C 2013 10 31

SCREAM

THEATER See SCENE, page 23

MEAT-EATING PLANTS See GREENWAYS, page 11

SAVE THE

PAGEANT See ARTS DEVO page 33

ABORTED PROTEST See NEWSLINES, page 8

Chico’s News & Entertainment Weekly

Volume 37, Issue 10

Thursday, October 31, 2013

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2 CN&R October 31, 2013

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Vol. 37, Issue 10 • October 31, 2013

OPINION Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Guest Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Second & Flume . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Streetalk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

NEWSLINES Downstroke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Sifter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

GREENWAYS EarthWatch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Eco Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 UnCommon Sense . . . . . . . . . . 12 The GreenHouse . . . . . . . . . . . 12

HEALTHLINES The Pulse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Weekly Dose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

COVER STORY

18

ARTS & CULTURE In The Mix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Scene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Nightlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Music Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 This Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Fine Arts listings . . . . . . . . . . 29 Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Chow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Reel World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Arts DEVO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

REAL ESTATE

34

CLASSIFIEDS

36

BACKSTOP From The Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Fifteen Minutes. . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Brezsny’s Astrology . . . . . . . 39

28

ON THE COVER: DESIGN BY JASON CASSIDY AND TINA FLYNN

Our Mission To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.

Editor Melissa Daugherty Associate Editor Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia Arts Editor Jason Cassidy News Editor Tom Gascoyne Asst. News Editor/Projects Editor Howard Hardee Staff Writer Ken Smith Calendar Assistant Mallory Russell Contributors Catherine Beeghly, Craig Blamer, Alastair Bland, Henri Bourride, Rachel Bush, Vic Cantu, Matthew Craggs, Kyle Delmar, Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff, Meredith J. Graham, JoVan Johnson, Miles Jordan, Karen Laslo, Leslie Layton, Mark Lore, Melanie MacTavish, Jesse Mills, Mazi Noble, Jerry Olenyn, Anthony Peyton Porter, Shannon Rooney, Claire Hutkins Seda, Juan-Carlos Selznick, Robert Speer, Daniel Taylor, Evan Tuchinsky Intern Katherine Green Managing Art Director Tina Flynn Editorial Designer Sandra Peters Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Design Mary Key, Vivian Liu, Serene Lusano, Marianne Mancina, Skyler Smith Advertising Manager Jamie DeGarmo Advertising Services Coordinator Ruth Alderson Advertising Consultants Brian Corbit, Laura Golino, Matthew Keller Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay

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CN&R 3

Send guest comments, 400 words maximum, to gc@ newsreview.com, or to 353 E. 2nd St., Chico, CA 95928. Please include photo & short bio.

Weird is good In this week’s cover feature, we’ve highlighted a number of

people who make our community such a vibrant and interesting place in which to live, work and play. And we want to extend our thanks to them for being bold enough to share their stories in these pages.

As you’ll read in the introduction to our first-ever Keep Chico Weird issue (page 18), the weirdness we’re talking about here is a good thing.

First of all, the colorful characters in town keep Chico from being like your average rural farming community. You know, places where there are few surprises, places you visit only while passing through on the way to another destination.

Let’s face it, life here would be pretty boring—and unbearable for some—without the diversity of thought, culture and experience that these folks, and many more not mentioned in our pages, bring to the table. Their presence here and contributions to the community—be it socially, or in the arts or entertainment—not only are refreshing and inspiring, but also foster an environment of tolerance and creativity.

A couple of U.S. cities have wisely embraced the peculiarities in their midst. Austin, Texas, proudly adopted the slogan “Keep Austin Weird” more than a decade ago. And though it began mostly as a marketing campaign for small businesses in the city, it has come to stand for much more: namely, that the city is a progressive hub in that conservative state and that its subcultures are valued. Portland, Ore., too, has latched onto the motto, attracting visitors from afar to bear witness to the unusual aspects of the city and its populace.

So, the next time you think to yourself that something is weird, make sure to realize that that’s very likely a good thing. Ω

Ready, set, write!

B Every November, hundreds of thousands of people all across the globe try to perform the seemingly impossible—

ooks are proof that humans can perform magic.

writing a novel. Those who participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) strive to write at least 50,000 words during the 30 days of November.

NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit event that was founded in 1999 by Chris Baty in San Francisco and has since taken the world by storm. Last year, 341,375 people participated worldwide. In the Chico area, NaNoWriMo had 121 by participants, with roughly 30 Ashley completing the challenge and Pearson who now get to call themselves winners—and authors.

The author, a student This event is completely at Butte College, free for all participants interested in takis in her third year ing on the task. While 50,000 words may as a NaNoWriMo seem daunting, it breaks down to just municipal liaison for 1,667 words a day. Most people probathe Chico area. bly type that many words through social media every day.

My first year of NaNoWriMo, I thought it was an impossible task, and ended up not completing the challenge.

In 2010, I decided to try again, and while it was hard at times, I found myself getting lost in my story. The best part about

NaNoWriMo is that your novel can take on a life of its own. Despite my idea for that year, my main character did something unplanned and took my novel in a new direction. The story ended up better than I could have imagined. When I crossed the 50,000 word mark and the site declared me a winner, I cannot even express the joy I felt. I had, in 30 short days, become an author.

This will be my fourth year participating in NaNoWriMo, and I can now say I have written three novels. I encourage everybody to give it a try—the pride you will feel in yourself is unimaginable.

While I have not yet pursued publishing, other participants have. National best-selling authors Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus) and Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants) both started out those novels as NaNoWriMo projects.

In the local area, we have writing events at least twice a week where we invite those participating to join us and feed off each other’s energy to get inspired and to get writing. More information on NaNoWriMo can be found at www.nanowrimo.org. Information about local events can be found in the Chico regional forum at that website. Ω

I had, in 30 short days, become an author.

4 CN&R October 31, 2013

Calling for federal reform California is home to more than 2.6 million people who have

immigrated illegally. They account for one-tenth of the state’s total labor force, from workers in low-level jobs in agriculture, manufacturing, service and construction to highly skilled professionals. They are an integral part of the economy and culture of our state, and they’re not going away.

Those are the facts on the ground, and California took positive steps toward recognizing them recently when Gov. Jerry Brown signed eight bills expanding immigrants’ rights.

Chief among these were laws enabling these immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses and for licenses to practice law—welcome recognitions of their important role in the state economy. Another new law prohibits police from holding individuals for immigration authorities unless they are charged with certain serious crimes, laying the groundwork for increased trust and cooperation between immigrant communities and law enforcement.

As welcome as these measures are, they do not preclude the need for comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level. In the absence of a workable national immigration policy, states are creating a patchwork system of their own. Some, like California, are encouraging assimilation. Others, like Arizona, seem to have self-deportation as their goal. The inconsistency is not good for immigrants, many of whom came here as children, and live and work in the United States in constant fear of deportation.

It’s also harmful to the economy. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office projects that the landmark immigration bill passed by the Senate back in June would result in a more than $1 trillion reduction of the federal budget deficit over the next 20 years. That pending legislation has increasingly gained support from the left and the right.

The GOP-led House should act now to approve this reform effort and provide a clear path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants who are part of the American fabric. Ω

Send email to chicoletters @ newsreview.com

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KAREN DUNCANWOOD Paradise

I faithfully read the CN&R every Thursday. I’m constantly amazed by the things people do and say, from bashing tea parties and Republicans at every turn to other crazy, incoherent letters to the editor.

This week, the article about [Don] Bird and his loss of constitutional rights to fish without a license just leaves me scratching my head. If everyone fished without a license, there would be overfishing and populations would dwindle. The attorney who says he has a constitutional case is just seeing dollar signs. It would cost Bird less at his age to buy a license than pay an attorney. His logic is crazy.

JULIE WILLIAMS Oroville

The homeless are people Re “A worthy ministry” (Editorial, Oct. 24): The issue of the homeless in Chico, particularly at City Plaza, has become a very hot topic. While I agree that there are problems and that something needs to be done, I am appalled at the callousness and the outright hate on this issue.

The first thing that caught my attention recently is the view that “a war is coming to preserve downtown Chico.” Really? A war?

The homeless are now relegated to being enemy combatants? Are we going to wage war on the family that lost their job? Are we going to wage war on the poor soul suffering from behavioral-health issues? Are we going to wage war on the poor woman who has chosen the streets rather than to stay in an abusive relationship? Are we going to wage war on children? These are the majority of the homeless. These are human beings, not cattle.

What I am trying to say is you cannot lump all homeless people into one category.

A small percentage is causing most of the trouble. I work with the homeless, I help the homeless, and I know the homeless. Homeless is their address, not their name. It might be important to remember that before we make a decision we might regret.

JIM SECOLA Chico

LETTERS continued on page 6

Michael Erpino

Christina M. LaPointe

Ralph Slater

Ben Scarfe

Now opeN Yoga Center of Chico Rex StRomneSS

Next Tuesday (Nov. 5), the sevenmember City Council will consider whether to pass the so-called civilsidewalks ordinance—the new and more politically correct name of what was originally known as the “sit/lie” ordinance. Only it remains to be seen how many of the seven will actually be present during the meeting and vote on the proposed new municipal law.

On Monday, Oct. 28, I was CC’d on an email from City Councilwoman Mary Goloff to her council colleagues that informed them she would be having surgery in the Bay Area the next day (Tuesday, Oct. 29). So Goloff won’t be at that meeting. Ostensibly, that would leave the decision in the hands of the remaining six.

However, it’s still unclear at this point whether Councilwoman Ann Schwab will be able to vote on the matter, either. Who does that leave? The senior member of the panel, Mayor Scott Gruendl; Vice Mayor Mark Sorensen, who was elected back in 2010; and the three City Council newbies: Sean Morgan, Tami Ritter and Randall Stone.

Schwab didn’t attend the last council meeting, the special study session last Tuesday (Oct. 22) on “downtown issues”—a euphemism for “how to clear out the transient and homeless folks in downtown.” It became clear during the gathering that a little controversy has been brewing over Schwab’s absence on such matters. Speaking from the dais, Goloff made a point of asking City Attorney Lori Barker why exactly she couldn’t participate.

Barker clearly articulated what neophyte political watchdogs—those who have just started paying attention to city issues—don’t understand: that Schwab cannot lawfully participate in certain discussions. “The Political Reform Act … provides that when a decision or discussion of a matter is being held that relates to a geographic location that’s within 500 feet of the location, for instance, of a property interest of a council member, [that member is] presumed to have a conflict of interest,” Barker explained.

That, of course, applied to Schwab in this particular instance, since the meeting was agendized as relating to downtown and she both owns a business and has a leasehold interest in property in the region.

I recently saw Schwab downtown and asked her about the fuss over her recusal during that meeting (and others). She told me she’d been asked about that by some constituents and that she’d very much like to be involved.

In fact, she pointed out how back in May, when the council first directed staff to draft a civil-sidewalks ordinance, she had asked that the panel strike the reference to downtown, so that she could participate. Morgan and Sorensen, who made the motion and seconded it, respectively, did not accept her friendly amendment.

Schwab had to disqualify herself from further discussions, or face potential administrative fines of $5,000 per violation, civil penalties, and perhaps even criminal penalties, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission. She will be able to get in on the discussion only should the draft ordinance be broadened to include an area greater than the downtown. I could see things heading that way. We shall see.

Melissa Daugherty is editor of the CN&R.

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Re “He shall not be moved” (Newslines, by Ken Smith, Oct. 24): What in the world gives you the audacity to think you can just make up your own rules? Fishing without a license scams those of us who do buy licenses, with our share of the cost of keeping fishing going and supporting the care of the rivers and creeks.

And the right to a jury trial? Seriously?

You want to run up our court fees and clog our courts just so you get to act out? Find a way to act out that doesn’t cost the rest of us.

We don’t want to pay for your temper tantrums. Get a life. Do something positive.

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6 CN&R October 31, 2013

Obamacare, the NSA, IRS and EPA demonstrate this administration’s intention to “transform” America into a one-party socialist totalitarian dictatorship. That is extremism, and CN&R’s endorsement of it unarguably qualifies as extremist.

How convenient to this purpose it is that you have to hand over all your personal information, on an insecure website, to the IRS before you can shop the options available (which are all ripoffs anyway).

The Obamacare rollout debacle shows Republicans were right after all, to ask for delaying implementation. Look at the Democrats flocking to join them now!

A real leader of a democratic (“small d,” not the Kleptocrats!) government does not run roughshod over political opponents. Only a dictator would refuse to negotiate a bipartisan solution with the branch of government— the House of Representatives— which constitutionally approves and provides payment for it.

CHAD WOZNIAK Chico

Congressman Doug LaMalfa voted for a farm bill (HR 2642) that provides for $196 billion through 2018, much of it in various forms of farm welfare, and provides nothing for food stamps.

The last time he did vote on food stamps, he voted to cut them by $40 billion. Though LaMalfa voted for a farm bill bereft of food stamps, [that bill] still has to pass the Senate and be signed into law

by President Obama, which I hope never happens.

That said, food stamps have not been reauthorized and are therefore expiring just before Thanksgiving and Christmas. For sure, the devil’s in the dollars, and our devil—Doug LaMalfa—is right in the middle.

Of course, with his personal farm welfare of $1.7 million, as reported by Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.), and his $174,000 annual congressional paycheck, his table will probably not be bereft of a turkey. If it is, it won’t be because he can’t afford it—and

yes, Californians, you bought it for him with your tax dollars.

RICK NORLUND Durham

Recalling back when Re “Convicts to clean park” (Downstroke, Oct. 17): It is always interesting how old ideas and policies reappear as “innovative,” new ones. About 1980, I was an employee of the Chico Parks Department. With a modest grant from the California Solid Waste Management Board, we conducted an aggressive campaign to keep glass out of the park.

An important part of that program was the use of troops of mostly youthful offenders fulfilling their “community service” hours by picking up glass bottles and other trash from various areas of the park. Part of my job at that time involved filling an old park pickup with beer bottles that had been thoughtlessly flung around various parking-partying areas in Bidwell Park.

We also handed out garbage bags to swimmers entering Upper Park, encouraging them to gather glass bottles during their visits.

Every weekend the dumpsters we provided would fill with glass that otherwise would have remained in the rocks, brush and pools of the park. This was part of a general public-relations campaign emphasizing the importance of keeping glass out of the park.

We so often congratulate ourselves for “new and innovative” ideas that long ago were successful parts of Bidwell Park policy.

IRA HEINRICH Ocean Park, Washington

also reinforces America’s perspective that health problems are normal. As such, people are precluded from recognizing (and defeating) the epidemic of injury resulting from cigarettes, alcohol and drugs, overeating and overpopulation.

The U.S. government must reform itself before it can expect Americans to trust it to reform health care. When it demonstrates it can responsibly manage its own spending and policymaking, then it might reasonably expect Americans to trust it to manage theirs.

Until then, the government needs to keep its dirty hands out of the people’s pockets.

NATHAN ESPLANADE Corning

Brainwash hogwash Re “School work is scripted” (Letters, by Mike Peters, Oct. 17): Mike Peters wrote a letter recently with some really wild comments about the public school system. He seems to be under the impression that communists and subversives are employed to brainwash our children.

Rather than argue point by point, let me say this: I volunteer at a local Chico school. I see only overworked, underpaid teachers doing their best to give the kids a decent education. Is the system perfect? No. But if the schools received better funding, things would be different.

What I do see are parents donating time and money to help our children. Mike, maybe you should try donating some time or money, and perhaps your provincial attitude would change.

MARC DEVERAUX Chico

Bagging on Obamacare On June 2, The New York Times published an enlightening piece titled “Colonoscopies Explain Why U.S. Leads the World in Health Expenditures.” In it, the Times illustrated the corruption and waste of America’s health-care system and why Obamacare’s forcing all Americans to feed its tyranny.

Most enlightening was its demonstration that in the U.S., medical costs are typically five times higher than in other industrialized countries. As with other government spending and insurance, the underlying idea of Obamacare is reasonable. However, in the hands of greedy profiteers, it’s a smokescreen for concealing embezzlement.

This built-in corruption and profiteering is only one element of Obamacare’s harmful effects. It

Corrections In the review of The Deaf Pilots show at 1078 Gallery (“Deaf Jams,” Music, by Howard Hardee, Oct. 17) the bassist was incorrectly identified as Andrew Watt. The bassist for that performance was Chase Crawford.

In last week’s Arts DEVO column (by Jason Cassidy, Oct. 24), due to incomplete listing in the program, a painting at Diamond W Western Wear was said to have been by Paul Atkins. The painting was actually done by Michael Mulcahy.

The errors have been corrected online. –ed.

More letters online:

We’ve got too many letters for this space.

Please go to www.newsreview.com/chico for additional readers’ comments on past CN&R articles.

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There are always a lot of inappropriate costumes and large herds of people walking around downtown.

I did see the Mayhem Man last year, and that was really funny. …

It’s the guy from the car-insurance commercial.

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These two people had costumes that were made from garbage cans, and they had rats riveted to the front. They pulled the garbage cans up through their overalls, so it looked like the rats were carrying the people in garbage cans.

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I can’t think of anything weird, but a really fun thing I saw was a bunch of people dressed up like Mario Kart. There were at least 10 of them, and they were running around the streets of Chico acting like it was a big race track.

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Well, nothing is really weird for Chico. I’ve seen some interesting costumes, though, like every year a lot of guys just walk around downtown in their boxers. I’ve always thought that was kind of weird.

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CN&R 7

WHEN THE LEAVES FALL DOWN

The city of Chico has announced that its annual leaf-pickup program will begin Friday, Nov. 1, and end on Jan. 2. The program is aimed at picking up the leaves dropped by the city’s “street trees in the public rightof-way,” according to a city press release.

“It is not intended for leaves and yard waste generated from trees in private yards, alleyways or in the unincorporated areas.”

For leaves that fall from trees on private land, residents are encouraged to use the yard-waste recycling services offered by the private firms Recology or Waste Management, or do the work themselves by hauling the fallen leaves to the city’s compost facility on Cohasset Road.

Those residents who do use the city service are asked to place the piles away from the curb to allow drainage—not in bike lanes—making them no higher than 4 feet.

Limbs, grass clippings and trash will not be picked up.

TILE CITY SHUTS DOWN

Both the Chico and Redding Tile City stores went out of business on Oct. 22, though the reason is unclear.

Administration from the Chico store on Morrow Lane did not return calls or emails from the CN&R, and the Chico Chamber of Commerce and the city manager’s office had no knowledge of the closure. The store sold ceramic, stone and porcelain tile and countertops, and featured an extensive showroom.

Michael Mulcahy, a local building contractor who had an account with Tile City since 1995, said the store was “an incredible local resource,” and described the closure as a major loss to Chico’s building industry.

“We’re just starting to pull out of the [economic] downturn, there’s a little bit more building activity, and now we have basically no local suppliers left for the building trades,” he said.

Calling Tile City’s old phone number yields a voice message that says, “We’d like to thank everyone who has supported us through the years.”

LOCALS HELP THE ABUSED

Chico’s Catalyst Domestic Violence Services has announced that it took in more than 2,000 pounds of food on Oct. 30 with the help of UnitedHealthcare, the Chico Chamber of Commerce, and a number of local businesses as part of a food drive, according to a UnitedHealthcare press release. Catalyst provides services to women and children who are escaping abusive domestic conditions.

The press release said a number of volunteers, along with Butte County Supervisors Bill Connelly and Larry Wahl, and Chico City Councilmembers Tami Ritter, Ann Schwab (pictured) and Randall Stone helped load the food into a delivery truck that hauled it to Catalyst’s emergency shelter.

There are an estimated 1.3 million women who are victims of physical abuse by a partner each year in the United States, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

8 CN&R October 31, 2013

A graphic display Pro-life demonstration at Butte College triggers controversy and discussions on free speech

A Truth set up shop for a couple of days last week on Butte College’s main campus in pro-life movement called Project

Oroville to lobby against abortion by distributing pamphlets and displaying posters that some students and by faculty deemed offensive.

Kaeln By the last day of the demonBowaterstration, one student had been Skelly cited for vandalism after allegedly tearing down a poster, and another who came to her defense was arrested on a charge of assault. The school administration had sent a notice to faculty and staff via email on both days announcing Project Truth’s presence on campus, but some students complained that they didn’t get the memo.

The notice warned: “Their anti-abortion message will be accompanied by posters and large graphic representations of what may be offensive to staff and students. For those individuals who find these types of graphic materials disturbing, please take an alternate route through campus today. Project Truth has a right to be on campus to present their point of view as we are a public institution.”

Those posters included photos of bloody aborted fetuses next to photos of living fetuses More inside their mothers’ wombs. information: A group of pro-choice supGo to porters gathered nearby with www.sohlnet.org to read signs in opposition on Oct. 22, more about the first day of the protest. The Project Truth. demonstration by each side con-

tinued well into the afternoon of the next day, until a student identified by Butte College Police as Sophia G.L. Green apparently took offense and reportedly grabbed a poster to take it down. Witnesses said another student, whom campus police identified as David Boone, interceded to prevent members of the antiabortion group from physically stopping Green. Someone associated with Project Truth called the police, who responded and cited Green for vandalism and arrested Boone on a charge of assault.

Tim Hansma, one of the pro-choice demonstration organizers, called Project Truth’s tactics into question. “I talked to other students and I found that they weren’t just protesting abortion,” he said. “They were being verbally abusive, intrusive, and using guilt and shame tactics on my fellow students.”

Hansma said he complained to the administration that ample notice was not given to properly stage a counter-protest.

He said Green had asked him about taking down the offensive poster and that he told her it was probably not a good idea.

“One of the Truth guys grabbed her and another guy stepped in and said, ‘Don’t touch her. Leave her alone. You have no right to touch her,’” Hansma explained.

He said a person with Project Truth had threatened to call the campus police, so he stepped in to try to quell the situation, but before he could, the police arrived.

The Project Truth group that

visited Butte College consisted mostly of middle-age to elderly men who said

their demonstrations are a way of explaining what they see as the horrors of abortion and debunking the arguments made by pro-choice folks.

