. Siren’s sound 10. Stinging remark 14. Etonic rival 15. Borne 16. With 1-Down, neighborhood representation 17. Teller’s partner 18. Midwestern city where the TV dinner, the Top 40 radio format, and the bobby pin were invented (not on the same day) 19. Glasses part 20. Devices that say “forget about it!”?

23. Stirring, poetically 24. What a dump!

25. The “a” in “a/s/l” 26. Seattle Sounders org.

27. Golfer Vijay ___ 31. Spinning session?

33. Facebook interaction 35. No. in an email signature 36. The “Me” in “Despicable Me” 37. Spell caster that fights drowsiness?

42. Beam of light 43. Black-sheep sound 44. October birthstone 46. Eid celebrant’s faith 49. Sporty car, for short 51. Self-described “non-musician” Brian 52. Nowhere to be seen 53. Biggest suit, for short 55. Fool around 57. “Anise-flavored liqueur (just like I always order)”?

62. Jason’s ship Last week’s answers

32 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

63. “Let me change ___ here ...”

64. Monopoly piece 66. Hipster’s rep 67. Golden of “Orange is the New Black” 68. Siamese “dogs” 69. Veteran sailors 70. “Copy” 71. Bit of instructions

Down 1. See 16-Across 2. 1992 Pearl Jam single 3. Montpelier’s river 4. Han’s buddy 5. Voting group 6. Weak sauce 7. Savage of “MythBusters” 8. Redundant story 9. Put on stage 10. Indonesian island whose capital is Denpasar 11. Bout courts 12. Play a club when you should have played a heart 13. Scent hound with long ears 21. “___ like this ...”

22. Weed grown in water 23. Fender product 28. Faux humble response to a compliment 29. NASCAR legend Jarrett 30. Boston newspaper, with “The” 32. Throwing discipline 34. “Trainwreck” actor Miller 36. Annoying insect 38. Transmission chain 39. Steak leftover 40. Met fan’s cap 41. Beats 1 Radio host whose last name is a homophone of 45-Down 45. Contemptible 46. Forceful impression 47. ___ Nevada (beer) 48. Trenta vis-à-vis Tall 49. Ballot question urging 50. Store front?

54. Mystery honor 56. Crescent moon horns 58. Affirmative actions added to the long across answers in this puzzle 59. Keep up with 60. Weird-sounding canal 61. The “U” in “UI” 65. Thoughtful gift?

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#SDCityBeat

December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

34 · San Diego CityBeat · December 2, 2015

#SDCityBeat

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December 2, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 35