A message on the group’s Facebook page defines its purpose: “Project Truth visits university campuses around the state to show as many students as possible what abortion actually does to unborn children and get them to think about abortion in a broader scientific context.”

Project Truth’s Don Wright, who was on the Butte College campus during the demonstration, echoed that message, saying the organization’s goal to educate students about the realities of abortion is working. “We have hundreds of students that are changed by our presence,” he said. “We’re a group that believes that abortion is an act of violence that kills a baby, and that’s why we’re here.”

Wright defended the group’s presence on campus.

“Public schools are public places,” he said, “and so you have the right to free speech on the campus just like you’d have it down at the park, or on a corner downtown next to the courthouse. We have been going around to all of the colleges in California. Our team and another team have been going to all of the colleges for about 10 years now. We were here a couple of years ago.”

A day after the demonstration

ended, Butte College President Kimberly Perry sent out an email message addressing the controversial nature of the demonstration and its aftermath, and gave an explanation of school policy.

“Freedom of thought and expression

A sign placed near where Project Truth’s demonstration was taking place on the Butte College campus warns of the graphic nature of the group’s message. The organization’s display included photos of aborted fetuses.

PHOTOS BY JOSE OLIVAR

is essential to any institution of higher learning,” she wrote. “Universities and colleges exist not only to transmit knowledge, but equally they interpret, explore and expand that knowledge by testing the old and proposing the new. This mission guides learning outside the classroom quite as much as in the classroom and often inspires vigorous debate on those social, economic and political issues that arouse the strongest passions.

In the process, views will be expressed that may seem to many as wrong, distasteful or even offensive.”

School policy, Perry said, allows for the expression of free speech as long as certain criteria are met.

“Members of the public are required to provide a 24-hour notice of their intent to use Butte College facilities,” she wrote. “That request must be accompanied by a description of the activities in which they will be engaged. The administration can reasonably regulate the time, place and manner of the exercise of free expression in the designated (free speech) public forum area. Further, persons using and/or distributing material in these areas shall not impede the progress of passersby nor shall they force passersby to take material.”

Project Truth member John Edgar suggested that accusations made about the organization’s alleged aggressive behavior were “more than likely false or overblown.”

“We want dialogue,” he said. “You shut down the educational process with yelling and screaming, so we try to be civil.”

Edgar dismissed criticism from students who had pointed out that the group was composed of older men. That carries no weight because it attacks the arguer rather than the argument, he said.

“Ideas don’t have a gender,” he said.

“And this is just an ad hominem attack.”

Student Christina Whaley wasn’t buying it.

“As a female, I take this personally,” she said. “It’s all men over there pushing their agenda and fliers I don’t want. It should be about safe sex. As a human, it’s natural to feel sexual urges. Prevention should be prioritized over scare tactics. I find their display disrespectful.”

Another student named Corine Mercer said students did not receive proper warning prior to Project’s Truth’s upcoming presence on campus. “All staff were sent an email about Project Truth setting up,” she said, “so such a thing must have been approved. Students should [also] have been notified.” Ω Butte College students Talea Mitchell and Jose Olivar contributed to this story.

To shoot or not to shoot?

Paradise Tea Party gets lowdown on stand-yourground laws from local lawmen 200 people attended a presentation Athebout last Thursday evening (Oct. 24), hosted by Paradise Tea Party, on what stand-your-

ground laws mean to California gun owners.

The event, which featured as guest speakers Butte County’s three top lawmen—District Attorney Mike Ramsey, Sheriff Jerry Smith and Undersheriff Kory Honea—filled the Table Mountain Masonic Lodge’s main hall to near capacity.

As a steady stream of attendees moved through the lodge’s lobby, they had the opportunity to purchase a DVD of the documentary film Assaulted: Civil Rights Under Fire, by local filmmaker Kris Koenig. There were also pamphlets available that praised the Second Amendment, others touting the party’s platform as well as “Obummernomics” raffle tickets, and local politician Gregory Cheadle canvassed for his 2014 bid for Congress.

The meeting began with a lengthy, latestarting and pomp-filled preamble. A prayer was said, members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars solemnly marched into the meeting room carrying antique service rifles and a pair of flags—Old Glory and a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” banner. Two women sang a patriotic song and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited not just once, but a second time as well, after tea party member Paul Walters defined every single word of the oath, from “I” to “all.”

Ramsey was first to speak, and focused on California’s self-defense laws. He explained the state has had a “Stand Your Ground” law since its inception, which is further strengthened with something called a “castle doctrine,” enforcing the common legal philosophy that a person’s home is his or her castle.

He explained that state law justifies shooting someone when defending one’s self

SIFT|ER We’re in the money?

Chico was recently ranked No. 1 on a national list of 20 cities titled “Cities with the Fastest Growing Incomes” on the financialadvisory website NerdWallet.com. To compile the list, the site ranked the cities in terms of growth in median earnings for workers between 2007 and 2011; in that time, the website says, Chico’s median income increased by 32 percent.

The catch? Chico’s median income in 2007 was a paltry $15,898 (beaten out for the lowest spot in the top 20 list only by Gainesville, Fla.) and increased to $20,979 in 2011. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the national median income of a non-family household last year was $30,880.

or family “if the defendant reasonably believes that he or she, or their family, are in imminent danger of being killed or suffering great bodily injury, or in imminent danger of being raped or maimed.”

“A defendant is not required to retreat,” he continued. “He or she is entitled to stand his or her ground and defend themselves and, if reasonably necessary, pursue a defendant until the threat of death or great bodily injury has passed.”

Ramsey added that the last statement doesn’t apply to preemptive strikes, but such situations as an intruder running to his or her vehicle to fetch a gun. He also explained that the burden lies on the prosecutor to prove killings weren’t done in self-defense if there is any doubt, and the term “reasonable use of force” is based on the collective decision of a jury of 12.

Touting his own efforts to protect the

Second Amendment, Smith explained how he and other members of the California State Sheriff’s Association helped lobby Sacramento to turn down 2012 legislation that would have made all long guns and assault rifles subject to registration. He also said Butte County is much more supportive of gun ownership and issuing concealedweapons permits than other counties.

“Our philosophy is: If you’re not otherwise prohibited because you’re a felon, or you’ve been indicted of something or have some other restrictions that forbid you from having a concealed-weapons permit, then I encourage you to get one,” the sheriff said.

Honea’s speech focused largely on responsible gun ownership.

“There’s more to [gun ownership] than

Paradise Tea Party members packed the Table Mountain Masonic Lodge to talk about when it’s legal to shoot someone.

PHOTO BY KEN SMITH

simply complying with the law. It is the duty of all defenders of the Second Amendment to practice, promote and advance the ideals of responsible possession and sensible use of firearms,” he said.

This, Honea explained, means keeping guns safe, and out of the hands of criminals and others. He also stressed how mental illness and emotional instability worsen gun violence, and need to be better addressed.

“Mental illness must be destigmatized in our society so that individuals, family members and friends are all willing to accept it and seek treatment they need,” Honea said.

“Early detection of mental illness is considered key in helping to prevent violent acts like Columbine, Virginia Tech, Tucson and Sandy Hook.

“I think it’s incumbent on those of us who strongly support the Second Amendment to advocate for that.”

Afterward, the panel fielded questions about specific situations, with one oft-repeated answer being: “No, it isn’t OK to shoot someone stealing your car, tools or other property.”

Ramsey spoke last, leaving the audience of would-be home defenders with some heavy food for thought.

He explained that part of his duty as district attorney is investigating officer-involved shootings. He went on to share some firsthand knowledge of the lasting damage that shooting someone—even justifiably—can have on the psyche. He told a story about the first officer he cleared of wrongdoing in a shooting, who five years later crashed his car into a train, taking his own life. “[Being cleared legally] does not take that huge moral burden away when they realize, in the days and weeks that follow, that they have taken a fellow human life.

“You have to be ready for that. You think you may be ready for it, but you are not.”

—KEN SMITH kens@newsreview.com

NEWSLINES continued on page 10 October 31, 2013

CN&R 9

continued from page 9

Trouble with fungus Fire Station 5 faces closure due to mold

M

old spores aside, plenty is up in the air regarding Fire Station 5—including the length of an apparently imminent closure.

City Manager Brian Nakamura said an inspector recently confirmed the presence of mold in the walls of Chico Fire Department’s station on Manzanita Avenue, near Upper Bidwell Park, but the city is unsure of when remedial efforts will begin or how long they will take once underway.

Upon further testing, it could be determined that the mold is isolated to a few problem areas; in that case, remediation would take 10 to 14 days and the fire station would resume serving the community as usual. But the possibility of a much bigger problem is real.

“Permanently closing Fire Station 5 may have to be considered,” Nakamura said. “We would hope that doesn’t happen, but there are no guarantees.”

Kim Parks, the city of Chico’s facilities manager, said there are three areas in the station where mold is visible, while from three to five other areas in the building will require “destructive testing,” a process in which small holes are made in the walls to look for internal mold. “We need proof that there aren’t any additional areas that are contaminated,” he said.

Due to safety concerns, Nakamura requested that the station be vacated during the remediation process, despite a test for airborne particulates in the building that found no cause for alarm. Parks explained that mold in the walls poses a risk to employees inside the building only once disturbed and made airborne. Therefore, any areas treated for mold have to be isolated with plastic barriers, the presence of which will prevent firefighters from operating in the station.

“Given that we don’t know what we’re getting into—whether it’s a major or minor problem— we hope that it’ll be [resolved] as quickly as possible and the station closure will be for a short period of time,” Nakamura said, reiterating that the timeframe will remain uncertain until contractors begin tearing into the walls.

Nakamura dismissed the notion that he is pushing to close the station as another cost-saving measure—as he has heard sug10 CN&R October 31, 2013

gested—asserting that a closure would be purely a matter of “protecting the health of the employees and not exposing them to something potentially hazardous.”

Fire Station 5 receives

about 2,000 calls a year and serves roughly 20,000 residents, Interim Fire Chief Keith Carter estimated.

He said the building has had a history of water intrusion since it opened in 1999.

“The building has leaked from day one,” Parks agreed, adding that the roof has leaked in multiple places over the last 14 years.

Another major problem is a faulty gutter system behind the building’s brick veneer. “During construction, that gutter system got filled up with mortar,” Parks explained. Rather than draining from the brick, water “overflows the gutters and into the walls.”

Parks said that measuring exactly how much water gets trapped will determine whether doing mold remediation will make sense. In other words, if the mold in the station is a product of a plumbing leak, a permanent fix would be relatively easy, but if it is caused by a faulty gutter system, the mold will simply return after remediation.

In 2009, the city hired an independent contractor to estimate the cost of fixing the building’s con-

Above: Mold remediation likely will close Fire Station 5 on Manzanita Avenue in the coming weeks for an unknown length of time.

CN&R FILE PHOTO

Right: Interim Fire Chief Keith Carter.

PHOTO BY HOWARD HARDEE

struction deficiencies; the contractor identified more than 30 problems and provided an estimate of $650,000, Parks said.

Testing, remediation and plans to fix the building will be on hold while the city waits to hear if insurance will cover the cost, Nakamura said. He acknowledged that bearing the full cost of fixing the building would be a big blow to the city’s already strained budget and likely would result in “the temporary deletion of a service or program,” or necessitate borrowing from a reserve account.

Meanwhile, Carter has yet to receive word on how his department will be rearranged in the event of a closure of any length.

“We would like to keep [firefighters] on-site, keep them in that response area so they can maintain coverage for that area of town,” he said. “If they’re not [at Station 5], it will mean a longer response time from one of our other stations.”

The department is already stretched thin, Carter said. Since July, city-mandated restrictions on overtime hours have necessitated periodic 24-hour closures of all five of the city’s stations, while Fire Station 3, which serves Chico Municipal Airport, no longer responds with a fire engine and is staffed by a lone firefighter. “[The budget] definitely has put a strain on our ability to react to the community’s needs,” Carter said.

—HOWARD HARDEE howardh@newsreview.com

Private security Armed guards to walk the downtown area

T

he R-Town Downtown Coalition, a collection of downtown Chico business owners, has announced it is hiring a private security company “to patrol downtown along with volunteers in selected locations. The security company will coordinate with Chico police to maximize exposure and street presence.”

The coalition, which will be headquartered at 325 Main St., in an office next to the now-closed Towne Lounge, has hired a firm called Armed Guard Private Protection. The idea is that private guards will protect the private property downtown, which amounts to the parking lots and storefront alcoves that currently offer shelter to the homeless. Operations are set to begin sometime in early November, run through the holidays, and then be evaluated for effectiveness.

Chico Police Capt. Ford Porter said the private guards will be at the command of the store owners, the same way private security protects an apartment complex. “They don’t have any more ability to make arrests than a private citizen,” Porter said, “but obviously they are armed. They will also serve as an extra set of eyes out there, and if they see something, they will give us a call.”

He said the police department has been in touch with a representative from Armed Guard Private Protection.

“They have a good understanding of what they can and can’t do,” Porter said. “They are going to be walking from private property to private property, which is not patrolling. Say they check out a spot at Main, between Second and Third streets, and then walk over to Broadway, between Fourth and Fifth—if they come across something, they would call us, just as a citizen would. They won’t take enforcement action.”

Porter said if a guard comes across someone sleeping in an alcove, which is private property, that person can be moved along.

“But once they walk out onto the sidewalk, it becomes city property,” he said, and there is little the guard can do. “The business owners are upset about the fact [that] people are hanging out in front of their stores. If the person moves to a park bench, that’s legal, and there is nothing the

guard can do.”

Porter said he is personally “not necessarily in favor of it, but then again, I’m not against it, either. Our best option is to work with this the best we can. We’ll see how it goes for the first month or so, and then evaluate it.”

The Armed Guard Private

Protection website says it is based in Yuba City and has a branch office in Chico.

“More and more clients are choosing the armed officer approach versus the traditional unarmed guard approach,” the website says. “We strongly believe this is because of the rapid release of thousands of low-level state prisoners coupled with the local massive public-safety budget reductions, coupled with our philosophies and beliefs implemented into the new age of the private security industry.”

The Armed Guard Private Protection security force will be headquartered in this office on Main Street in downtown Chico.

PHOTO BY TOM GASCOYNE

Not every downtown business owner necessarily welcomes having the services of a private security force, though.

“I’m really not too hip to that,” said Preston Powers, longtime owner of Preston’s Shoe Repair on Third Street, between Main and Wall streets. “I think it’s going to open tremendous liability issues. I understand why they want it, but still …”

He said he was never contacted by anyone in the R-Town Coalition.

Scott Schulman, owner of Brooklyn Bridge Bagel Works on Second Street, between Broadway and Main streets, recalled that years ago the owners of the now-defunct business next to his, Perchè No, complained about the skateboarding noncustomers who sat on the bench in front of the stores.

“I’d just play classical music on the outside speakers,” he said.

“They’d go away.”

—TOM GASCOYNE tomg@newsreview.com

EARTH WATCH

GREENWAYS Monster-plant talk:

BEIJING CAR BAN

In response to chronic heavy air pollution in the Chinese city of Beijing, city authorities have unveiled a new air-quality-control plan.

Whenever it is forecast that Beijing will be subject to three consecutive days of “serious” pollution—over 300 on the Air Quality Index (a measurement that would be deemed “hazardous” in the U.S.)—half of the city’s cars will be banned from the roads, according to The Christian Science Monitor. Cars bearing license plates ending in odd numbers will be allowed to drive only on odd-numbered days; those with even-numbered plates can drive on even-numbered days. Factories and schools will be closed on these “red-alert” days, and there will be a ban on barbecuing and using fireworks.

Singer Patti Austin recently canceled a scheduled Beijing appearance after suffering from a severe asthma attack on one of the city’s worst polluted days this year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

MERCURY OK IN MASCARA?

Under the terms of a new global treaty limiting the use of mercury, mascara is exempt, even though certain brands contain mercury as a germ-killer and preservative.

Earlier this month, at the United Nations’ Diplomatic Conference for the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a treaty limiting the use of mercury in certain products was signed by 140 countries, according to Environmental Health News.

Under the treaty, some batteries, light bulbs, cosmetics, soaps, medical devices and thermometers will be banned.

Mascara is exempt, the treaty says, because “no effective safe substitute alternatives are available.” However, argued Stacy Malkan, co-founder of advocacy group The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, most companies have already found alternatives, and “a known neurotoxin” should not be allowed in mascara.

Killer plants Carnivorousplant expert will deliver all-ages talk at Chico State on Nov. 2

Send your eco-friendly news tips to Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia at christinel@newsreview.com.

Barry Rice at UC Davis with a collection of pitcher plants.

PHOTO BY CHENG SAECHAO

WILL CLEAR-CUT FOR WINE?

Several environmental groups were recently in a Santa Rosa court in an attempt to stop a Spanish-owned winery from clear-cutting and grading 154 acres of coast redwoods and Douglas firs to make way for a massive vineyard.

A warming climate is spurring winemakers to seek out cooler regions, such as the area in northwestern Sonoma County under question, in which to plant their grapevines, according to NPR.com. “Inexorably, the wine industry is looking for new places to plant vineyards,” said Chris Poehlmann, president of Friends of the Gualala River, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Cal Fire, which approved the clear-cutting project in May 2012.

Sam Singer, a spokesman for Artesa Vineyards & Winery, said, “There are no forests on the site,” because most of the thousands of trees slated for removal are less than 100 feet tall.

Botanist and carnivorous-plant expert Barry Rice will present a free guest lecture titled “Murderous Plants,” Saturday, Nov. 2, 4:30 p.m., at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Chico State Herbarium at Chico State’s Holt Hall, room 170. Prior to Rice’s talk, a reception— featuring a display of photos submitted to the herbarium’s Fall Photo Contest—will be held in Holt Hall, room 129, at 3 p.m. Go to www.csuchico.edu/biol/ Herb/Friends.html to learn more about Friends of the Chico State Herbarium.

by

Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia christinel@newsreview.com

“M two carnivorous plants. One is the Venus flytrap; the other is Audrey [Jr.]

ost people … might know of

from The Little Shop of Horrors.”

That’s Barry Rice’s take on the general public’s familiarity with carnivorous plants, a group of plants of various shapes and sizes, infamous for their habit of trapping—in a number of seemingly ingenious ways—live prey such as insects and consuming them slowly by means of the plants’ digestive juices.

Rice—an astronomer, botanist and carnivorous-plant expert—will be in Chico on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 2, to deliver a free lecture, titled “Murderous Plants,” at the annual meeting of the Friends of the

Chico State Herbarium. He spoke recently by phone from his office at Sierra College in Rocklin (where he teaches astronomy).

“During the academic year, I am an astronomer; during the breaks, I am a botanist” at the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity, he explained.

In addition to the ubiquitous Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) and Audrey Jr. (who is, according to the Little Shop story, a cross between a Venus flytrap and a butterwort plant), some people “might remember Morticia from The Addams Family” as well, he said. (Many TV viewers know that Morticia had a carnivorous African strangler plant named Cleopatra.)

But, he pointed out, there are actually “several hundred species of carnivorous plants on this planet—on every continent except Antarctica. Every state of the U.S. has carnivorous plants; in California, sundews are very common.”

Rice has written two books on these “murderous” plants: Growing Carnivorous Plants and Monster Plants: Meat Eaters, Real Stinkers, and Other Leafy Oddities, a book aimed at kids, published by Scholas-

tic. At his Chico State lecture, he will explain “what carnivorous plants are, why they’re carnivorous, and how they commit their nefarious botanical crimes.” He will also discuss “some of these dangerous carnivorous plants we have in the state of California,” he said, laughing, as well as “have some carnivorous plants on hand so people can meet them face-to-leaf. We’ll probably even do some ‘autopsies.’

“Really, though, carnivorous plants are amazing organisms!” he gushed.

Rice’s talk will be “intro level—suitable for everyone. However, I’ll tell ya—I know these plants. If anyone wants to geek out, I’m ready to answer any in-depth questions folks might have.”

Another well-known carnivorous plant is the cobra lily—Darlingtonia californica—also known as the California pitcher plant, which lures its prey into its deep “pitfall trap.” It is found only in California and Oregon, Rice said. “People come from around the world to see these things.”

GREENWAYS continued on page 12 October 31, 2013

CN&R 11

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GREENWAYS continued from page 11

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The closest place to Chico to find a cobra lily? “Butterfly Valley, near Quincy.”

What do they eat? “Anything that moves—butterflies, moths, gnats, wasps, lots of flies.”

Circling back to the subject of Venus flytraps, Rice posed this question: Where are they native to?

“South America?” this reporter guessed.

“They are native to the U.S.,” he announced. “They are native to North Carolina.”

How did the Venus flytrap get its rather exotic name?

“I will tell you how at my lecture,” he said, adding, in a hushed voice: “It’s a naughty story. I will be revealing the sordid tale of how Venus flytraps got their name. It involves puritanical botanists.”

As for how to grow carnivorous plants successfully, Rice said: “Never listen to a nursery person.”

As he explains on his website (go to www.sarracenia.com to access it), “Do not listen to the advice from people at the nursery where you bought your plant. They are usually as in the dark about these plants as you are.”

The biggest fallacy people have about carnivorous plants, he said, is “that they should be grown in their bathroom, where it’s humid and dark. People think they’re jungle plants.” The other common fallacy is “that they’re ultra-rare, that they’re grown in Madagascar or South America. They’re closer than you think. You [in Chico] are probably about 40 miles from carnivorous plants in the wild.”

The novice, he said, will come

ECO EVENT

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by Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia christinel@newsreview.com

HEDGEROW HOW-TO Head to the Organic Vegetable Project at Chico State’s University Farm (311 Nicholas C. Schouten Lane) on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 4 p.m., for a workshop on planting hedgerows to attract pollinators, led by OVP’s Lee Altier and Zeb Putterbaugh, of Floral Native Nursery. Free to income-eligible participants; $10 for others.

Pre-registration required. Go to www.cultivatingcommunity nv.org to learn more and sign up.

away from his all-ages talk with “an appreciation that our world is very strange and filled with bizarre life forms. I am sure I will fit into that category.” Also, he said, he will teach the basics on how to grow carnivorous plants, “if they dare.”

“I’ll give what the kids would say—the true shizznick,” Rice said of his talk “for all knowledge levels. … If I can make interstellar dust sound interesting, this is a walk in the park.”

Back on the subject of Venus flytraps once more, Rice posed a question: “Why is it that Venus flytraps are sold in hardware stores?”

His answer: “Probably because they’re the only plant that straight guys are ‘allowed’ to grow—Venus flytraps, and maybe cacti.” Ω

UNCOMMON SENSE Be a pumpkin-eater The United States produces about 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins a year, an estimated two-thirds of which end up used as decorations, before being sent to the landfill. Give a pumpkin a second life by eating what’s left. The seeds, roasted and seasoned to your taste, make a snack high in zinc, copper and protein. As for the flesh, the Internet abounds with recipes ranging from pumpkin Sloppy Joes (at www.onceamonthmeals.com) to milkshake and pickled rind recipes (www.thedailygreen.com).

Take advantage of discounted pumpkins after Halloween to experiment with more—and if you’re hopeless in the kitchen, at least compost your pumpkin.

HIT THE FLYWAY! The Gray Lodge Wildlife Area (outside of Gridley, along the Pacific Flyway) has once again started up its guided nature walks for prime birdwatching season, through Feb. 2, according to a press release I received recently from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“As one of the premier birding spots in northern California, Gray Lodge Wildlife Area offers guided tours every Saturday and Sunday, 12:30-2 p.m.,” the press release said.

Local experts will guide tour-goers on a 0.3-mile “stroll” on a paved trail, to an elevated wildlifeviewing deck.

“Your guide will inform you of wildlife adaptations, natural Don’t miss out on the beauty of the Gray Lodge Wildlife history [and] conserva- Area.

CN&R FILE PHOTO tion efforts, and help you better identify our wildlife.”

Cost of the tour is included in the Gray Lodge entrance fee of $4.32 (!).

Call 846-7505 or go to www.tinyurl.com/graywild for more information.

RECYCLE UNUSED PAINT A press release from Tyler Tronson, on behalf of Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit PaintCare, advises that “two new PaintCare drop-off locations have been established in Butte County” for those wanting to recycle unwanted leftover paint: Butte County Household Hazardous Waste (1101 Marauder St.) and Northern Recycling & Waste Services (920 American Way in Paradise). The former will accept paint on Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the latter on “rotating Wednesdays and Saturdays,” from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The two venues join the Habitat for Humanity ReStore (220 Meyers St.), Kelly-Moore Paints (1221 Mangrove Ave.) and Sherwin-Williams (2412 Cohasset Road) as participants in PaintCare’s California Paint Stewardship Program. Go to www.paintcare.org for more info.

BEC BOARD BOSS SAYS THANKS! On the heels of the Butte Environmental Council’s recent gala fundraiser and awards ceremony honoring local environmentalists Wes Dempsey, Dave Garcia, and Susan and Stephen Tchudi (see “BEC bestows honors,” Earthwatch, Oct. 24), BEC board chairman Mark Stemen wanted to extend his appreciation to the Butte County District Attorney’s Office for helping close down the dioxin-spewing Pacific Oroville Power Inc. (POPI) co-generation plant in south Oroville, and also to thank CN&R News Editor Tom Gascoyne for his coverage related to that controversial plant.

TAMALES AND DRONES Everyone is invited to the ACLU Annual Dinner Meeting

on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 6 p.m., says local ACLU member Leslie Johnson. Held at the Dorothy Johnson Center in the Chapmantown neighborhood (775 E. 16th St.), the tamale dinner will feature keynote speaker Linda Lye, an ACLU attorney and drone expert, and there will be a silent auction. Free to ACLU members; non-members may join at the door for $20 ($5 for students and people of low income). Call Johnson at 518-9992 to learn more.

DON’T FORGET Anti-GMO activist Pamm Larry wanted me to remind folks

of the Uniting Generations for Action community-building event on Nov. 2 at Trinity United Methodist Church (285 E. Fifth St.), from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

(See “Let us unite,” Guest comment, Oct. 24).

“This will be an unforgettable event and a prime opportunity to pair new activists with longstanding organizations and individuals,” said Larry in an email. Go to www.facebook.com/events/397543767021567 for a schedule of events.

If water is safe after fracking, let Nestle’s bottle it! – activist’s sign at Power Shift 2013, held in Pittsburgh on Oct. 21 EMAIL YOUR GREEN HOME, GARDEN AND COMMUNITY TIPS TO CHRISTINE AT CHRISTINEL@NEWSREVIEW.COM

12 CN&R October 31, 2013

THE PULSE

HEALTHLINES

PRISON REDUCTION EXTENDED

A panel of federal judges on Oct. 21 granted California a one-month extension to reduce the state-prison inmate population.

The extension comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Gov. Jerry Brown’s appeal of the federally mandated state-prison population cap, which previously required the inmate population be reduced by about 9,600 prisoners by 2014, according to California Healthline.

Brown’s administration will now have until the end of February to negotiate with prisoners’ attorneys on a long-term plan to address overcrowding.

Federal oversight of California’s prison system began in 2006 after it was revealed that medical malpractice or neglect resulted in an average of one inmate death per week.

ACA WEBSITE BUGS CONTINUE

President Obama conceded there is “no sugarcoating” the technical difficulties hindering Americans’ attempts to obtain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s health-insurance exchange website, though he insisted the problems will be ironed out.

Software developers for the HealthCare.gov website said that they worried about the system’s readiness for months prior to the healthinsurance exchange’s launch on Oct. 1, according to SFGate.com. As glitches continue to plague users visiting the website, the Obama administration has encouraged people to enroll over the phone, while additional technical experts from within and outside the government are being brought in to address the problems.

The White House also seemed to indicate that, come tax season, those who fail to enroll due to online difficulties will not be forced to pay the penalty for not purchasing health insurance, as the ACA mandates.

FLAVORED CIGARS A HIT WITH KIDS

Compact cigars flavored like candy or fruit are popular with teenagers, a new study finds.

About 1 in 30 middle and high-school students reported smoking the small cigars in a 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of about 19,000 students in grades six through 12, according to The Associated Press. For high-school seniors, that ratio was nearly 1 in 12.

Though the sale of cigarettes with candy, fruit and clove flavorings was banned by the federal government in 2009, there is no restriction on cigars with such flavors except in New York City, Providence, R.I., and the state of Maine.

The tobacco industry has maintained that it opposes smoking by those under 18 years old, while critics say the industry has a history of targeting children with flavored products.

In general, the sale of regular and small cigars has more than doubled over the past 12 years, according to data from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group.

Send your health-related news tips to Howard Hardee at howardh@newsreview.com.

Good springs from tragedy Late Chico State student’s loved ones hope to create memorial scholarship

Froilan Frias (pictured as a boy in Nogales, Ariz.) was killed in a motorcycle accident Aug. 1 on Highway 99. He was 38 years old.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ELBA FRIAS-CARO

by

Evan Tuchinsky

Wrowed the textbook of fellow Chico State graduate student Froilan Frias, she hen April Grossberger bor-

came away with a new friend whom she deeply respected for his caring personality and his commitment to their common field of social work.

“I was just really impressed by his presence,” she recalled a half-year later during a recent phone interview. “I was really excited about working with him—I knew we would cross paths when we both graduated and were professionals.”

It was not to be. On Aug. 1, Frias was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was riding up Highway 99 to Red Bluff in pursuit of an internship when a flatbed truck crossed an intersection, straight into his path. He was unable to avoid the collision.

Frias was 38, the second youngest of seven children, living with his parents in Hamilton City. His death sent ripples through the master’s of social work (MSW) program, where in just a year he’d established himself as a class leader and a go-to resource.

“It’s a terrible loss,” said Jean Schuldberg, MSW director at Chico State’s School of Social Work. “He was a very dedicated student—a very sincere, open, conscientious, caring person who really valued social justice. His memory is strong in our hearts. He touched so many lives.”

Grossberger, a former Paradise planning commissioner, said she was “devastated” by the loss. “He left a big impression on me,” she said.

Frias was born in Nogales, Ariz., to

farmworker parents from Mexico. He had three brothers and three sisters, including his younger sister, Elba Frias-Caro, a nurse at Enloe Medical Center’s rehabilitation clinic. In 1993, he became the first man in his family to graduate from high school, and he went straight to Chico State University.

Two years into college, Frias joined a fraternity. Over the next two years, he entered what Frias-Caro calls his “dark period,” when he began drinking and using drugs. He dropped out of school and spent 10 years mired in addiction; he entered rehab in 2007 and emerged sober and with “a strong vision” of helping others in difficulty.

Frias re-entered Chico State, taking classes while working part time, and graduated in 2011 with a double major of Spanish and sociology. He worked for a year for the Community Action Agency of Butte County at the Esplanade House, which provides transitional housing for homeless families, and was then accepted

into Chico State’s MSW program in 2012.

All the while, he traveled around the region as a speaker for Narcotics Anonymous, hoping to set a positive example.

“He always encouraged other individuals to go for their goals and their dreams,” Frias-Caro said. “He’d say, ‘If I can do it, you can do it.’ He’d share his story anywhere he was invited. He wanted to show it was possible to have a dark background and actually be part of society [as] a reentry individual.”

At a celebration of life for Frias,

Grossberger was introduced to Frias-Caro.

Both had separately planned to establish scholarships in his honor; after meeting, they decided to merge their efforts.

The result is the Froilan Frias Master of Social Work Memorial Scholarship. By the end of the year—or more preferably, Nov. 26, his birthday—they’re hoping to build a $10,000 endowment that would generate at HEALTHLINES continued on page 16

APPOINTMENT MS ORIENTATION The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Northern California Chapter, will offer a support group for newly diagnosed MS patients next Thursday, Nov. 7, from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m., at the Enloe Conference Center (1528 Esplanade, room 106). The program will address common concerns of the newly diagnosed and inform participants of available resources. Contact Ann Johnson at (800) 344-4867 or ann.johnson@nmss.org for more info.

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Winner of the Audiophile soundsystem feAturing A music hAll mmf2.2 turntAble; A bellAri vp130 tube-poWered phono preAmp And tWo vintAge speAkers Charlie’s ballot was selected at random, here are some of his favorites: Pizza: Celestino’s local resturant: Chico - Spice Creek Cafe local resturant: On The Ridge - La Posada Caterer: Three Girls in a Kitchen local Visual artist: Janet Lombardi Blixt Thank you to everybody who voted in the Best of Chico!

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14 CN&R October 31, 2013

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Taking life back from hip and knee pain When the pain you are experiencing in your hips or knees severely restricts your ability to walk or perform simple activities, it may be time to talk to an orthopedic surgeon and consider a joint replacement procedure. Mobility is a vital part of life and Feather River Hospital’s award winning Joint Replacement Center of Excellence is seeing to it that patients get back to the life they know and love faster. This includes patients who would consider themselves too young for a replacement.

Feather River Hospital surgeons use unique, advanced techniques that require smaller incisions and damage less muscle tissue. These techniques allow faster recovery and a shorter hospital stay.

Because surgeons are part of a skilled care team that provides a consistently high level of treatment from pre-op through recovery, patients are able to be active again more quickly.

The care team comprised of surgeons, nurses, therapists and even dieticians also focuses on the patient experience and the benefit of compassionate, patient-focused care in promoting healing. This approach has helped the program to reach a level of excellence recognized by awards such as a 5-Star Rating in Total Hip Replacements for 10 years in a row from Healthgrades.

Feather River Hospital is also a Blue Distinction Center+ for Hip and Knee Replacements. “Blue Distinction Centers set themselves apart by adhering to best practices in patient safety and surgical care

and producing consistently strong outcomes with fewer complications,” says Marcus Thygeson, M.D., senior vice president and chief health officer at Blue Shield of California.

The Joint Replacement Center of Excellence offers an innovative, proactive approach to care for total knee and total hip replacement patients utilizing pre-operative learning classes and group therapy. “The focus of this effort is to create a smooth, cohesive plan for the patient that helps them to be fully prepared for their procedure and gives them a clear plan for recovery and an excellent outcome,” says Gloria Santos, Vice President for Patient Care. When recovering in the hospital, patients recover as a group – exercising, enjoying various activities, and providing support and encouragement to each other.

Total joint replacement patients average a hospital stay of only one to three days. Most patients are putting weight on their new joint later in the same day that they have their surgery. For patients who once suffered from joint pain, being able to hike, golf, play with their children or even ride a motorcycle again greatly improves their lives. Feather River Hospital’s joint replacement program is helping them to achieve these excellent outcomes as fast as possible.

For more information about the Feather River Hospital Joint Replacement Center of Excellence call (530) 876-7243 or visit www.frhosp.org.

To learn more about Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care®, please visit www.bcbs.com or contact your Local Plan.

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least $400 a year to help a graduate student in social work. They’re already more than halfway there, bolstered by a $5,000 gift from Grossberger and her husband after the sale of their Toyota 4Runner.

“I just felt that if he couldn’t live, his name could,” Grossberger said.

“I’m very thankful,” Frias-Caro said of Grossberger’s generosity. “I know that if I continue to push to help keep his memory alive … it will help me to heal and make sure I’m helping individuals [as] I know my brother would like. My brother was a man of service.

“I hope the community can help us make this come true.”

Both Frias-Caro and Grossberger believe the scholarship could help people like Frias: re-entry students, bilingual in English and Spanish, who have faced addiction or another major setback. Male students would be all the better, since women comprise more than 80 percent of all social workers, and male Latino social workers are

How to help:

Chico State University is collecting donations for the Froilan Frias Master of Social Work Memorial Scholarship via mail, phone and website. Go to www.facebook.com/ FriasScholarshipEndowment for the online portal and mailing information, or call the university at 898-5297.

As a graduate student at Chico State’s School of Social Work, Frias was interested in helping others overcome drug and alcohol addiction.

particularly rare.

Had Frias graduated and entered social work, Schuldberg, the MSW director, said, “He could have made a big impact.”

His family and friends believe he still will through the scholarship endowment, which they hope will pay dividends for years, if not decades.

“To see more Latino men become social workers would really improve the services the social-work field can provide to the citizens of California,” Grossberger said. “The more Latino males we can empower to become graduate students, the better off all of us will be.” Ω

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Sugar enjoyed sensibly We’re not going to be the ones to tell you that you shouldn’t let your kids enjoy Halloween and all the sugary riches the holiday offers, but we will point out that having a giant bucket of candy in the house shouldn’t be an excuse for mindless gorging. Consider implementing a “treat time” each day (after dinner, with a school lunch, etc.) in order to shift the expectation that candy is available all day long. And, of course, make sure the little ones are brushing their teeth soon after chomping on sugary treats.

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David “Dragonboy” Sutherland in his office/studio.

Dragonboy Art creature on the loose

PHOTO BY JASON CASSIDY

hen searching for a town’s creative types, a good first step W would be to find those people who’ve taken artistic license with their own names. If you meet a “Dragonboy,” for example, you are

almost certainly on the right track. In fact, in Chico, there’s probably no local character whom you would meet who could introduce you to more of the wonderful weirdness on offer than David “Dragonboy” Sutherland.

Just to look at the colorful, heavily tattooed artist who heads up the community-minded Manas Artspace is to witness a walking, breathing, living piece of art. His hair, skin and clothing are a canvas for an ever-changing series of artworks in a mishmash of style experiments.

“For me, it’s a form of expression. It basically pays homage to the endless ways one can express the prolific beauty in nature,” Sutherland explained. “Why wouldn’t we be completely colorful? Or completely drab? Why wouldn’t our outer life represent our inner life?

There’s no end to it. It’s boundless. Creativity is part of my life.”

And since Dragonboy’s arrival in 1995 to study graphic design at Chico State, his has been a very creative Chico life. In addition to his prolific output of wild and eclectic quasi-tribal/street-art/Burning Man-ish/recycled collages of multiple media, Sutherland is a performance artist, a poet, a popular model for the Chikoko fashion collective, and a musician—both electronic and a percussionist in the samba-drumline Wolf Thump. And, of course, he’s been an energetic promoter of art as a member of the now-defunct Crux Artist Collective and as the current director of Manas.

While Crux was the often-exciting product of the symbiotic relationship between the various open-minded art freaks of that collective, Manas was created by Sutherland to feed his need for making a space for the community in general to take part, mostly via themed open-entry shows. Since its inception, it’s been home to an impressive run of popular, noncurated group exhibits—everything from The Bag O’ Junk Show to the upcoming Impermanence: Big Plans for Little Frankie exhibit (opening Nov. 15; artwork accepted Nov. 6-9), in which participants will create or be inspired by miniature hundred-dollar bills and old architectural plans.

nd his linger a Norm Dil home, Lumina, t pointillis ient St. r at 821 O SI DY Y P H OTO B

JA SO N C

AS

Dragonboy on the runway during Chikoko’s Nectar show.

PHOTO BY KYLE DELMAR

“There are not a lot of words [that can describe it],” Sutherland said regarding the excitement he sees in the people—especially those who don’t normally show art—who have taken part in the group exhibits. And he feels the excitement, too, witnessing that creative birth and moving closer to the ideal of, as he put it, “each individual in this society being recognized for having their creative part in the picture.”

And, with Manas operating as his art workspace and yoga studio, as well as a wideopen community performance and visual-art venue, it would seem that Sutherland has fairly successfully realized his goal of merging his life and art paths.

“I feel like I’m participating in creating what Chico is becoming,” he said. “I like that job. It’s an awesome job.”

—Jason Cassidy jasonc@newsreview.com

BassMint Most every Friday night (starting at 9:30 p.m.), the BassMint EDM party crew heads down into the basement of Peeking Chinese Restaurant and transforms it into something like a secret underground Euro dance party PHOTO BY JASON CASSIDY

Original G Every ride home is a party with G Ride, and bike-rider Mike G’s bone-rattling sound system pumping out dance beats from the most recognizable pedicab in town.

PHOTO BY KYLE DELMAR

18 CN&R October 31, 2013

Celebrating all the unique awesomeness that makes life here fun

I

n case you have the wrong idea, let’s set the record straight: Weird is good.

When we say, “Keep Chico weird,” it’s another way of saying, “Keep Chico fun and interesting. Keep Chico from being ordinary and boring.” While it’s true that we are well known for our big park and our big school, to really taste the flavor of Chico, you have to include all the unique businesses, active and adventurous arts-makers, specialized groups, roadside oddities, and most of all, the quirky and sometimes flamboyant characters—all the funky artists, twirling hippies, street people, theater geeks, politicians, crusty punks, community rabble-rousers, and hipsters. For anyone whose Chico life is played out in the sphere of downtown, just hearing names of personalities like Sisko, DNA, Marge or Flo brings to mind vivid characters who are each a small part of the Chico picture.

BaT Comics Downtown’s real hub of fantasy and fun

are looking for GIANTmicrobes, a bust Iacfofyou Wolverine, a Johnny the Homicidal ManiT-shirt or a pair of Monty Python killerbunny slippers, the place in Chico where you can find all of these unique novelty and fantasy specialty items is BaT Comics & Games (127 Main Street). Ditto if you are in need of a Hello Kitty purse, a My Little Pony figurine or a pack of Munchkin Tricky Treats cards.

The jam-packed shop (floor-to-ceiling, including various cases, racks, shelves, and the walls themselves) seems to stock practically every compelling oddity (and not so odd, like poker chips and used DVDs), some that the average Chicoan might think they’d need to go online or head to the Bay Area to find.

And, as the store’s name implies, it stocks comic books (thousands of them, from those featuring Marvel superheroes to The Family Circus) and games.

“We have a wide variety of stuff,” said 43year-old Trent Walsh, who has owned and run the shop 20 years as of this past May. “Our big product lines are comics, all different types of games, and the Japanese imports,” such as the Totoro product line, based on the cute, rotund main character in Hayao Miyazaki’s animated film My Neighbor Totoro, as well as a variety of manga books.

Absent the weirdness, Chico would just be another rural Northern California city. Can you imagine what Chico would be like without a place like The Pageant Theatre breaking up the big-screen monotony with its funky art-house films? If the recent successful community-funding campaign to keep the iconic Bookstore open proves anything, it’s that Chico wants and needs its funky, homegrown respites from corporate blandness. (And, actually, The Pageant is in need. See Arts DEVO, page 33, for more info.)

All mini-malls and party bars makes Chico a dull city. We need weirdness of all stripes, and in this first-ever Keep Chico Weird issue we celebrate them all—the bright and colorful people, places and groups that make Chico …“Chico.”

BaT Comics & Games does not carry electronic games, though, focusing instead on board and card games.

In fact, Walsh has noticed an uptick in customers looking for board games, such as the increasingly popular The Settlers of Catan; they are motivated, he noted, by a desire to increase their social interactions.

“I get people in that want to play a board game, because they have friends over who all they want to do is watch TV or play video games, and with almost all board games, you have to interact with other people to play the game,” he said.

Catan, which involves settlement-, cityand road-building on a mythical uncharted island called Catan, is “a fairly easy game,” Walsh said. “You can learn how to play in 10 minutes.” Besides the sociability of the game, and the fact that it involves “no direct conflict,” another plus is that it “has a lot of variables, so every game is unique,” unlike, say, Monopoly, he noted.

“The board changes every time [you play], and playing with different people equals playing a different game. You can play it 100 times and literally have a different game each time.

“Trading is an important aspect of the game,” he added, “so you can’t annoy someone so much that they won’t want to trade with you—where they want to say, ‘I’m gonna screw you just to screw you.’”

Go to www.batcomicsandgames.com to

The avant guards There is a lot of art made and shown in Chico, and all of those who showcase it bring color to our rural outpost. But there are also several entities who go out of their way to push the envelope of artistic expression, keeping Chicoans on their toes with their funky, inventive and, yes, weird programming: • 1078 Gallery (820 Broadway): Offering “exciting exhibitions of contemporary and experimental artworks.” www.1078gallery.org • Chikoko: Fashion/performance-artist collective, www.chikoko.com • Idea Fabrication Labs (603 Orange St.): Arts “maker space,” with fun digital tools like a 3-D printer and a laser cutter. www.ideafablabs.com •MANAS Artspace (1441-C Park Ave.): Chico’s community art space/freak zone. www.manasartspace.com •Overdose Gallery: One artist, one piece, one website to sign-up for a spot to attend the next show. www.overdosegallery.blogspot.com

Chikoko P H OTO

BY E R N

E STO B O

The overstuffed fantasy world of BaT Comics: Owner Trent Walsh with the board game The Settlers of Catan; Muno from Yo Gabba Gabba; KISS Hello Kitties; and Thor.

PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE G.K. LAPADO-BREGLIA

keep up on BaT Comics & Games’ product offerings and special events, such as periodic board-game nights at the rear of the store.

—Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia christinel@newsreview.com

N E T TI

Orchard catfish

, Highway 32.

PH OTO BY JAS ON CAS SIDY

more “WEIRD” continued on page 20 October 31, 2013

CN&R 19

“WEIRD” continued from page 19

Feather River Grove The druids among us t face value, one probably wouldn’t guess that Sue HandA ley, Craig Wilcox and Stella Caughell were anything more than an average group of friends or workmates sharing their lunch hour together as they sat around a table at a north Chico Mexican restaurant on a recent Thursday afternoon.

But the trio share a bond deeper than that formed around the water cooler. They are members and officers of Feather A couple of celebrations of the local druid circle, Feather River Grove, at the Campfire Council Ring in Bidwell Park: (near right) Craig Wilcox during Lughnasadh; and (far right) a mock fight between a horse-headed god and demon during a midsummer high day.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FEATHER RIVER GROVE

River Grove, a local druid circle and legally recognized, nonprofit Neopagan church. Since 2007, the group has held public rituals on eight high holy days celebrated annually by initiates of many earth-based, nonJudeo-Christian religions at Bidwell Park’s Campfire Council Ring. They also meet regularly for private rituals, study groups, and monthly pagan-centric meetups at Cozy Diner.

Feather River Grove is part of a larger, international organization dedicated to Neopagan Druidry called Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship. Wilcox, the group’s president and senior druid, said the local group has seven dues-paying members, as well as a few dozen “friends of the circle” who are less committed, but often show up for public rituals and other events.

The local group, though ostensibly dedicated to Druidry, is open to Neopagans who follow other paths and pantheons as well. While Wilcox’s favored deity is Lugh the Longhanded, revered by the original Celtic Druids of the British Isles, Caughell—the group’s secretary—favors Norse gods worshipped by the ancient Vikings. Handley is devoted to Iemanjá, a goddess of African origin particularly revered in Brazil and by practitioners of voodoo.

The group is currently preparing for one of its two biggest holidays of the year, Samhain, which they will cele-

brate on Nov. 3. The other biggest celebration is the springtime rite of Beltane. Caughell, who will lead the upcoming ritual, explained Samhain honors death, the last harvest of the year, the coming of winter, and the ancestors of those who participate.

“Looking at it in a cross-cultural context, it’s similar to Día de [los] Muertos as they celebrate it in Mexico,” she said.

Feather River Grove is also part of the Chico Area Interfaith Council; Wilcox is that group’s webmaster, and the CAIC’s president, Lutheran minister Jim Henson, even came to their last meetup.

“Overall, we haven’t had any real problems or faced opposition from Christians or any other organized religious groups,” Wilcox said. “Chico has been very accepting, and people who observe our public rituals have been mostly respectful.”

Mostly. The members did have one story about a group of teenage boys who happened upon a recent ritual and began heckling. When a group member tried to explain to the boys that they were observing their religion, the boys requested they prove their Druidry by shapeshifting or throwing fireballs, and continued to pester them until the police were called to intervene.

“We tried to explain this is our religious belief, not World of Warcraft,” Wilcox said.

“I think we should have just hit ’em with a fireball,” Handley joked.

The Maltese Bar & Tap Room Off the main drag

he flier for the costumed karaoke show on Halloween Tto “get night at The Maltese Bar & Tap Room invites Chicoans weird,” which is probably redundant, not just

because of the nature of the holiday, but because there’s a good chance that most any evening at the neighborhood bar in south Chico will include locals doing just that.

The Maltese’s Fall Drag Review last Friday (Oct. 18) offered a prime example of the colorful characters and activities one can take in

there. Though the show itself was certainly out there (one queen took the stage and identified him/herself as “Gloria Hull”), the most surreal scenes were the product of the queens—some of them well over 6 feet tall after slipping into stiletto heels and donning wigs—hanging out at the bar prior to the show, chatting it up with the clientele over drinks.

Even on nights that don’t include events like one of the bar’s regular nights of live music or unique fun—drag shows, drunken spelling bees, trivia nights, Jell-O wrestling matches—or one-off affairs like the recent Walking Dead viewing/drinking party, The Maltese maintains a character that is refreshingly outside the norm of downtown’s college-oriented bar scene. During a recent phone interview, owner Angela Lombardi (who described herself as “a homosexual EastCoaster into the alternative scene”) said that her bar attracts “a crazy mishmash of bikers, artists and whoever. A lot of people come to The Maltese and say, ‘It’s so weird that so many different sub-sectors [of the community] can hang out together.’”

When Lombardi bought the bar from a group of firefighters about 3 1/2 years ago, she envisioned exactly that—a bar that, by keeping its doors open to anyone and everyone, would provide a space for the

—Ken Smith kens@newsreview.com

The whole Maltese Tap Room gang, with owner Angela Lombardi’s face pictured on a stick, front and center.

Pippa Longstockings (left) and Tucker performing at The Maltese.

PHOTO BY MARISSA PARSONS

full spectrum of Chico personalities to interact.

“It shows that Chico does have so much to offer,” she said. “I think it’s important to have a place where anyone can come and feel welcome.” Well, almost anyone.

Regarding who is welcome or not, Lombardi explained: “We’re not a gay bar; we’re not a straight bar. Our only rule is, ‘Don’t be a douche.’”

As for the sorts of events her bar hosts, Lombardi said she’s open to trying any off-the-wall suggestion at least once, and is prone to acting on whims. For instance, on a recent morning during which she was “lying in bed with a hangover,” Lombardi was struck with an idea.

“I was like, ‘Man, we should have a dress-your-dog-upin-a-costume kind of thing at The Maltese,’ because I’m random and I like to see animals dressed in costumes.”

While it remains to be seen if the costumed-pet party concept will come to fruition, Chicoans can expect more wild fun in the immediate future. Beginning Nov. 2, The Maltese will host burlesque shows on the first Saturday of each month (starting at 9 p.m.), featuring an in-house troupe called The Malteazers.

—Howard Hardee howardh@newsreview.com

PHOTO BY JASON CASSIDY

Jack Dammit International

PHOTO BY JASO N CASS IDY

LARPers everywhere!

Tedra Thomsen

From steampunkers, to vampires, to the rapiers, minstrels and knights of the Middle Ages, there are many roles to play in Chico.

• Chico Steampunk Society (search “Chico Steampunk” on Facebook”): Meets second Wednesdays, 7 p.m., at Lyon Books (135 Main St.).

• Barony of Rivenoak, the Chico chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism (www.rivenoak. westkingdom.org): Contact the group at roberto_defonseca@yahoo.com and watch weekly fighting practice, Sundays, 12:30 p.m., at One-Mile in Bidwell Park.

Walkin’ on the wild side edra (prounced Tee-dra) Thomsen is one of those Thelps highly visible members of the community who define this town via its individualism and

Wild things Thankfully, Chico has always had musical individualists who bring their unique personalities to the fore and flip the college-party scene on its head with their creative takes on rock music—folks like Handsome Gorgeous, leader of now-defunct theatrical-rockers Gorgeous Armada, and Jack Dammit International (pictured above), the man with a thousand outfits whose wacky funkiness has fueled groups like the legendary Brutilicus Maximus and masters of the butt-funk, Black Fong.

son i c ke t ny R n h o ET Y rs J SOCI u n ke a c o c k . T E A M P U N K p m a e S St e a r a h P F C H I C O O S a n d O U R T E SY P H OT

20 CN&R October 31, 2013

OC

Tedra Thomsen in her usual downtown spot, in front of Naked Lounge Tea & Coffeehouse.

eccentricities. A 6-foot-4-inch-tall transgender person, she (Thomsen identifies as a woman) can be seen sitting in front of the Naked Lounge Tea & Coffeehouse on an early sunny morning, or walking Main Street in stiletto high-heels and a tight short skirt later in the day.

With a physical presence that includes an athletic, muscular body and self-described “strong German jaw,” the 45-year-old Thomsen is hard not to notice.

Thomsen, who had a 12-year relationship with a woman, including four years of marriage, said she’s had the mental sense of the female gender as long as she can remember. She grew up in the San Diego area, and at the time, such feelings were not up for discussion. In fact, Thomsen says her parents are still trying to come to terms with her gender status even though she’s been open about it for the past 20 years.

“I was definitely very much in the closet for a long time,” she said. “In the pre-Internet days there was no information out there.

You had to go to a library. All the information I could find was very technical and medical.”

And the books that the librarians told her were on the shelves were often missing, she said.

“The theory was that people were so embarrassed when they realized the person behind the checkout counter was going to know about them that they would steal the book.”

Many locals know Thomsen from her days managing the Cold Stone Creamery at Second and Broadway streets in downtown Chico.

“I haven’t worked there in seven years,” she said. “I was just the manager, and people still ask me, ‘Do you still own Cold Stone?’ That’s kind of cool.”

In 2007, Thomsen made news by attempting to play on a coed softball team with the Chico Area Recreational District. The rules say each team is allowed a certain number of female and male players. Thomsen wanted to play as a woman, but was denied because of her physical gender. Local media, including this paper, criticized her effort.

Thomsen can handle criticism at this point in her life. She used to go back and forth in her choice of dress, but now wears only women’s clothing, and either people are more comfortable with that consistency or, she suggests, society is maturing.

“I get less and less public criticism, and if I do, it seems to be from the 17- to 23-year-old male category, for the most part,” she said. “But overall, I hear less bad things. I don’t hear ‘Fuckin’ faggot!’ anymore, and I used to hear that a lot.”

Thomsen said there are other times that she gets feedback from strangers that lifts her spirits.

“I have people come up to me and say, ‘I’ve always wanted to meet you.

I’ve seen you around for years—you really inspire me.’And I feel like I’m appreciated for doing what I’m doing: being myself. And these people say they feel better about themselves doing whatever it is they are doing. To feel inspirational to people almost makes up for all of the bad times.”

—Tom Gascoyne tomg@newsreview.com

Cornhole wins Nothing says intramural recreation like a spirited game of cornhole. Pass on the flag football and volleyball, and instead be one of the most interesting students at Chico State and enter one of the unique “sports” leagues, like cornhole or dodgeball. Both seasons just got underway, but you might still be able to jump on a team. Contact intramural sports at imsports@csuchico.edu or 898-6186.

c Texa erica m A f ts o Spiri Avenue ASSIDY N o r d Y JA S O N C O P H OT

B

Art rock

Fera Chico always has a few experimental musical characters, bending the rules and trying to bring something new into the world. Some of those currently providing Chico with weirdness of many stripes are theatrical experimentalrockers the Pageant Dads [see Music, page 28], indie freak-folker Fera (pictured), experimental feminist-folkie She Fetus, mysterious improvisers Sisterhoods, and iconic semi-outsider artist/singer-songwriter Danny Cohen.

o,

Chico Tweed Ride It’s officially a tradition this year, as the second annual Chico Tweed Ride will take place Nov. 24. All the “lads and lassies” in their vintage attire will show up at the City Plaza at 11 a.m. on their vintage bikes for a leisurely Sunday ride that will end at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (And look for another Chico Seersucker Ride in the spring.)

PHOTO BY TOM GASCOYNE

October 31, 2013

CN&R 21

“WEIRD” continued from page 19

Feather River Grove The druids among us t face value, one probably wouldn’t guess that Sue HandA ley, Craig Wilcox and Stella Caughell were anything more than an average group of friends or workmates sharing their lunch hour together as they sat around a table at a north Chico Mexican restaurant on a recent Thursday afternoon.

But the trio share a bond deeper than that formed around the water cooler. They are members and officers of Feather A couple of celebrations of the local druid circle, Feather River Grove, at the Campfire Council Ring in Bidwell Park: (near right) Craig Wilcox during Lughnasadh; and (far right) a mock fight between a horse-headed god and demon during a midsummer high day.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FEATHER RIVER GROVE

River Grove, a local druid circle and legally recognized, nonprofit Neopagan church. Since 2007, the group has held public rituals on eight high holy days celebrated annually by initiates of many earth-based, nonJudeo-Christian religions at Bidwell Park’s Campfire Council Ring. They also meet regularly for private rituals, study groups, and monthly pagan-centric meetups at Cozy Diner.

Feather River Grove is part of a larger, international organization dedicated to Neopagan Druidry called Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship. Wilcox, the group’s president and senior druid, said the local group has seven dues-paying members, as well as a few dozen “friends of the circle” who are less committed, but often show up for public rituals and other events.

The local group, though ostensibly dedicated to Druidry, is open to Neopagans who follow other paths and pantheons as well. While Wilcox’s favored deity is Lugh the Longhanded, revered by the original Celtic Druids of the British Isles, Caughell—the group’s secretary—favors Norse gods worshipped by the ancient Vikings. Handley is devoted to Iemanjá, a goddess of African origin particularly revered in Brazil and by practitioners of voodoo.

The group is currently preparing for one of its two biggest holidays of the year, Samhain, which they will cele-

brate on Nov. 3. The other biggest celebration is the springtime rite of Beltane. Caughell, who will lead the upcoming ritual, explained Samhain honors death, the last harvest of the year, the coming of winter, and the ancestors of those who participate.

“Looking at it in a cross-cultural context, it’s similar to Día de [los] Muertos as they celebrate it in Mexico,” she said.

Feather River Grove is also part of the Chico Area Interfaith Council; Wilcox is that group’s webmaster, and the CAIC’s president, Lutheran minister Jim Henson, even came to their last meetup.

“Overall, we haven’t had any real problems or faced opposition from Christians or any other organized religious groups,” Wilcox said. “Chico has been very accepting, and people who observe our public rituals have been mostly respectful.”

Mostly. The members did have one story about a group of teenage boys who happened upon a recent ritual and began heckling. When a group member tried to explain to the boys that they were observing their religion, the boys requested they prove their Druidry by shapeshifting or throwing fireballs, and continued to pester them until the police were called to intervene.

“We tried to explain this is our religious belief, not World of Warcraft,” Wilcox said.

“I think we should have just hit ’em with a fireball,” Handley joked.

The Maltese Bar & Tap Room Off the main drag

he flier for the costumed karaoke show on Halloween Tto “get night at The Maltese Bar & Tap Room invites Chicoans weird,” which is probably redundant, not just

because of the nature of the holiday, but because there’s a good chance that most any evening at the neighborhood bar in south Chico will include locals doing just that.

The Maltese’s Fall Drag Review last Friday (Oct. 18) offered a prime example of the colorful characters and activities one can take in

there. Though the show itself was certainly out there (one queen took the stage and identified him/herself as “Gloria Hull”), the most surreal scenes were the product of the queens—some of them well over 6 feet tall after slipping into stiletto heels and donning wigs—hanging out at the bar prior to the show, chatting it up with the clientele over drinks.

Even on nights that don’t include events like one of the bar’s regular nights of live music or unique fun—drag shows, drunken spelling bees, trivia nights, Jell-O wrestling matches—or one-off affairs like the recent Walking Dead viewing/drinking party, The Maltese maintains a character that is refreshingly outside the norm of downtown’s college-oriented bar scene. During a recent phone interview, owner Angela Lombardi (who described herself as “a homosexual EastCoaster into the alternative scene”) said that her bar attracts “a crazy mishmash of bikers, artists and whoever. A lot of people come to The Maltese and say, ‘It’s so weird that so many different sub-sectors [of the community] can hang out together.’”

When Lombardi bought the bar from a group of firefighters about 3 1/2 years ago, she envisioned exactly that—a bar that, by keeping its doors open to anyone and everyone, would provide a space for the

—Ken Smith kens@newsreview.com

The whole Maltese Tap Room gang, with owner Angela Lombardi’s face pictured on a stick, front and center.

Pippa Longstockings (left) and Tucker performing at The Maltese.

PHOTO BY MARISSA PARSONS

full spectrum of Chico personalities to interact.

“It shows that Chico does have so much to offer,” she said. “I think it’s important to have a place where anyone can come and feel welcome.” Well, almost anyone.

Regarding who is welcome or not, Lombardi explained: “We’re not a gay bar; we’re not a straight bar. Our only rule is, ‘Don’t be a douche.’”

As for the sorts of events her bar hosts, Lombardi said she’s open to trying any off-the-wall suggestion at least once, and is prone to acting on whims. For instance, on a recent morning during which she was “lying in bed with a hangover,” Lombardi was struck with an idea.

“I was like, ‘Man, we should have a dress-your-dog-upin-a-costume kind of thing at The Maltese,’ because I’m random and I like to see animals dressed in costumes.”

While it remains to be seen if the costumed-pet party concept will come to fruition, Chicoans can expect more wild fun in the immediate future. Beginning Nov. 2, The Maltese will host burlesque shows on the first Saturday of each month (starting at 9 p.m.), featuring an in-house troupe called The Malteazers.

—Howard Hardee howardh@newsreview.com

PHOTO BY JASON CASSIDY

Jack Dammit International

PHOTO BY JASO N CASS IDY

LARPers everywhere!

Tedra Thomsen

From steampunkers, to vampires, to the rapiers, minstrels and knights of the Middle Ages, there are many roles to play in Chico.

• Chico Steampunk Society (search “Chico Steampunk” on Facebook”): Meets second Wednesdays, 7 p.m., at Lyon Books (135 Main St.).

• Barony of Rivenoak, the Chico chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism (www.rivenoak. westkingdom.org): Contact the group at roberto_defonseca@yahoo.com and watch weekly fighting practice, Sundays, 12:30 p.m., at One-Mile in Bidwell Park.

Walkin’ on the wild side edra (prounced Tee-dra) Thomsen is one of those Thelps highly visible members of the community who define this town via its individualism and

Wild things Thankfully, Chico has always had musical individualists who bring their unique personalities to the fore and flip the college-party scene on its head with their creative takes on rock music—folks like Handsome Gorgeous, leader of now-defunct theatrical-rockers Gorgeous Armada, and Jack Dammit International (pictured above), the man with a thousand outfits whose wacky funkiness has fueled groups like the legendary Brutilicus Maximus and masters of the butt-funk, Black Fong.

son i c ke t ny R n h o ET Y rs J SOCI u n ke a c o c k . T E A M P U N K p m a e S St e a r a h P F C H I C O O S a n d O U R T E SY P H OT

20 CN&R October 31, 2013

OC

Tedra Thomsen in her usual downtown spot, in front of Naked Lounge Tea & Coffeehouse.

eccentricities. A 6-foot-4-inch-tall transgender person, she (Thomsen identifies as a woman) can be seen sitting in front of the Naked Lounge Tea & Coffeehouse on an early sunny morning, or walking Main Street in stiletto high-heels and a tight short skirt later in the day.

With a physical presence that includes an athletic, muscular body and self-described “strong German jaw,” the 45-year-old Thomsen is hard not to notice.

Thomsen, who had a 12-year relationship with a woman, including four years of marriage, said she’s had the mental sense of the female gender as long as she can remember. She grew up in the San Diego area, and at the time, such feelings were not up for discussion. In fact, Thomsen says her parents are still trying to come to terms with her gender status even though she’s been open about it for the past 20 years.

“I was definitely very much in the closet for a long time,” she said. “In the pre-Internet days there was no information out there.

You had to go to a library. All the information I could find was very technical and medical.”

And the books that the librarians told her were on the shelves were often missing, she said.

“The theory was that people were so embarrassed when they realized the person behind the checkout counter was going to know about them that they would steal the book.”

Many locals know Thomsen from her days managing the Cold Stone Creamery at Second and Broadway streets in downtown Chico.

“I haven’t worked there in seven years,” she said. “I was just the manager, and people still ask me, ‘Do you still own Cold Stone?’ That’s kind of cool.”

In 2007, Thomsen made news by attempting to play on a coed softball team with the Chico Area Recreational District. The rules say each team is allowed a certain number of female and male players. Thomsen wanted to play as a woman, but was denied because of her physical gender. Local media, including this paper, criticized her effort.

Thomsen can handle criticism at this point in her life. She used to go back and forth in her choice of dress, but now wears only women’s clothing, and either people are more comfortable with that consistency or, she suggests, society is maturing.

“I get less and less public criticism, and if I do, it seems to be from the 17- to 23-year-old male category, for the most part,” she said. “But overall, I hear less bad things. I don’t hear ‘Fuckin’ faggot!’ anymore, and I used to hear that a lot.”

Thomsen said there are other times that she gets feedback from strangers that lifts her spirits.

“I have people come up to me and say, ‘I’ve always wanted to meet you.

I’ve seen you around for years—you really inspire me.’And I feel like I’m appreciated for doing what I’m doing: being myself. And these people say they feel better about themselves doing whatever it is they are doing. To feel inspirational to people almost makes up for all of the bad times.”

—Tom Gascoyne tomg@newsreview.com

Cornhole wins Nothing says intramural recreation like a spirited game of cornhole. Pass on the flag football and volleyball, and instead be one of the most interesting students at Chico State and enter one of the unique “sports” leagues, like cornhole or dodgeball. Both seasons just got underway, but you might still be able to jump on a team. Contact intramural sports at imsports@csuchico.edu or 898-6186.

c Texa erica m A f ts o Spiri Avenue ASSIDY N o r d Y JA S O N C O P H OT

B

Art rock

Fera Chico always has a few experimental musical characters, bending the rules and trying to bring something new into the world. Some of those currently providing Chico with weirdness of many stripes are theatrical experimentalrockers the Pageant Dads [see Music, page 28], indie freak-folker Fera (pictured), experimental feminist-folkie She Fetus, mysterious improvisers Sisterhoods, and iconic semi-outsider artist/singer-songwriter Danny Cohen.

o,

Chico Tweed Ride It’s officially a tradition this year, as the second annual Chico Tweed Ride will take place Nov. 24. All the “lads and lassies” in their vintage attire will show up at the City Plaza at 11 a.m. on their vintage bikes for a leisurely Sunday ride that will end at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (And look for another Chico Seersucker Ride in the spring.)

PHOTO BY TOM GASCOYNE

October 31, 2013

CN&R 21

IN THE MIX

DR. BRANDON STARK OF ARGYLL MEDICAL GROUP WELCOMES

Murder as a Fine Art David Morrell

Dara McKinley, FNP

Mulholland Books David Morrell is the author of 26 novels, most famously his debut, First Blood (1972), on which the four Rambo movies are based. He’s known as a writer of classy, smart thrillers, and this historical tale fits that bill brilliantly. Set in gaslit, foggy London in 1854, it focuses on the writer Thomas De Quincey, the author of the infamous memoir Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, who is the major suspect in a series of mass murders seemingly inspired by his magazine essay “On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts.” De Quincey, a small man now 69 years old and crippled by opium addiction, understands that the real murderer is a self-styled artist of death. He can clear his name, the writer realizes, only by finding the killer—a task complicated by political pressure from on high and a citizenry frightened into hysterical rioting by the slaughters. His only allies are his unusually forceful and independent daughter, Emily, and two Scotland Yard detectives who realize his innocence. In its seamless merging of historical fact and imaginative fiction, and its atmospheric description of what at the time was the world’s largest city, this novel is a feast for readers.

Longtime Chico resident and Family Nurse Practitioner Dara McKinley specializes in chronic disease management with an interest in promoting women’s health. She offers a collaboration approach to patient care by taking the time to educate her patients on their medical conditions and providing risks and

BOOK

benefits of all possible treatment plans. This allows her patients to make more informed decisions. Dara’s undergraduate degree is from Chico State and her graduate degree in nursing is from Sonoma State University. Dara enjoys spending time with her children in Bidwell Park and

www.newsreview.com

attending local art, theater and music events. A huge fan of the ‘eat local’ programs in Chico, Dara believes a well balanced diet is one of the most important things individuals can do to stay healthy.

Argyll Medical Group 100 INDEPENDENCE CIRCLE | CHICO, CA 95973 530-899-2107 | WWW.ARGYLLMEDICAL.COM

—Robert Speer

Salty Bet www.saltybet.com Salty Bet is a gaming site on which computercontrolled fighters face off while chat-room spectators bet fake money on epic and ridiculous battles such as a yellow bus versus Winnie the Pooh. A developer could see Salty Bet as an artificial-intelligence-driven fighting game utilizing twitch gameplay, community-created fighters from the MUGEN 2-D game engine, and a simple betting system with odds based on the amount of Salty Bucks wagered on each fighter. A copyright lawyer could build a career on the fighters, stages and music ripped and distorted from comics, television, video games and pop culture. A linguist may find the chat-room lingo—such as “dreams,” “mexihealth,” and “mistakes were made”—profoundly fascinating. Statisticians would drown in win-loss records and stats available to those who shell out $3.99/month to upgrade their free membership. A group of friends could turn the semiregular Thursday-night tournaments into a party—pizza, beer, and everyone betting through their smartphones while cheering and jeering the almost impossible-to-predict outcomes. For good or bad, Salty Bet is a pure product of the Internet culture. However, it hardly matters when the green-hued Ronald McDonald on whom you bet thousands of Salty Bucks mounts the ultimate comeback with a continuous assault of french fries and defeats a computer cursor, leaving you rich and salty.

WEBSITE

Dr. Scott Mellum is pleased to announce Jennifer Hopkins RN, FNP

is accepting new patients After graduating from CSUC with her RN, Jennifer attended Sonoma State and received her FNP in 1989. In 1996, she returned to Chico to raise her three children and soon began working at Enloe. Jennifer says, “I am excited to help women in the Chico area by providing excellent medical care and an open ear to discuss issues in a confidential and comfortable atmosphere.”

—Matthew Craggs

The Ocean at the End of the Lane 101 West 2nd Ave, Chico | 5 3 0 . 8 9 4 . 8 9 4 4 | Most Insurance Accepted

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22 CN&R October 31, 2013

2 Chico Locations 300 Broadway (Downtown), 899-9580 In the Phoenix Building 1722 Mangrove Ave., 899-0484 In Mangrove Square Open 7 dAys A week, 11AM - Midnight Taste & see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Psalm 34:8

“We’re Going to Jon & Bons! ”

Neil Gaiman HarperAudio Neil Gaiman is one of our most brilliant, prolific and varied authors, producing children’s books, adult books, graphic novels and screenplays. In his latest adult novel, he returns to his hometown to deliver a eulogy and decides to take a walk afterward. He walks into his past as a 7-year-old boy, but living a very different story involving a family consisting of a crone, a housewife, and an 11-year-old girl named Lettie. Like the Celtic triple goddess, the three protect the earth from malevolent beings. Tremendous chaos and adventure ensue as the lonely little boy’s special friend Lettie provides the courage he otherwise lacks. One gets the sense that Gaiman was a lonely and rather odd little boy who spent most of his time with a book in hand and a cat on his lap (one of my own favorite preoccupations). I listened to this book on a long road trip and the miles just flew by. I recommend that format because of Gaiman’s childish, querulous voice. I would start listing his many awards, but would spend half the review doing so. Top shelf!

AUDIOBOOK

—Jim Dwyer

SCENE Sara Haskell screams and the viscera (of Carl S. Sittman) flows across the Blue Room stage.

PHOTO BY JASON CASSIDY

Delicious

inDian FooD in Downtown Chico

230 Salem Street, Chico 530.891.3570 www.GogiesCafe.Webs.com

There will be blood

Add some spice to your life!

Lunch | Dinner | Dine In | Take Out | Catering | Tea | Coffee | Daily Specials

Blue Room celebrates classic extreme theater with Grand Guignol

“T stage marked ‘Orgy,’” Frankie Swa told a young man frantically searching for a weapon, as a

here’s extra knives in the box back-

woman in barely there, black vinyl dominatrix gear paced nearby on high-heeled boots, by fidgeting with the riding crop she carKen Smith ried, quietly repeating, “Her meat … kens@ her meat …” Across the stage, a newsreview.com woman held up a bottle of liquid dish detergent, suggesting to an effects expert that the soap—augmented with a dash of red tint—could effectively PREVIEW: pass for afterbirth.

This was just one of several surreAn Evening of Grand Guignol, al moments as the cast and crew of Theatre of Terror the Blue Room’s latest Grand Guigshows Thurs.-Sat., nol production prepared for their Hal7:30 p.m., through Nov. 9, at the Blue loween-night opening, a night that Room Theatre. Swa—one of the production’s five Tickets: $12-$15 directors—promised will feature something for everyone. Well, at least Blue Room everyone with a strong stomach and a Theatre 139 W. First St. twisted sense of humor.

“A lot of the scenes are very, very 895-3749 www.blueroom funny; it’s not just about the horror,” theatre.com Swa explained of the Blue Room’s take on Grand Guignol, a style of theater best known for graphic depictions of sex and violence. “If the erotic thing is what you’re into, we’ve got plenty of that, too, in addition to all the blood and guts.”

The theatrical tradition started at Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, a repurposed church in Paris, France, in 1897. From then until 1962, the theater focused on horror shows, striving to create the most realistic and horrific death scenes possible, to the point that it would keep a physician on hand; reportedly the theater judged the success of new performances on how many people would faint.

The company also appealed to theatergoers’ prurient interests, staging scandalously explicit sex scenes and renting out high-priced private boxes where couples and others could watch without being seen by other audience members. The genre had its roots in

older traditions (think Shakespeare’s bloody tragedy, Titus Andronicus) and influenced the rise of slasher cinema.

Swa also noted that, in addition to the erotic and macabre, classic Grand Guignol scripts contained a great deal of dark humor and social criticism.

“A popular theme was the state of health care in France and all over Europe at the time,” he said, noting classic Guignol sketches in which the mentally ill are mistreated, and another in which an overworked, underfunded doctor’s only available option is to mutilate and/or kill his patients. “All of the stories had important, underlying messages.”

For the Blue Room’s homage to the form, Swa and fellow directors Cat Campbell, Joshua Siegel, Christian Lovgren, Erin Tarabini and Daryl Newsom have assembled a handful of one-act scenes, including original works and updates of Grand Guignol classics. The classic works include “The System,” which takes place in a sanitarium; “Orgy in the Lighthouse,” in which two men face the immediate and murderous consequences of acting out their lustful desires; and “Le Pussy,” in which the aforementioned vinyl-clad woman takes the lead.

Newer scenes include brutal tales of revenge, psychedelic drug freakouts and more. “Even for the modern ones, we drew inspiration from recurrent themes and situations you’d find in original Grand Guignol scripts,” Swa explained.

He also said—and it was evident at the rehearsal— that, though there are five directors involved, they’ve all collaborated to create a seamless production.

“We rehearse together and we all give each other feedback and suggestions,” Swa said of the process.

“That’s not always the way it’s done with multiple directors, but it’s worked well with this production.”

Swa said he doesn’t expect Blue Room patrons to pass out or flee in disgust, but that won’t be because the scenes aren’t shocking. “I think most people who will come know what to expect, so that’s not likely,” he said.

“But the Blue Room has given us great freedom to do whatever we wanted, and we’re definitely doing Ω Grand Guignol justice.”

October 31, 2013

CN&R 23

and and

Red, White

Blues

2 • 0 • 1 • 3

A day-long celebration of live music and craft beer!

n o s e lu b ve li t a e r g f o rs u o h d Featuring hours an by d e n li d a e h , e g ta s t r -a e th f-o our state

TOMMY O R T S CA

and The Painkillers

7:30PM

2:45 PM

CANDYE KANE 4:30 PM

1:00 PM

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24 CN&R October 31, 2013

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CN&R Is LookINg FoR AN AdveRtIsINg CoNsuLtANt Do you love Chico? Do you want to help local businesses succeed? So do we!

The Chico News & Review is a family owned business that has been part of the Chico community since 1977. Our mission is to publish great newspapers which are successful and enduring, create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow while respecting personal welfare, and to have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.

The CN&R is looking for an individual who cares about building relationships and partnering with local businesses.

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October 31, 2013

CN&R 25

NIGHTLIFE THE MALTEAZERS

THURSDAY 10|31—WEDNESDAY 11|6 ZOMBIE BALL: Dance your brains out with

music by Big Bad Boogie Rock. Th, 10/31, 9pm. $5, zombies; $10 non-zombies. Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.featherfallscasino.com/ brewing-co.

Saturday, Nov. 2 Maltese Bar & Tap Room SEE SATURDAY

1FRIDAY BASSMINT: A weekly electronic dance party with a rotating cast of local and regional DJs. F, 9:30pm. Peeking Chinese Restaurant, 243 W. Second St. 4, (530) 895-3888.

THE BLOODTYPES: Blood-spattered

31THURSDAY BLUES UNPLUGGED: Featuring musical

stylings of Mark Holder. Th, 10/31, 710pm. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.com.

CHAD BUSHNELL: Local country musician and band perform a honky-tonk Halloween set. Th, 10/31, 8pm. Tackle Box Bar & Grill, 375 E. Park Ave., (530) 345-7499.

CHICO JAZZ COLLECTIVE: Thursday jazz.

Th, 8-11pm. Free. The DownLo, 319 Main St., (530) 892-2473.

COSTUME KARAOKE: Get your ghostly groove on with karaoke and a costume

Portland, Ore.-based punk rockers with local power trio Severance Package and The Pushers. F, 11/1, 8pm. $5. Monstros Pizza & Subs, 628 W. Sacramento Ave., (530) 345-7672.

contest with cash prizes. Th, 10/31, 7pm. No cover. Maltese Bar & Tap Room, 1600 Park Ave., (530) 343-4915.

HALLOWEEN BASH: Featuring Top-40

music and a costume contest. Th, 10/31, 8pm. $5. Gold Country Casino Showroom, 4020 Olive Hwy in Oroville, (530) 538-2542.

DANNY COHEN: F, 11/1, 7-10pm. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.com.

FRIDAY MORNING JAZZ: A weekly morning jazz appointment with experimental local troupe Bogg. F, 11am. Free. Café Coda, 265 Humboldt Ave., (530) 5669476, www.cafecoda.com.

JOHN SEID DUO: John Seid and Larry Peterson play and eclectic mix of The Beatles, blues and standards. Th, 69pm. Grana, 198 E. Second St., (530) 809-2304.

GARRETT GRAY BAND: F, 11/1, 8pm. $5.

Café Coda, 265 Humboldt Ave., (530) 566-9476, www.cafecoda.com.

OPEN MIC: Singers, poets and musicians welcome. Th, 7-10pm. Has Beans Internet Café & Galleria, 501 Main St., (530) 894-3033, www.hasbeans.com.

IRISH MUSIC HAPPY HOUR: A Chico tradition: Friday night happy hour with a traditional Irish music session by the

Pub Scouts. F, 4pm. $1. Duffy’s Tavern, 337 Main St., (530) 343-7718.

OFF THE RECORD: Playing dance hits of

the ’80s and ’90s. F, 11/1, 9pm-1am.

Tackle Box Bar & Grill, 375 E. Park Ave., (530) 345-7499, www.otrrock.com.

SKYNNYN LYNNYRD: The music of Lynyrd

Skynyrd reassembled. F, 11/1, 9:30pm. $5. Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.featherfallscasino.com/ brewing-co.

VOKAB KOMPANY: San Diego based “glitch-hop” band including a saxophone, violin, keys and bass. F, 11/1, 9pm. Lost On Main, 319 Main St., (530) 891-1853.

A LITTLE ON THE SIDE

Local singer-songwriter Garrett Gray, normally showcased as the frontman for alt-country rockers The Perpetual Drifters, is known for his penchant for poetic lyrics. On Friday, Nov. 1, he’s stepping outside that role and onto the stage at Café Coda with a new project called the Garrett Gray Band. Rick Barnett, another local boy with a similarly sensitive, lyric-driven approach to songwriting, will also be playing under his new stage name, Sir Francis Lee Howard. Rounding out the bill are Grand Lake Islands, on tour from New England.

2SATURDAY ACOUSTIC MUSIC JAM: A jam hosted by Butte Folk Music Society and led by local musician Steve Johnson. First Sa of every month, 2-5pm. Free. Upper Crust Bakery & Eatery, 130 Main St., (530) 345-4128.

CHORAL CONCERT: From Where the Sun

Now Stands featuring the University Chorus, A Cappella Choir, and Chamber Singers, exploring a cycle of American Indian poetry set to music

by Charles Forsberg. Sa, 11/2, 7:30pm. $6-$15. Harlen Adams Theatre, Chico State, (530) 898-6333, www.schoolof thearts-csuchico.com.

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NIGHTLIFE

THIS WEEK: FIND MORE ENTERTAINMENT AND SPECIAL EVENTS ON PAGE 28

SKYNNYN LYNNYRD

Friday, Nov. 1 Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co. SEE FRIDAY

6WEDNESDAY JAZZ HAPPY HOUR: With the Carey

Robinson Trio. W, 5-7pm. Free. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.com.

LAURIE DANA: Soul, light rock, blues, country, Tin Pan Alley, jazz and more.

W, 7-9pm. Free. VIP Ultra Lounge, 191 E. Second St.

JAZZ HAPPY HOUR: With the Carey FURLOUGH FRIDAYS: Local modern rockers performs with friends Giants in Disguise plus Humble Wolf. Sa, 11/2, 8pm. $5. Café Coda, 265 Humboldt Ave., (530) 566-9476, www.cafecoda.com.

HA’PENNY BRIDGE: Local Celtic band adapts traditional Irish and Scottish tunes with contemporary styles, plus special guests John Michael Sun and friends Sa, 11/2, 7:30pm. $5. Maltese Bar & Tap Room, 1600 Park Ave., (530) 343-4915.

MUSIC SHOWCASE: An open mic hosted by local country musicians Rich and Kendall. Sa, 5-9pm. Free. Scotty’s Landing, 12609 River Rd., (530) 7102020.

THE MALTEAZERS: Classic and contemporary burlesque dancing. First Sa of every month, 9pm. $3. Maltese Bar & Tap Room, 1600 Park Ave., (530) 3434915.

5TUESDAY

THE SPAZMATICS: An ’80s musical experience. Sa, 11/2, 9:30pm. $5. Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.feather fallscasino.com/brewing-co.

4MONDAY

HARVEST BALL: A dance party extrava-

ganza. Sa, 11/2. Lost on Main, 319 Main St., (530) 891-1853.

Robinson Trio. M, 5-7pm. Free. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.com.

GREENSKY BLUEGRASS: Festival jamgrass band performs a mix of traditional bluegrass along with rock covers. M, 11/4, 7:30-9:30pm. $20.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., 1075 E. 20th St., 893-3520, www.sierra nevada.com.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT US.

AARON JAQUA: An open singer-song-

writer night. Tu, 7-9pm. Free. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.com.

OPEN MIC: Open mic night with Aaron

and Friends. Tu, 7-10pm. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveat flo.com.

SHIGEMI & FRIENDS: Live jazz with keyboardist Shigemi Minetaka and rotating accompaniment. Tu, 6:308:30pm. Free. Farm Star Pizza, 2359 Esplanade, (530) 343-2056, www.farm starpizza.com.

WHO ARE YOU?

TAKE OUR ONLINE SURVEY AND YOU COULD WIN! 6 lucky respondents will win either:

MIDNIGHT BLUES SOCIETY: An open blues jam—bring your own axe. First W of every month, 7pm. Free. Nash’s

Restaurant, 1717 Esplanade, (530) 8961147, www.nashsrestaurantchico.com.

A RIDDLE, WRAPPED IN A MYSTERY, INSIDE AN ENIGMA

Danny Cohen is a Chico music-scene staple, though he’s perhaps better known outside the borders of our fair burg, having released several albums on the Anti- record label (whose roster also includes the likes of Tom Waits, Merle Haggard and Wilco). His shows are a visual as well as an aural treat, as he’s known for sometimes appearing in odd costumes before artsy backdrops. Cohen will appear with his latest backing band Friday, Nov. 1, at Café Flo. Also appearing are Trenton Allen and Donald Beaman.

OPEN MIC: An all-ages open mic for musicians, poets, comedians, storytellers and dancers. W, 7pm. Free. 100th Monkey Books & Café, 642 W. Fifth St.

SWING DAMES DINNER SHOW: The harmonies of Penny, Marlene and Lorraine will take you back to the 1940s with timeless classics and an old-time dinner show. W, 11/6, 6pm. $10-$35.

Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.featherfallscasino.com/ brewing-co.

WAY OUT WEST: A weekly country music showcase with The Blue Merles. W, 7:30-9:30pm. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.com.

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* A $50 gift certificate to The Bookstore * A free pass to the movies Take the survey online at www.research.net/s/013547 or scan the QR code with your smart phone.

Treat yourself to gift certificates up to 75% OFF! Visit www.newsreview.com October 31, 2013

CN&R 27

Arts & Culture Dads at rest: (from left) Ruth Wardwell, Tom Chaz, Craig D’Anthony and Hawk Mahalo.

Rock ’n’ roll fantasy?

PHOTO BY JASON CASSIDY

THIS WEEK

Down the rabbit hole with the Pageant Dads

Fdetached, objective, truth-telling tone of the professional journalist. But ... now … this pretense orgive me. Normally I maintain the

can hardly be maintained. My head is spinning. Let me tell you, dear reader, what happened.

My editor assigned the small by article that you are now reading Emiliano about local experimental-rock/theGarcia-Sarnoff atrical quartet the Pageant Dads, who have an upcoming show (Nov. 21-24) at the Blue Room Theatre, Pageant Dads Present: The Pageant Dads Experience 3-D (in select theatres).

The Pageant Dads, he told me, are super musically proficient guys in their early 20s who, along with playing some kick-ass jazzy-proggy-rock, maintain, on stage, an alternate reality in which they are four beaten-down-by-life fathers in their 30s who met at their daughters’ beauty pageants and started a band.

I am a father in my 30s for whom life has been like a bulldozer running right over my face each and every day. Perhaps that’s why my editor sent me.

Maybe he thought it would be funny to have someone who could actually relate to the Pageant Dads’ put-on personas.

Anyhow, I contacted drummer Alex Coffin, whose Pageant Dad alter-ego is the hard-partying Hawk Mahalo, and he set up an interview for just two hours from when I called. This detail is important, because the band couldn’t possibly have prepared to pull off an elaborate ruse in just two short hours. They just couldn’t have.

We met at Coffin’s apartment. He greeted me by showing me the Bic he was lighting his cigarette with. It had a naked girl on it. “These are the sort of ‘perks’ I get being in the Pageant Dads,” he said, pointing at her boobs. “My name’s Hawk.” He smelled of beer. The rest of the band members were late. Hawk started telling me, his voice slurring, about how “Tom” (“Tom Chaz,” actually, aka guitarist Michael Bone) had stolen his wife and how he had lost his kids.

“Ok,” I thought, “I get it.” They’re going to do the interview in character. I’ll play along.

Hawk had to “take a leak,” so I looked around the apartment. On the refrigerator was a faded picture of Hawk kissing a woman, a small baby girl in her arms. The look of love on their faces seemed deep and natural. There was another picture—slightly less faded—of a pretty little girl with a head of curls just like Hawk’s, dressed up in a frilly pageant dress.

“That’s funny,” I thought. “These guys are really getting into this.”

Hawk came out of the bathroom and we went 28 CN&R October 31, 2013

31

THURS back out to the patio. “Oh, there’s Ruth and Craig,” he said. I looked out of the slatted fence and saw two young guys pour out of a minivan. A blond middleaged woman in a pantsuit was driving, and in the back, I could just make out the silhouette of a girl— maybe 10 years of age—wearing a tiara. One of the guys started toward us, but the other walked around to the driver side and engaged the woman in a very long, passionate, somewhat disturbing kiss. And then the van drove off.

“OK, this is getting ridiculous,” I thought. “How far are these guys going to take this?”

For the next six hours, I tried and then, eventually, gave up trying to get these guys to break character and answer your standard journalistic questions, such as, “Why did you guys decide to assume these alter egos?”

Happily-married orthodontist “Craig D’Anthony,” aka bassist Gavin Fitzgerald, was chastised by his buddies for interrupting the interview to take calls on his Bluetooth, discussing such topics as whether or not he was “bringing the Capri Suns and orange slices.” World-weary “Ruth Wardwell” (guitarist Daniel Wardwell) broke down in tears at one point while discussing his divorce, little rivulets of mucous dripping down into his mouth. Hawk smashed empty beers over his head. Glass ones.

These guys were going seriously Method. In fact, as we drank and they sang into the night, I don’t think I’ve ever related to other dads quite so much.

At one point, I’m not ashamed to say, I wound up crying myself, right onto Ruth’s sweet-smelling shoulder.

It’s not that I ever came to believe that these guys were middle-aged dads, of course, I think. But (I’m scared to admit this, as no journalist wants to be made a fool of) I’m not totally sure that they knew that they weren’t middle-aged dads anymore. Which should be a lesson to all of us as we dress up for Halloween. Beware: You can lose yourself. Ω Editor’s note: The preceeding story about a real band of fictional characters may or may not have happened exactly how the real writer imagined it.

Special Events BUTTE COLLEGE HAUNTED HOUSE: “A Very Wicked Wizard of Oz” haunted house and harvest fair hosted by the Butte College Associated Students. Entertainment and food trucks, live music, photo booth and games. Th, 10/31, 59pm. $2. Butte College, Chico Center, 2320 Forest Ave. room 109, (530) 895-1352, www.butte.edu/as.

PUMPKIN DROP: Chico State’s Society of Physics Students presents the annual drop from the south side of Butte Hall with help from Albert Einstein. Th, 10/31, noon. Free. Butte Hall, Chico State, (530) 898-6204.

TREAT STREET: Wear your favorite costume and follow the map to participating businesses in downtown to enjoy treats plus activities and vendors set up in the City Plaza (where maps will be available). Th, 10/31, 2-5pm. Free. Chico City Plaza, Downtown Chico.

Theater THE GRAND GUIGNOL: THEATRE OF TERROR: A night of extreme horror and comedy, in traditional French Grand Guignol fashion. The evening of entertainment includes several gruesome and sordid tales: “The System,” “Orgy in the Lighthouse,” “Le Pussy” and more. Th-Sa, 7:30pm through 11/9. Opens 10/31. $10-$15. Blue Room Theatre, 139 W. First St., (530) 895-3749, www.blueroomtheatre.com.

THE WEIR: Rogue Theatre presents Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s story of four men and a female stranger whose arrival spurs them to impress her with their story-telling ... but one story is more chilling than any of them could have foreseen. Directed by Amber Miller. Th-Sa, 7:30pm through 11/16. $10.

Southside Playhouse, 2145 Park Ave. Ste. 13.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN: Follow young Dr. Frankenstein as he attempts to complete his grandfather’s work, with helpers Igor and Inga, in Mel Brooks’ signature comedy. Th-Sa, 7:30pm and Su, 2pm through 11/10. $12-$20.

Chico Theater Company, 166-F Eaton Rd., (530) 894-3282, www.chicotheatercompany.com.

IN THE DARK WE BOTH LOOK THE SAME Thursday, Oct. 31 B-So Space, Chico State

SEE THURSDAY, ART RECEPTIONS

Music HALLOWEEN BASH: Featuring Top-40 music and a costume contest. Th, 10/31, 8pm. $5. Gold Country Casino Showroom, 4020 Olive Hwy in Oroville, (530) 538-2542.

ZOMBIE BALL: Dance your brains out with music

by Big Bad Boogie Rock. Th, 10/31, 9pm. $5, zombies; $10 non-zombies. Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., 3 Alverda Dr. in Oroville, (530) 533-3885, www.featherfallscasino.com/ brewing-co.

Art Receptions IN THE DARK WE BOTH LOOK THE SAME: A BFA culminating exhibition featuring new paintings, books and ceramic works by Rickie Barnett. Th, 10/31, 5-7pm. Free. B-So Space, Ayres Hall, room 107, Chico State, (530) 8985331.

Poetry/Literature CHICO STORY SLAM: Tell a five-minute, unscripted story related to the theme “First Times” with a Halloween twist. Wear your costume and win fun prizes. Last Th of every month, 7pm. Free. 100th Monkey Books & Café, 642 W. Fifth St.

1

FRI

Special Events JACK HANNA: The world-famous zookeeper and animal activist brings live exotic animals from around the world to the stage, and shares humorous stories and video clips. F, 11/1, 7:30pm. $18-$33. Laxson Auditorium, Chico State, (530) 898-6333, www.chicoperfor mances.com.

FINE ARTS a silent auction and raffles. Sa, 11/2, 6-10pm. $50. Arc Pavilion, 2040 Park Ave., (530) 8915865.

ARTISANS AND CRAFTERS SALE: Featuring numerous booths, a bake sale and food trucks, with drawings and prizes at the historic bridge. Sa, 11/2, 10am-4pm. Honey Run Covered Bridge, Honey Run Rd. at Centerville Rd. (530) 895-0911, www.honeyruncovered bridge.com.

COWBOY MUSIC AND POETRY: Sourdough Slim and Robert Armstrong, cowboy poet Jim King, and special guest and winner of the Western Music Association Song of the Year award, Mary Kaye. Sa, 11/2, 7pm. $15. Paradise Performing Arts Center, 777 Nunnelly Rd. in Paradise, (530) 872-8454, www.paradisecowboygathering.com.

TEDX: Community Unbound, featuring speakers

PUMPKIN DROP Thursday, Oct. 31 Butte Hall, Chico State

SEE THURSDAY, SPECIAL EVENTS

and entertainers discussing “ideas worth spreading.” With: Mark Roberts, Nandi Crosby, MaMuse, Doug Kirkpatrick, and more. Sa, 11/2, 11am-5pm. General, $50; students, $25. Sierra Nevada Big Room, 1075 East 20th St., (530) 3452739, www.tedxchico.com.

UNITING GENERATIONS FOR ACTION: Focus on

Theater THE GRAND GUIGNOL: THEATRE OF TERROR: See Thursday. Blue Room Theatre, 139 W. First St., (530) 895-3749, www.blueroomtheatre.com.

THE WEIR: See Thursday. Southside Playhouse, 2145 Park Ave., Ste. 13.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN: See Thursday. Chico Theater Company, 166-F Eaton Rd., (530) 8943282, www.chicotheatercompany.com.

community building, multi-generational wisdom exchange, and the intersection of water, health, fracking and food, as well as leadership empowerment. Sa, 11/2, 8:30am5pm. $5-15. Trinity United Methodist Church, 285 E. Fifth St., (530) 343-1497.

Theater THE GRAND GUIGNOL: THEATRE OF TERROR: See Thursday. Blue Room Theatre, 139 W. First St., (530) 895-3749, www.blueroomtheatre.com.

THE WEIR: See Thursday. Southside Playhouse,

Art Receptions PLACING: An opening for the two-person show featuring James Kuiper and Sheri Simons’ unique interpretations of map-making. Live music by Joshua Hegg F, 11/1, 6-8pm. 1078 Gallery, 820 Broadway, (530) 343-1973, www.1078gallery.org.

WORDS AND BIRDS: An opening event for the illustrations, books and watercolors of Chico birds, landscapes and writings by artist Candy Matthews, writer Naty Osa and illustrator Javier Dura. F, 11/1, 5-8pm. Avenue 9 Gallery, 180 E. Ninth Ave., (530) 879-1821, www.avenue9gallery.com.

2

2145 Park Ave. Ste. 13.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN: See Thursday. Chico Theater Company, 166-F Eaton Rd., (530) 8943282, www.chicotheatercompany.com.

Music CHORAL CONCERT: From Where the Sun Now

Stands featuring the University Chorus, A Cappella Choir, and Chamber Singers, exploring a cycle of American Indian poetry set to music by Charles Forsberg. Sa, 11/2, 7:30pm. $6-$15. Harlen Adams Theatre, Chico State, (530) 898-6333, www.schoolofthearts-csu chico.com.

FREE LISTINGS! Post your event for free online at www.newsreview.com/calendar.

Once posted, your CN&R calendar listing will also be considered for print. Print listings are also free, but subject to space limitations.

Deadline for print listings is one week prior to the issue in which you wish the listing to appear.

and half marathon event sponsored by the Chico Running Club. Preregistration required.

Su, 11/3, 8am. One Mile, Bidwell Park, (530) 5212948.

DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS: BEFRIENDING DEATH: Celebrate Día de los Muertos with workshops, spoken word, poetry and ceremony to honor the dead. Preregistration required. Followed by a dance (6:30pm) with music by Los Caballitos de la Canción, Su, 11/3, 1-6pm. $15.

Chico Women’s Club, 592 E Third St., (530) 8941978.

FIRST WE DIE THEN WE DANCE: A day of the dead dance party with Los Caballitos de la Canción.

Food by Tamale Tango with beer and wine for sale. Su, 11/3, 6-8:30pm. $5. Chico Women’s Club, 592 E Third St., (530) 894-1978.

Theater YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN: See Thursday. Chico Theater Company, 166-F Eaton Rd., (530) 8943282, www.chicotheatercompany.com.

4

MON

Music GREENSKY BLUEGRASS: Festival jam-grass band performs a mix of traditional bluegrass along with rock covers. M, 11/4, 7:30pm. $20. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., 1075 E. 20th St., (530) 8933520, www.sierranevada.com.

Poetry/Literature WORD PLAY: A freestyle poetry-reading open mic ending in a two-round slam. First M of every month, 7-9pm. Opens 11/4. Free. Café Flo, 365 E. Sixth St., (530) 514-8888, www.liveatflo.com.

5

ARTISANS GALLERIA: Artisan Displays, showcasing sculptures, paintings, ceramics, jewelry, stone art and more by Larry Lefner and other local artists. Through 12/31.

25 Lost Dutchman Dr.

AVENUE 9 GALLERY: Words and Birds, Chico birds by watercolorist Candy Matthews, writer Naty Osa and illustrator Javier Dura.

11/1-11/30. 180 E. Ninth Ave., (530) 879-1821, www.avenue9gallery.com.

Pull, a BFA culminating exhibition featuring screen prints, pop-ups, cast bronze and clothing by Lindsey Slater. Through 11/18.

BMU, third floor, Chico State , (530) 8985489.

UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY: Pushing

Bounderies-Expanding Horizons, Erika Navarrete’s paintings comment on issues surrounding our most intimate relationships, our own inner dialogue and self-evaluation. 11/4-12/13, 9am-5pm. Trinity Hall, Chico State, (530) 898-5864.

UPPER CRUST BAKERY & EATERY: Bucking

Complacency: A Show About Women. Lori Stevens and Leslie Mahon-Russo focus on the sexual and political abuse of women in contemporary culture. 11/3-11/30. Upper Crust Bakery. 130 Main St., (530) 895-3866.

B-SO SPACE: In the Dark we Both Look the

Same, a BFA culminating exhibition featuring new paintings, books and ceramic works

by Rickie Barnett. Through 11/1.Dream With Us, a BFA culminating exhibition presented

by Serenity Manufacturing and Kate Adams.

11/4-11/8. Ayres Hall, room 107, Chico State, (530) 898-5331.

HAS BEANS INTERNET CAFE & GALLERIA:

Broken Color, John Shult’s figurative works and paintings of the North State and Chico landmarks. Through 10/31. 501 Main St., (530) 894-3033, www.hasbeans.com.

JAMES SNIDLE FINE ARTS & APPRAISALS: The

bag ladies are back!, Eight local artists have been gathering items and saving them in bags. It has finally come time to see the art they have created from the task. Through 10/31. 254 E. Fourth St., (530) 343-2930, www.jamessnidlefinearts.com.

NAKED LOUNGE TEA & COFFEEHOUSE: Ink By

Bob, new ink works by Bob Garner. Through 10/31. 118 W Second St., (530) 895-0676.

SALLY DIMAS ART GALLERY: Color, Magic, featuring painters, wood working artists, glass blowing and jewelry. 11/1-11/30. 493 East Ave. #1, (530) 345-3063.

THE JANET TURNER PRINT MUSEUM: Unsettled Dreams: Monsters in Print, a collaboration with Dr. Asa Mittman, this exhibition explores the monstrous and grotesque.

Through 11/2. Free. Chico State, (530) 8984476, www.theturner.org.

Call for Artists CALL FOR ARTISTS: Established and emerging artists of all media welcome to apply for a guest-artist exhibit this summer. call for more info. Through 12/2. Avenue 9 Gallery, 180 E. Ninth Ave., (530) 879-1821, www.avenue9gallery.com.

PACIFIC FLYWAY WILDLIFE AND HABITAT: An allmedia juried exhibition to be featured at the

Snow Goose Festival this January. Through 11/16. Avenue 9 Gallery, 180 E. Ninth Ave., (530) 879-1821, www.avenue9gallery.com.

WHO THE HECK IS FRANKIE: An open-entry exhibition to give little Frankie the time of his life. Plans and “Frankies” are provided.

Through 11/9. $5. Manas Art Space & Gallery, 1441-C Park Ave., (530) 588-5183.

Museums CHICO CREEK NATURE CENTER: Banding by Day and Night, a close look at birds in hand with incredible detail. Ongoing. 1968 E. Eighth St., (530) 891-4671, www.bidwellpark.org.

CHICO MUSEUM: Chico in Black and White, an exhibit featuring historical photos from the John Nopel collection. Ongoing. 141 Salem St., (530) 891-4336.

TUES

of international films. This week: Dersu Uzula: “The Hunter” (Japan and Russia, 1975) Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Tu, 7:30pm. $3.

Ayres Hall 106, Chico State, (530) 899-7921, www.csuchico.edu/hfa/hc/ filmseries.html.

ACLU DINNER: Keynote speaker Linda Lye, an

bration with international cuisine, a bar and live music of Los Caballitos de la Canción, plus

ALMOND BOWL: The 39th annual 5k, marathon

State painting and sculpture professors James Kuiper and Sheri Simons, exploring maps and mark-making. 10/31-11/23. 820 Broadway, (530) 343-1973, www.1078 gallery.org.

THIRD FLOOR GALLERY: Girl Tuesday’s Pick and

UNIVERSITY FILM SERIES: A weekly presentation

Special Events

ARC’S BIRTHDAY DINNER: A 60th birthday cele-

Special Events

1078 GALLERY: Placing, new images by Chico

Special Events

SAT

ACLU attorney and expert on drones and drone issues presents her findings during a tamale dinner, plus desserts and silent auction. Sa, 11/2, 6pm. Members free; non members free w/purchase of $20 membership; $5 students and low-income. Dorothy Johnson Center, 775 E. 16th St., (530) 891-6524, www.chicorec.com.

3

SUN

Art

THE WEIR

Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 31-Nov. 2 Southside Playhouse SEE THURSDAY-SATURDAY, THEATER

for more Music, see NIGHTLIFE on page 26

Sourdough Slim rides again In September, Sourdough Slim—the North State’s rope-twirlin,’ yodelin’, accordion-pumpin’ musical treasure—was involved in a minor car accident that resulted in a fractured hand and a forearm cast, EDITOR’S PICK making it impossible for him to perform. He’s fortunately feeling better now, and will return to the stage with sometime sidekick Robert Armstrong for the third annual Paradise Cowboy Music and Poetry Gathering at the Paradise Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Nov. 2. Also appearing are Western singer/songwriter Mary Kaye and cowboy poet Jim King.

October 31, 2013

CN&R 29

BULLETIN BOARD Community AFRICAN DANCE CLASS: A workout set to the sounds and rhythms of West Africa. Call for info. M, 6pm. $10. Chico Grange Hall, 2775 Old Nord Ave., (530) 321-5607.

AFRO-CARIBBEAN DANCE: Dances of Cuba, Haiti,

Brazil and West Africa with live drumming. Tu, 5:30pm. Chico Women’s Club, 592 E. Third St., (530) 345-6324.

CHICO FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY BOOK SALE: Chico Friends of the Library weekly book sale.

Sa, 9:15-11:30am. Butte County Library, Chico Branch, 1108 Sherman Ave., (530) 891-2762, www.buttecounty.net/bclibrary.

DANCE SANCTUARY WAVE: Bring a water bottle, drop your mind, find your feet and free your spirit. Call for more info. Tu, 6:30-8:30pm. $10.

Call for details, (530) 891-6524.

DANCING FREEDOM: A weekly open dance with

www.newsreview.com

the elements. F, 6-8pm. $6-$12 sliding scale.

Subud Hall, 574 E. 12th St., (530) 532-1989.

DEATH CAFÉ: A place to come and chat about death over a cup of tea, in a respectful and confidential space. Th, 7pm. 100th Monkey Books & Café, 642 W. Fifth St.

FANCY FEET DANCE: Beginning to experienced dancers welcome to work on the foxtrot, waltz, swing and more to a live band. Tu, 7:3010pm. $5-$7. Chico Area Recreation District (CARD), 545 Vallombrosa Ave., (530) 895-4015, www.chicorec.com.

FARMERS’ MARKET: CHAPMAN: A year-round Certified Farmers’ Market serving as a community forum for healthful-lifestyle promotion and education. F, 2-5:30pm.

Chapman Mulberry Community Center, 1010 Cleveland Ave., (530) 624-8844, www.cchaos.org.

FARMERS’ MARKET: NORTH CHICO: Farm-fresh produce, hand-crafted wares and entertainment. W, 7:30am-noon through 11/22. North Valley Plaza, 801 East Ave.

PRESENTING:

Welcoming ALL at the Interfaith Table Thursday, Oct 7 6:00pm An inclusive community is one that hears that voices of all its neighbors. Join us for dinner and conversation with members of groups who are not always represented in the interfaith efforts.

$10 TICKETS AVAILABLE AT: • Next Door Pharmacy 285 Cohasset Rd. • Bella Mediterranean Family Center 671 Walnut • Christian & Johnson 250 Vallombrosa Ave. • Diamond W. Western Wear, 181 E. 2nd St. • Members of the Chico Interfaith Council SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Next Door Pharmacy 30 CN&R October 31, 2013

MENU: Six Course Vegetarian Arabic Dinner

by Ali Sarsour and Friends EVENT LOCATION: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 2430 Mariposa Ave., Chico

community gathering, with fresh produce, crafts, baked goods and more. Sa, 7:30am1pm. Municipal Parking Lot No. 1, Second & Wall Streets.

FREE HEALTH CLINIC: Free services for minor medical ailments. Call for more info. Su, 14pm. Free. Shalom Free Clinic, 1190 E. First Ave., (530) 518-8300, www.shalomfreeclinic.org.

HAPPY HEALING: Experience a variety of healing modalities. F, 7pm. 100th Monkey Books & Café, 642 W. Fifth St.

HEDGEROW WORKSHOP: Discuss how to select perennials that will attract pollinators to your farm or garden with Lee Altier and Zeb Putterbaugh of Floral Native Nursery.

Preregistration required. W, 11/6, 4-5:30pm.

Chico State Organic-Vegetable Project, 311 Nicholas C. Schouten Ln., (530) 898-3737, www.cultivatingcommunitynv.org.

HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY ROUNDTABLE: Is History

YOU’RE WELCOME, NATURE.

Annual Dinner

RECYCLE THIS PAPER.

CHICO AREA INTERFAITH COUNCIL

FARMERS’ MARKET: SATURDAY: Chico’s weekly

Bunk? Historians & philosophers debate the question of historical truth. Join the panel for an open discussion. Tu, 11/5, 7:30pm. Free.

Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall, Chico State, (530) 898-6333, www.schoolofthearts-csu chico.com.

INFINITE RHYTHMS ECSTATIC DANCE: A shoefree, food-free, drug-free, smoke-free dance

for you and yours with DJ Clay. Th, 8-10pm through 5/8. $8-$12. Manas Art Space & Gallery, 1441-C Park Ave., (831) 331-4051.

KEYS TO THE KINGDOM: FUNGI: Learn the varieties and importance of mushrooms and fungi with interactive displays and images.

Through 1/5, 2014. $6. Gateway Science Museum, 625 Esplanade, www.csuchico.edu/gateway.

PARADISE FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY BOOK SALE:

Used book sale. Every other Sa, 10am-3pm.

Butte County Library, Paradise Branch, 5922 Clark Rd. in Paradise, (530) 872-6320,

HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY ROUNDTABLE Tuesday, Nov. 15 Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall SEE COMMUNITY

www.buttecounty.net/bclibrary/ Paradise.htm.

SAMARITAN FREE CLINIC: This clinic offers free basic medical care and mental-health counseling. Call for more information. Su, 2-4pm.

Free. Paradise Lutheran Church, 780 Luther Dr. in Paradise, 8727085.

SOUL SHAKE DANCE CHURCH: Drop your mind, find your feet and free your spirit at this DJ dance wave to a range of musical styles. No previous dance experience necessary. Su, 10am-noon. $8-$15 sliding scale. Dorothy Johnson Center, 775 E. 16th St., (530) 891-6524, www.chicorec.com.

SOUNDS OF THE VALLEY CHORUS: Women singers welcome to sing in four-part harmony barbershop style. Call for more info. W, 7pm.

Marigold Elementary School, 2446 Marigold Ave., (530) 343-5183.

SQUARE DANCE CLUB: Square-dancing classes for beginners and advanced level dancers.

Call for more info. Th, 7-10pm. Veterans Memorial Hall, 6550 Skyway in Paradise, (530) 872-1962.

TRADITIONAL WEST-AFRICAN DANCE: All levels of

drummers and dancers welcome. W, 5:307pm. $10. Chico Women’s Club, 592 E. Third St., (808) 757-0076.

For Kids PLAY OUTSIDE: NorCal Strength and Conditioning gym will hold an obstacle course with snacks and beverages sponsored by Klean Kanteen and Mary’s Gone Crackers. Sa, 11/2, 11am-2pm. Free. DeGarmo Park, The Esplanade & Eaton Rd.

Volunteer BIDWELL PARK VOLUNTEERS: Help the park by volunteering for trash pick up, invasive-plant removal, trail maintenance, site restoration, water-quality testing and more. Check Friends of Bidwell Park website for dates and locations. Ongoing. Call for location, www.friendsofbidwellpark.org.

PATRICK RANCH VOLUNTEERS: There are multiple volunteer opportunities available at the museum. Call or email for more info. Ongoing.

Patrick Ranch Museum, 10381 Midway, (530) 514-3903.

MORE ONLINE Additional listings for local meetings, support groups, classes, yoga, meditation and more can be found online at www.newsreview.com/chico/local/calendar.

CHOW

The Butte College Drama Department Presents

Trick or treat Pumpkin beers, the first holiday brews of the year PHOTO BY KART FAMILY (VIA FLICKR)

A tubes, the buckets and the brushes, it is obvious that autumn has arrived at the Chico Home Brew Shop mid the barrels full of grain, the rubber

(1570 Nord Ave.). Here, co-owner Dawn Letner has been sending home one customer after another with the supplies and by instructions for making pumpkin Alastair Bland beer. But Letner sometimes gives these customers a warning: Go easy on the spices.

For pumpkin beers are often made with copious quantities of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, mace and cloves. While most people expect a pumpkin beer to taste like pumpkin pie, Letner feels most of these beers go a few cinnamon sticks too far.

“I’m not crazy about all these spices in beer,” she said. “They tend to override other flavors and become the main event. With pumpkin beers, I’m always warning my customers that once those spices are in there, you can’t get them out again.”

The first pumpkin brew of the modern craft-beer surge was made in Hayward by Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in 1984.

“People were skeptical, like, ‘What?! A squash in a beer?’” Letner recalled.

But the style caught on and spread rapidly. Today, there are hundreds of seasonal pumpkin beers around the country. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has just joined the circus with its first rendition of the style— called an “audition” Pumpkin Ale, the idea being that the beer will become an annual repeat if it proves a winner among customers. The beer, made with pumpkin meat and butternut squash, and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, will be available only in the taproom as well as the brewery’s soon-to-open Berkeley tasting room, the Torpedo Room.

Abe Kabakoff, a brewer with the company, says that Sierra Nevada’s pumpkin beer will be liberally spiced to create a pumpkin-pie essence. “Because when people think of a pumpkin beer, that’s what they want to taste,” he said.

Only trouble is, spicing a beer like pumpkin pie marks it once and for all as a seasonal beer—and when the season ends, so do sales of the beer.

“Pumpkin beers sell really well starting on Oct. 1, and after Thanksgiving, it just dies,” Kabakoff said.

Brewer James Costa of Half Moon Bay Brewing Company says he has seen brewers get overzealous while making pumpkin beers only to find themselves, post-Thanksgiving, with an extra tank of the brew and not a customer interested in having another pint of it.

He says he has made just enough of the brewery’s Mavericks Pumpkin Harvest Ale this year to last through November.

Pumpkins are a tricky ingredient for brew-

ers to work with. That’s because, although they make a powerful seasonal symbol and a great marketing lever, they are relatively flavorless. Spicing these beers not only bolsters the almost nonexistent pumpkin flavor but also creates the pumpkin-pie taste that Americans tend to expect of anything pumpkin.

Some brewers go to further lengths to pump up their pumpkin beers, not only adding spices but also aging them in liquor barrels.

“It made sense to us, since rum and pumpkin go together,” says Adam Avery, founder of Avery Brewing Company in Colorado, who has just released his annual Rumpkin, a pumpkin-pie-flavored beer aged in rum barrels. This beer is a beast, containing almost 19 percent alcohol by volume—and in terms of brute girth and strength, it surely takes the cake.

Much tamer—and usually available in Chico—is the 7 percent alcohol Punkin Ale, from Dogfish Head in Delaware, brewed with chunks of pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg.

While the pumpkin beer trend is a modern phenomenon, there was, it seems, a tradition in early America of brewing with pumpkins. William Bostwick, beer critic for the Wall Street Journal, is currently writing a history of beer under the working title The Brewer’s Tale. Bostwick says pumpkins were frequently used in fermentation projects in colonial America.

But what did these pumpkin-based brews taste like?

One account “in the historical record,” Bostwick said, describes the making of something like pumpkin cider: The pumpkin was roasted, then mashed, and its juices contained in a vessel. Then, it was fermented.

There was no mention, he said, of spices in these oldschool pumpkin beverages.

Of modern pumpkin beers, Bostwick believes many “are way over the top, like you’re drinking nutmeg soup.”

But Richard Doyle, co-founder of Harpoon Brewery in Boston, which has just released the mildly spiced UFO (“unfiltered offering”) Pumpkin ale, believes there would be no point in such a beer without spices.

“It would kind of be like making pumpkin pie without spices,” he said. “It wouldn’t be the same.” Ω

At The Butte College Black Box Theater, Arts 160 SHOWTIMES: November 15, 16, 21-23 • 7:30 p.m. | November 24 •2 p.m.

TICKETS: $10 Student • $15 General • $18 Reserved Tickets are available online and in person at the Butte College Bookstore Main Campus and Chico Center, www.buttecollegebookstore.com More information at www.butte.edu/drama or 530.895.2994

“The

CN&R is the

cornerstone of our maRkeTiNg.”

In Motion Fitness has been advertising with the Chico News & Review since we opened in 1992. Every week the CN&R provides a professional and impressive product that delivers our message with clarity and style. The full color ads really showcase the pools and water features, the palm trees and gardens, the Mediterranean architecture and the bodies In Motion. From kids’ activities to senior programs, the CN&R effectively targets and reaches all demographics. It seems like everybody in Chico views the CN&R. We would highly recommend the CN&R to any business in Chico.”

-CARL SOMMER OWNER OF IN MOTION FITNESS

October 31, 2013

CN&R 31

Dread end Cormac McCarthy pens a fragmented but engrossing southwestern anti-thriller

Tfascinating dramatic venture, a devastating multicharacter tale, a sleek-looking anti-thriller in he Counselor is a devilishly odd and

sun-swept southwestern settings. It has a multitude of attractive aspects, but it’s also a dauntingly offbeat movie experience which, among other things, seems to have radically divided the nation’s movie reviews—highest marks from some, total rejection from others. by My take on it all amounts, I supJuan-Carlos pose, to a minority report—I see Selznick plenty of pros and cons here, but

guise of toxic-waste disposal, technologically enhanced decapitations.

The film sidles its way into these seemingly disparate situations and deflects the resolution of its sketchily coherent plot until the main characters, and the story itself, have gone well beyond the point of no return. But McCarthy and director Ridley Scott are less concerned with plot than with showing us the process of several easily recognizable character types drifting toward calamities that they can’t avoid even when they’ve had plenty of chances to foresee them.

All the pretty horses.

Reviewers: Craig Blamer and Juan-Carlos Selznick.

Opening this week Ender’s Game

A sci-fi actioner set in 2086 about a shy 12year-old Earthling who displays great skill in war games while attending a training school in space and soon becomes the great hope in leading the military in a battle to save the planet. Based on Orson Scott Card’s popular 1985 novel of the same name. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13.

Free Birds

An animated feature about two turkeys (voiced by Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson) who travel back in time to try to alter history in a way that keeps their kind from ending up on the Thanksgiving table every year. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG.

Hell and Mr. Fudge

A faith-based film that tells the story of real-life theologian/author Edward Fudge who, as a young preacher, challenged traditional Christian views of Hell. Paradise Cinema 7. Not rated.

Last Vegas

4

When the last remaining single guy in a group of friends gets engaged, the four senior citizens head to Vegas for a bachelor party. Starring Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas and Kevin Kline. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13.

The Counselor

Starring Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Javier Bardem. Directed

by Ridley Scott.

Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R.

1

Poor

2

Fair

3

Good

4

Very Good

5

Excellent

The Summit

A documentary about the deadliest day of climbing—Aug. 1, 2008—on Pakistan’s K2, when 11 climbers perished on the second highest mountain in the world. Pageant Theatre. Rated R.

what matters most to me are what I take to be its astonishing and exceptional accomplishments. There are indeed things in this film that could have been done differently or better, but don’t let that distract you from what this picture conjures up via the peculiar concatenation of its fragmented characters and events.

The script is by novelist Cormac McCarthy (All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, The Road, etc.), and it’s another of his “border” tales. In this case, that entails a flashy set of characters involved in assorted high-stakes scams and schemes, including especially an elaborate drug deal that threatens to backfire on everyone—and on the innocent even more than the guilty.

There’s a pair of love stories as well, one actively passionate and intense, the other passive, perverse and remote. Also involved: drug cartels, bizarre weaponry, pet cheetahs, gaudy desert compounds, snuff films (unseen), the international diamond trade, money laundering, musings on Catholicism, drug-smuggling in the

32 CN&R October 31, 2013

Re-opening this week The principal figures in this increasingly devastating misadventure are a lawyer (Michael Fassbender), his beloved Laura (Penélope Cruz), a cowboyhatted money launderer (Brad Pitt), a lavishly hedonistic nightclub owner (Javier Bardem), and the elegantly malevolent Malkina (Cameron Diaz). Imprisoned Ruth (Rosie Perez), an astute diamond dealer (Bruno Ganz), and a grimly philosophical drug boss (Rubén Blades) all make distinctive impressions in passing, as do three characters who have contrasting reactions to the spell cast by Malkina—a would-be bad girl (Natalie Dormer), a dubiously receptive banker (Goran Visnjic), and a young priest (Édgar Ramírez) who flees when Malkina comes to confess.

The fragmented narrative and the loosely strung characterizations frustrate conventional expectations, and what the film serves up instead of tidy characterizations and plotting is a cumulative and increasingly powerful evocation of anxious dismay—of pure “dread,” as director Scott has called it.

That dread comes in part from concern over the impending fates of whichever of the characters has won a modicum of sympathy from us. But here the timeless dread of all suspenseful narratives is overtaken by a more contemporary—and more genuinely haunting—kind of dread: the dread of living in a world in which all of us, innocent or not, are complicit in an evil whose consequences are increasingly manifest, and very possibly irrevocable. Ω

The Butler

Lee Daniels (Precious) directs this story based on the life of Eugene Allen, a White House butler who witnessed 34 years of U.S. history from his vantage point at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey and John Cusack. Pageant Theatre. Rated PG-13.

Now playing Bad Grandpa

The original jackass is back, as Johnny Knoxville dons his old-man getup and pranks America during a road trip across the country with his “grandson.” Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7.

Rated R.

5

Captain Phillips

Director Paul Greengrass and screenwriter Billy Ray keep the central focus on Capt. Phillips (Tom Hanks), but never lose sight of what’s going on with the Maersk Alabama’s 20-man crew or with the scrawny quartet of Somali youths who first try to take over the ship and then later try to take flight with Phillips as hostage. A key drama within the larger one comes from the keenly nuanced battle of wits, male pride and allround know-how that develops between Phillips and the gaunt, rail-thin pirate called Muse (a haunting Barkhad Abdi). The film rises to its most impressive levels when we begin to see that the simplistic good guys/bad guys outlook that usually prevails in such stories gets deflected here in some very interesting and even moving ways. The screenplay and direction combine with

Hanks’ quietly multifaceted performance to portray Phillips as a genuine hero, but also as one deeply marked by the devastating cost of victory. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13 —J.C.S.

Carrie

A second big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s novel about a psychologically abused and bullied teen who eventually exacts revenge on her tormentors with her telekinetic powers. Chloë Grace Moretz (who played Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass) takes on the title role made famous by Sissy Spacek in the 1976 classic. Cinemark 14 and Feather River Cinemas. Rated R.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

In part two of the computer-animated film series, the overactive food-making machine made popular in Judi and Ron Barrett’s celebrated book of the same name is back, this time turning out hybrid food/animal creatures that threaten to take over the world.

Cinemark 14. Rated PG.

4

The Counselor

See review this issue. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R —J.C.S.

Escape Plan

Sylvester Stallone stars as a structural engineer who is wrongly convicted of a crime and then locked up in a prison of his own design, from which he plans to escape with help from his cellmate, played by The Governator. Also starring 50 Cent, Jim Caviezel, Amy Ryan and Vincent D’Onofrio. Cinemark 14. Rated R.

5

Gravity

The new film by Alfonso Cuarón is a dazzling piece of artful entertainment. It’s a sci-fi adventure, with a pair of stranded astronauts played by George Clooney and Sandra Bullock trying to survive a spacestation calamity, and it packs a great deal of unexpected interest into what might sound like a relatively simple story. Scarcity of oxygen, suspension of the law of gravity, extreme physical isolation—they all heighten the stakes in the characters’ efforts to improvise self-rescue via the increasingly disabled remnants of their elaborate spacetravel technology. Cuarón and company make wonderfully expressive use of the 3D format on behalf of all of its main concerns.

Both visually and dramatically, Gravity is about human beings struggling to get their bearings, in several senses of that word.

Spatial and psychological disorientation recurs, but the screenplay by Alfonso and his brother Jonás Cuarón also nudges us toward perspectives on the dimensions of human identity, of purpose and self, and locale. Cinemark 14 and Feather River Cinemas. Rated PG-13 —J.C.S.

4

Rush

Screenwriter Peter Morgan turns his talents to the politics of celebrity and the psychology of high-speed risk-takers, via the storied rivalry of world-class Formula One auto racers Niki Lauda from Austria and James Hunt from Great Britain on the 1976-77 Grand Prix circuit. Both men are extraordinarily gifted auto racers, both are from wealthy backgrounds, and both seem obsessed with defeating the other. Beyond that, they are two entirely different types of competitive males. Lauda (played by Daniel Brühl) is cold, intense, socially withdrawn, brilliantly analytical, mathematically precise; Hunt (played by Chris Hemsworth) is handsome, energetic, charming, relentlessly outgoing, and reckless in appetite and impulse. These contrasts are a little bit too pat, but director Ron Howard and his actors bring them out with an attractive zest that is made all the more interesting by hints of rueful regret and half-hidden desperation. The end result is brisk, smart, fast-moving entertainment.

Cinemark 14. Rated R —J.C.S.

ARTS DEVO

Jason Cassidy • jasonc@newsreview.com BOTH FILMS OPEN FRIDAY NOV 1ST

We Want to Help!

• I’m set free/ to find a new illusion … The original freak, one of the pioneers who helped insert weirdness in rock ’n’ roll as a member of the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist, died this week. Rest in peace, Lou Reed.

• Amazing Racers: Sunday Night’s Amazing Race was the last episode for local boys Adam Switzer and Brandon Squyres. Thanks for taking us along for the ride, guys. It was awesome sharing in Lou your adventure. You did Chico proud.

• Go Digital or Go Dark: We all knew the day would come when digital projection would take over our movie theaters, and according to Pageant Theatre owner Tim Giusta, as of the end of 2013, 35mm film prints will no longer be available. That means, unless the Pageant can raise the $51,000 necessary to convert to digital, they will have to close. If you want to help keep your art-house theater going for a 35th year, you’ll soon have the chance. Starting Nov. 8, the Pageant will launch the Go Digital or Go Dark crowdfunding campaign on indiegogo.com.

Stay tuned.

• Collateral Loans / Pawns • Cash for Gold • Check Cashing • Payday Advance

20th & Park • 892–2222 CA Lic # 04020994 / Permit # 11233001 Licensed by Dept. of Corps under the CA Deferred Deposit Transaction Law

FRI/SAT 6PM; SUNDAY 4:30PM MON-THURS 8:30PM RETURNING LIMITED ENGAGEMENT TO CHICO LEE DANIELS’

THE BUTLER

FRI/SAT 8PM; SUNDAY 2PM • MON-THURS 6PM Call 343-0663 or visit www.PageantChico.com

Tonight Only! october 31 st

join us for a spooktacular dinner kids in costume receive a free kids meal with purchase of an adult entree. adult costumes optional.

open

Lunch tuesday-saturday at 11:30am Champagne Brunch sunday at 9am-2pm Dinner tuesday-sunday 4pm-9pm Happy hour tuesday-sunday 3pm-6pm 3312 esplanade, chico | 530-809-1108 | open 7 days | reservations accepted

FRIDAY 11/1 – WEDNESDAY 11/7

www.newsreview.com

DEVOtions

THE SUMMIT

Chico Cash Exchange

WELCOME TO FREAKO How much do you think Arts DEVO loves this Keep

Chico Weird issue? Keeping Chico weird is the guiding principle behind this column. The most fun part of my job is getting to shine a light on the freaks and fun-makers so that we can all stay plugged into our funky scene.

In the intro to this weird package [page 18], I talked about some of the iconic names that have defined “Chico” over the years. That sent me down the Internet hole to seek help from some local long-timers in remembering as many of the colorful nicknamed/ stage-named/ iconically named artists, musicians, street people, impresarios, party people and scenesters that have populated our image of Chico over the last couple of decades.

Thanks to Shecklove, Heatha Killa, Bookstore Josh, Bullet Train, DJ Goodburger, Lorax (aka Ace, aka Charles Markley), DNA, Mr. I, Cat Poop and La Juera for helping assemble this impressive roster: 42 Sex Guy, Aubrey Debauchery, Aye Jay, Baby Steps, The Banjoologist, Beans, Beast, Bicycle Dan, Big Head, Big Mo, Billy, Bitter Betty, Black Dan, Bran Crown, British Paul, Chip Tankgirl, Claudette Versailles, Cody Que, Coot Dog, Dancin’ Dave, Danimal, Devil Kat, Die Guy, Digger, Dik Slax, Dirty Jim, DNA, Dragonboy, Ebony, Ed the Dread, Emerica, Eppie, Eric the Viking, Faydog, Fera, Flicka Flame, Flo, Goat, Grits, Guitar Clem & Mud, Handlebar Pete, Handsome Gorgeous, Henri Bourride, Himp C, Hoop, Jack Dammit International, Janet Planet, Jaws, Jerry Garcia, Jim Morrison, Johnny and Kerra Shanker, Johnny Von Graves, Juan-Carlos Selznick, Kozmic Kev, Lish Bills, Mad Bob, Marge, Meatwad, Middle, Mike G, Moondog (aka Rev. Junkyard Moondog), Natty Nat, Ol’ Hawk Flo Eye, One Up, Preacher Pat (aka Chappy), Rags, Red Bluff Phil, Red Face Guy, Rental Guy, The Rooster, Rumpelstiltskin, Scoot, The Scribbler, Scribles, Seamonster, Sean and Shelby PAWN, Shady Pete, She Fetus, Shelby Cobra, Sisko, Ska-T, Sketchy Pat, Sleepy Dan, Snake, Sourdough Slim, Spenny, Sporty, Stormy, Ted Shred, Tell The Devil, Tic-Tac, Troll, Turtle, Twelve-Pack, TyBox, War Eagle, Whipple, Woot (aka The Woot), V, Zelda Zonk, Zero.

I guess I’m Arts DEVO, although no one calls me that when I’m around. I’ve had a few fleeting nicknames (Skeeter, Porpoise, J.T., J-Cass, Flannel Cassidy) and some mean-spirited names I was called as a kid (Mole Man, Sean Cassidy), but most everyone calls me by either my given first or last name. I’d love it if someone could come up with something badass. Feel free to email suggestions for my nickname (as well as the names of any of the locals we forgot).

“A COMPLEX AND GUT-CLENCHING HUMAN DRAMA THAT HAS THE GREAT ADVANTAGE OF ALL BEING TRUE.” -LOS ANGELES TIMES

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (Digital) (PG-13) (10:05AM*) 1:05PM 4:05PM 7:05PM 10:05PM CARRIE (2013) (Digital) (R ) 12:40PM 3:05PM 5:30PM 7:55PM 10:20PM CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (Digital) (PG) (10:20AM*) 12:40PM 3:00PM 5:20PM 7:40PM 10:00PM COUNSELOR, THE (Digital) (R ) 11:20AM 2:05PM 4:50PM 7:35PM 10:25PM ENDER’S GAME (Digital) (PG-13) (10:10AM*) 11:15AM 12:50PM 2:00PM 3:30PM 4:45PM 6:10PM 7:30PM 8:50PM 10:15PM ESCAPE PLAN (Digital) ( R) 1:45PM 7:25PM FREE BIRDS (3D) (PG) 12:20PM 5:00PM 9:40PM FREE BIRDS (Digital) (PG) (10:00AM*) 2:40PM 7:20PM

GRAVITY (3D) (PG-13) (10:15AM*) 12:35PM 1:55PM 3:00PM 5:25PM 6:35PM 7:45PM 8:55PM 10:10PM GRAVITY (Digital) (PG13) 11:35AM 4:15PM JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA (Digital) ( R) 11:50AM 1:00PM 2:10PM 3:20PM 4:30PM 5:40PM 6:50PM 8:00PM 9:10PM 10:30PM LAST VEGAS (Digital) (PG-13) (10:30AM*) 11:45AM 1:00PM 2:15PM 3:30PM 4:45PM 6:05PM 7:15PM 8:35PM 9:45PM RUSH (Digital) ( R) (10:55AM*) 4:35PM 10:15PM (SPEICIAL SHOWING) - THOR MOVIE MARATHON (3D) (PG-13) 3:15PM Thurs.

11/7 ONLY (SNEAK PREVIEW) - THOR: THE DARK WORLD (3D) & (Digital) (PG-13) 8:00PM (MIDNIGHT SHOWING) - THOR: THE DARK WORLD (3D) & (Digital)(PG-13) 12:01AM (Late Thurs.

Night)

Showtimes listed with ( *) shown Fri. - Sun. ONLY

Pageant

October 31, 2013

CN&R 33

Find Us Online At:

www.chico.newsreview.com

BUTTE COUNTY LIVING Open House Guide | Home Sales Listings | Featured Home of the Week

Free Real Estate Listings

Sponsored by the City of Chico

Credit & Budget Workshop Thurs, November 7 , 3 — 5pm th

Access Training Room off parking lot

Location:

• • • 1001 Willow St. • Chico • Community Housing • Improvement Program, Inc. • Community Housing Improvement Program, Inc.

Examine your attitudes about money How to make a sound budget Ways to reduce spending Understanding your credit report How to repair your FICO score Free to the public

Call 891-6931 or 1-888-912-4663 to reserve a seat or more information CHIP is a HUD approved Housing Counseling Agency.

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RECYCLE THIS PAPER.

Find Us Online At:

5944 Del Mar - ParaDise Large 2 bedroom 2 bath home with 1350 square feet located on desirable street. Hedge in front gives some privacy. Shelves in entry way closet. Built-in shelves/drawers and ceiling fan with remote in living room. Brick fireplace with insert in dining room and slider to outside covered patio. Built in drawers & cupboards in hall. Heat & A/C replaced in 2007. Front of home just painted also living room, hall bathroom and both bedrooms. Lots of cupboards in kitchen. Second bath has closet. Cupboards in laundry room plus door to outside. Refrigerator, built in microwave, washer and dryer included in sale. Fig, peach & persimmon trees. Lots of room for garden in the large backyard area. Septic inspected and pumped 8-8-13. Sink in garage. Call to see today!!

$179,000 aD #545 Susan G. Thomas, Broker Associate | Century 21 Select Real Estate 5350 Skyway, Paradise | 530-518-8041 sthomasc21@aol.com

Open Houses & Listings are online at: www.century21JeffriesLydon.com price reduced!!!

WHY LEASE WHEn You cAn oWn !!

COMING SOON

3060 Thorn Tree 2614 sq. ft. warehouse w/ glass front door & awning. Office area, restroom & 2 roll up doors plus a fenced in back storage area with reinforced concrete pad for large trucks or heavy equipment.

on the westside of Chico. 1992 built 3 bd/2 ba 1762 sq ft, custom, located at the end of cul de sac.

Call me for details on this fine property.

3 bed 2 bath with pool.

Great location

$245,000 Frankie Dean

$194,500

Steve Kasprzyk (Kas-per-zik) (530) 899–5932

Realtor/E-Pro

Paul Champlin (530) 828-2902

#01767902

Call or TEXT for more info.

Homes Sold Last Week ADDRESS

•

530-717-3884

Making Your Dream Home a Reality

Gated Communities • Canyon Oaks, w/ stunning view! 3 bd/3 ba, 3,381 sq ft, private. $699,000 • Minutes from Chico, 3 bd/2.5 ba, 2,782 sq ft w/ lot’s of custom features! $419,000 • Spanish Garden, Canyon view w/ access to Butte Creek, 2,642 sq ft upgrades! $565,000

Homes With Land • 4.89 ACS, Forest Ranch, custom 4 bd/3 ba, 2,168 sq ft $329,000 • 18 ACS, Forest Ranch, 3 bd/1 ba, 1,550 sq ft, cash only $225,000 • 12.64 ACS, Chico w/ $$ Walnuts, 5 bd/3 ba, 3,221 sq ft $699,000 • 1.66 ACS Chico, stunning 3 bd/4 ba, 2 offices, 3,930 sq ft $668,000 Teresa Larson (530) 899-5925 • www.ChicoListings.com chiconativ@aol.com • License #01177950

Sponsored by Century 21 Jeffries Lydon

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

SQ. FT.

ADDRESS

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

SQ. FT.

1245 W 12th Ave

Chico

$450,000

4/ 3

2856

3 Glenoak Ct

Chico

$285,000

3/ 1.5

1338

543 Juniper St

Chico

$433,000

4/ 3.5

2481

10860 Cohasset Rd

Chico

$280,000

3/ 2

1440

4520 Nord Hwy

Chico

$415,000

3/ 2

2730

213 Mission Serra Ter

Chico

$269,000

3/ 2

1734

652 Cromwell Dr

Chico

$379,000

3/ 2

1844

1083 Tracy Ln

Chico

$260,000

3/ 2.5

1915

2532 Oak Way

Chico

$370,000

3/ 2

1668

2695 Fairfield Cmn

Chico

$239,000

2/ 2

1262

3095 Chico River Rd

Chico

$340,000

3/ 2

1744

2722 Duffy Dr

Chico

$211,000

3/ 2

1327

4 Jordanne Ct

Chico

$339,000

4/ 2.5

2163

3044 Monticello Ln A

Chico

$199,000

3/ 1.5

1508

108 Wine Blossom Dr

Chico

$315,000

4/ 2.5

2140

968 Madison St

Chico

$152,500

2/ 1

720

1084 Via Verona Dr

Chico

$315,000

3/ 2.5

2060

1129 Stewart Ave

Chico

$148,000

2/ 1

972

34 CN&R October 31, 2013

open

house Century 21 Jeffries Lydon

Sat. 11-1 & Sun. 11-1

Sat. 2-4

Sat. 2-4 & Sun. 2-4

Sat. 2-4 & Sun. 2-4

Sat. 11-1, 2-4

Sun. 11-1

Sat. 11-1, 2-4 & Sun. 11-1, 2-4

Sat. 2-4

Sat. 2-4

Sat. 11-1, 2-4

1 Stoney Point Way (X St: Pinyon Hills) 4 Bd / 3 Ba, 2,233 Sq.Ft. $380,000 Debbie Brodie 519-5524

Sat. 11-1, 2-4

4078 Spyglass Rd (X St: Garner) 3 Bd / 2.5 Ba, 2833 Sq.Ft, 19x25 attached Shop. $619,900 Sandy Stoner 514-5555

2602 Sedona Ct (X St: Archway) 4 Bd / 2 Ba, 1,603 SqFt. $292,500 John Spain 519-5726

4 Hidden Brooke Way (X St: Shallow Springs) 3 Bd / 2.5 Ba, 1,842 Sq.Ft. $355,000 Anita Miller 321-1174

Sat. 11-1, 2-4

155 Spanish Gardens (X St: Skyway) 4 Bd / 2.5 Ba, 2,642 Sq.Ft. $595,000 Johnny Klinger 864-3398

19 Elisha Ct. (X St: Cohasset Rd.) 3 Bd / 2 Ba, 1,614 SqFt. $289,500 Morgan Berry 774-7745

481 Silver Lake Dr (X St: Calistoga) 3 Bd / 2 Ba, 1,966 Sq.Ft. $334,900 Patty Davis Rough 864-4329

Sat. 11-1

1833 Bree Ct (X St: Lott Rd) 5 Bd / 4 Ba, 3,162 Sq.Ft. $584,000 John Spain 519-5726

1866 Conifer Dr (X St. Pentz) 3 Bd / 2 Ba, 1,781 SqFt. $259,900 Sandra Grill 228-3937

15 River Wood Loop (X St: Glenwood) 3 Bd / 2 Ba, 1915 Sq.Ft. $314,000 Laura Ortland 321-1567

Sat. 11-1, 2-4 & Sun. 2-4

252/252A Estates Dr (X St: Oro Chico) 4 Bd / 4.5 Ba, 3,857 Sq.Ft. $595,000 Brandon Siewert 828-4597 Carol Roniss 570-7111

885 Lorinda Ln (X St: Cohassett) 3 Bd / 1 Ba, 1,288 Sq.Ft. $250,000 Alice Zeissler 518-1872

1089 Filbert Ave (X St: Rey Circle) 2 Bed, 1 Ba, 1404 Sq.Ft main house, plus 1 Bed, 1 Ba, 500 Sq.Ft. separate unit with yard 3 Bed, 2 Ba, 1,904 SqFt. $299,900 Russ Hammer 566-3540

Sat. 11-1, 2-4

388 Newport Dr (X St. Prarie) 3 Bd / 2 Ba, 2,116 Sq.Ft. $394,000 Paul Champlin 828-2902

1 San Pablo Ct (X St: North Ave) 2 Bd / 2 Ba, 1,126 Sq.Ft. $230,000 Erin Schmidt 575-7431

Sun. 11-1

562 White Ave (X St: Tom Polk) 2 Bd / 1 Ba, 1,004 Sq.Ft. $179,000 Alice Zeissler 518-1872

www.century21JeffriesLydon.com Ask the Professionals at Century 21 — 345-6618 new roof, carpet, paint

$179,000

Large yard, hardwood floor, dual pane windows & many other upgrades

Call & see today!

Alice Zeissler | 530.518.1872

Fall is in the air! It’s a good time for serious buyers & sellers!

Wondering what your home is worth today?

Charming Home

You might be surprised.

Call me to find out.

Russ Hammer 530.894.4503

HammerSellS@Sbcglobal.net

SMILES ALWAYS Joyce Turner

571–7719 • joyce_turner@ymail.com

• Very nice 4 bd/3 ba, 2,233 sq ft, Cal Park. $380,000 • Wood Oak condo, 2 bd/1 ba, 902 sq ft with yard space! $149,900 • Bidwell Park, 2 bd/1 ba, (1,404 sq ft) plus 1 bd/1 ba, 500 sq ft! $299,900 • Beautiful Kitchen, large yard, cul de sac, 2 bd/2 ba, office space, 1,126 sq ft $230k • Priced below others! Amber Grove 3 bd plus den, 2 th, 1,966 sq ft $334,900 Teresa Larson (530) 899-5925 www.ChicoListings.com • chiconativ@aol.com

The following houses were sold in Butte County by real estate agents or private parties during the week of October 14, 2013 – October 18, 2013.

The housing prices are based on the stated documentary transfer tax of the parcel and may not necessarily reflect the actual sale price of the home.

ADDRESS

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

SQ. FT.

ADDRESS

TOWN

PRICE

BR/BA

SQ. FT.

Durham

$462,000

5/ 3

3158

1228 18th St

Oroville

$165,000

4/ 2

1510

15723 Fitzgerald Ct

Forest Ranch

$340,000

4/ 2.5

2436

16526 Garland Rd

Forest Ranch

$240,000

3/ 2

2246

75 Shadow Oak Ct

Oroville

$160,000

3/ 2

1168

14639 Bridgeport Cir

Magalia

$139,000

2/ 2

1404

117 Almond Ave

Oroville

$139,000

3/ 2

1276

6201 Cody Ct

Magalia

$138,500

3/ 2

1836

2555 Mcclellan Ave

Oroville

$115,000

2/ 1

960

6218 Pueblo Dr

Magalia

$135,000

2/ 2

1405

264 Burden Ter

Paradise

$195,000

3/ 2

1422

14159 Wingate Cir

Magalia

$132,000

2/ 2

1182

699 Edwards Ln

Paradise

$172,500

3/ 2

1542

14038 Drexel Dr

Magalia

$125,000

2/ 2

1232

1803 Drendel Cir

Paradise

$170,000

3/ 1

993

7 Moonshine Ct

Oroville

$315,000

4/ 2

2357

1101 Lanser Dr

Paradise

$130,000

2/ 1

792

10006 Lott Rd

October 31, 2013

CN&R 35

Print ads start at $6/wk. www.newsreview.com or (530) 894-2300 ext. 5 Phone hours: M-F 8am-5pm.

All ads post online same day.

Deadlines for print: Line ad deadline: Monday 4pm Adult line ad deadline: Monday 4pm Display ad deadline: Friday 2pm

Online ads are

STILL

FREE!*

*Nominal fee for adult entertainment.

All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of Acceptance. Further, the News & Review specifically reserves the right to edit, decline or properly classify any ad. Errors will be rectified by re-publication upon notification. The N&R is not responsible for error after the first publication. The N&R assumes no financial liability for errors or omission of copy. In any event, liability shall not exceed the cost of the space occupied by such an error or omission. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes full responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.

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PREGNANT? THINKING OF ADOPTION? Talk with caring agency specializing in matching Birthmothers with Families Nationwide. LIVING EXPENSES PAID. Call 24/7 Abby’s One True Gift Adoptions. 866-413-6293. Void in Illinois/New Mexico/Indiana (AAN CAN) To the lovely people of Chico and beyond It is my belief that the deepest honor bestowed upon a human being is the offering of the body and mind, for protection, in trust, to another. It is with sadness that I resign from Glenn Medical Center. My last day will be 12/19. Please call for your records, if you need them- 9341800. Your primary doctor, Butte Glenn Medical Society, or Enloe and Feather River Hospitals may be able to help you get names of another neurologist. I will not be retiring and will be practicing elsewhere in the future. If I am lucky, the Sacramento Valley Mirror will continue to humor me and publish my stories and essays and other silliness. To all of you, thank you for your trust and your inspiring efforts to heal yourselves. Matt Merliss, M.D. magunda@aol.com

1983 Full-sized Chevy Blazer.All original. Most factory options. Very well kept condition. $6000 530-895-8171 1970 MGB Classic Convertible Restored, pristine condition. All records. $8,995.00. 530-345-9373 Days or Evenings.

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as GREEN TARA PIECE WORKS at 701 E Lassen Ave #246 Chico, CA 95973.

PIPER MICHELLE MILES 701 E Lassen Ave #246 Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: PIPER M. MILES Dated: October 2, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001284 Published: October 10,17,24,31, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as THE RENDEZVOUS at 3269 Esplanade Suite 142 Chico, CA 95973 STACIE SHATKIN SCHUMAN 1747 Broadway Chico, CA 95928.

STEVEN SCHUMAN 1747 Broadway Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by a Married Couple.

Signed: STEVEN SCHUMAN Dated: September 13, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001223 Published: October 10,17,24,31, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as NORTHSTATE MORTGAGE at 292 Chico Canyon Road Chico, CA 95928.

CRAIG C SCOTT 292 Chico Canyon Road Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: CRAIG SCOTT Dated: October 1, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001278 Published: October 10,17,24,31, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as HILL HOME REPAIR, MADRONE MEADOWS RANCH at 906 Sucker Run Rd Feather Falls, CA 95940.

DAVID DEWAYNE HILL 906 Sucker Run Rd Feather Falls, CA 95940.

this Legal Notice continues

36 CN&R October 31, 2013

KATHLEEN MARIE MOWDY 906 Sucker Run Rd Feather Falls, CA 95940.

This business is conducted by a Married Couple.

Signed: KATHLEEN M MOWDY Dated: September 23, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001251 Published: October 10,17,24,31, 2013

➡

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as GRACE LIGHT HINDU TEMPLE at 3160 Canyon Oaks Terrace Chico, CA 95928.

GRACE LIGHT HINDU TEMPLE 3160 Canyon Oaks Terrace Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: PRABHA PILLAI, PRESIDENT Dated: September 9, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001201 Published: October 10,17,24,31, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as MARCELLI’S SANDWICHES AND MORE at 215 West 1st Street Chico, CA 95928.

FAITH ROAD INVESTMENTS, INC. 11145 Faith Road Oroville, CA 95965.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: JOHN FEDRO, PRESIDENT Dated: October 4, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001290 Published: October 10,17,24,31, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as PARADISE COMMUNITY WELLNESS CONNECTION at 8093 Skyway Paradise, CA 95969.

PARADISE COMMUNITY WELLNESS CONNECTION P.O. Box 1488 Paradise, CA 95967.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: LYNN COSTA, TREASURER Dated: September 25, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001263 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as ELIZABETH’S at 225 Main St Chico, CA 95928.

MEGAN GRANDFIELD 1286 Howard Dr Chico, CA 95926.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: MEGAN GRANDFIELD Dated: October 9, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-00001318 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as BLOOM at 1163 East Avenue, Suite 103 Chico, CA 95926.

SUNNY FITZWATER 1730 Nord Avenue Chico, CA 95928.

LYNN FLOWERS 130 Secluded Oaks Ct Chico, CA 95928.

MOLLIE HOUSTON 75 Plumwood Court Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by a Unincorporated Association.

Signed: LYNN FLOWERS Dated: October 9, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001315 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as LUNATIC FRINGE BELLY DANCE ESSENTIALS at 163 E. Third St. Chico, CA 95928.

MICHELLE PALOMA-HUDKINS 2610 Oro Quincy Hwy Oroville, CA 95966.

Signed: M. PALOMA HUDKINS Dated: October 9, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001320 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as GET SHARP at 635 Riverview Ct Oroville, CA 95966.

RUSSELL LOOMIS FELDER 635 Riverview Ct Oroville, CA 95966.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: RUSSELL FELDER Dated: October 9, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001319 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as THE BLACK KETTLE at 2659 Monterey St Chico, CA 95973.

KAMI GRIMES 2659 Monterey St Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: KAMI GRIMES Dated: October 8, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001302 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013 FITITIOUS BUSINESS NAME - STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT The following persons have abandoned the use of the ficti-­ tious business name: THE BLACK KETTLE at 2727 Monterey Street Chico, CA 95973.

KAMI GRIMES 2659 Monterey Street Chico, CA 95973.

LORI RICE 2727 Monterey Street Chico, CA 95973.

This business was conducted by a General Part-­ nership.

Signed: KAMI GRIMES Dated: October 8, 2013 FBN Number: 2012-0001661 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as ENLOE NEUROSURGICAL AND SPINE CLINIC at 251 Cohasset Road, Suite 370 Chico, CA 95926.

ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER 1531 Esplanade Chico, CA 95926.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: MYRON E. MACHULA, VP/CFO Dated: August 19, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001121 Published: October 24,31, November 7,14, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as WORK OF ART PHOTOGRAPHY at 4139 Hildale Ave Oroville, CA 95966.

ARTHUR V MARTINEZ 4139 Hildale Ave Oroville, CA 95966.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: ARTHUR V MARTINEZ Dated: October 11, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001336 Published: October 24,31, November 7,14, 2013

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as TONY’S SMOKE SHOP at 175 Cohasset Road, Suite 2 Chico, CA 95926 MTANIOUS SAMAAN 1749 Eaton Road #39 Chico, CA 95973.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: MTANIOUS SAMAAN Dated: October 7, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001293 Published: October 24,31, November 7,14, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME - STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name: RED TAVERN at 1250 Esplanade Chico, CA 95926.

MIKELL, INC 901 Bruce Road Suite #270 Chico, CA 95928.

This business was conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: MICHAEL VADNEY, PRESIDENT Dated: October 21, 2013 FBN Number: 2012-0001072 Published: October 24,31, November 7,14, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following persons are doing business as BUDCO, HYDROTEC SOLUTIONS INC at 2540 Zanella Way #30 Chico, CA 95928.

HYDROTEC SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED 7 Laguna Point Road Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by a Corporation.

Signed: GARY NOTTINGHAM, PRESIDENT Dated: October 17, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001350 Published: October 31, November 7,14,21, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as LONE WOLF ATTORNEY SERVICE at 135 W. 22nd St. Chico, CA 95928.

SCOTT DAVID QUAM 135 W.22nd St. Chico, CA 95928.

This business is conducted by an Individual.

Signed: SCOTT QUAM Dated: October 24, 2013 FBN Number: 2013-0001374 Published: October 31, November 7,14,21, 2013

NOTICES NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE B. GORE, AKA BETTY GORE, AKA BETTY J. GORE AKA BETTY JEAN GORE To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of: B. GORE, AKA BETTY GORE, AKA BETTY J. GORE AKA BETTY JEAN GORE A Petition for Probate has been filed by: PAT GORE in the Superior Court of California, County of Butte.

THE Petition for Probate requests that: PAT GORE personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representa-­ tive to take many actions with-­ out obtaining court approval.

Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to

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interested persons unless they have waived notice or consent-­ ed to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A Hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: November 7, 2013 Time: 1:30pm Dept:TBA Address of the court: Superior Court of California County of Butte 655 Oleander Ave Chico, CA 95926.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal repre-­ sentative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or per-­ sonal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and le-­ gal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250.

A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Case Number: PR40804 Attorney for Petitioner: Clayton B. Anderson 20 Independence Circle Chico, CA 95973.

Published: October 17,24,31, 2013 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE ALAN RUSSELL MITCHELL, AKA ALAN R. MITCHELL To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of: ALAN RUSSELL MITCHELL, AKA ALAN R. MITCHELL A Petition for Probate has been filed by: JILL MITCHELL in the Superior Court of California, County of Butte.

THE Petition for Probate requests that: JILL MITCHELL personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representa-­ tive to take many actions with-­ out obtaining court approval.

Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consent-­ ed to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A Hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: November 7, 2013 Time: 1:30pm Dept:TBA Address of the court:

Superior Court of California County of Butte 655 Oleander Ave Chico, CA 95926.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal repre-­ sentative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or per-­ sonal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and le-­ gal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250.

A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Case Number: PR40814 Petitioner: Jill Mitchell 1663 Wee Dell Road Paradise, CA 95969.

Published: October 17,24,31, 2013 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE NANCY SUSAN TAYLOR, AKA NANCY S. TAYLOR, AKA NANCY TAYLOR To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of: NANCY SUSAN TAYLOR AKA, NANCY S. TAYLOR, AKA NANCY TAYLOR A Petition for Probate has been filed by: MARY E. MCCLINTOCK in the Superior Court of California, County of Butte.

THE Petition for Probate requests that: MARY E. MCCLINTOCK personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representa-­ tive to take many actions with-­ out obtaining court approval.

Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consent-­ ed to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A Hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: November 21, 2013 Time: 1:30pm Dept:McLean Address of the court: Superior Court of California County of Butte 655 Oleander Ave Chico, CA 95926.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state

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your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal repre-­ sentative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or per-­ sonal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and le-­ gal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250.

A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Case Number: PR40842 Attorney for Petitioner: Jane E. Stansell 901 Bruce Road, Suite 170 Chico, CA 95928 Published: October 31, November 7,14, 2013

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME

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TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner CHRISTOPER MICHAEL CARRICK filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL CARRICK Proposed name: PETER ROBERT PIAZZA SR THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objec-­ tion that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: November 1, 2013 Time: 9:00am Dept:TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: SANDRA L. MCLEAN Dated: August 9, 2013 Case Number: 159771 Published: October 10,17,24,31, 2013

a decree changing names as follows: Present name: KRISTEN ANN DRISH Proposed name: SOPHIA ANN DRISH THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objec-­ tion that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: November 22, 2013 Time: 9:00am Dept:TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: SANDRA L. MCLEAN Dated: October 03, 2013 Case Number: 160576 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner NIKKI JO SCHLAISHUNT filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: NIKKI JO SCHLAISHUNT Proposed name: NIKKI JO HUNT

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner KRISTEN ANN DRISH filed a petition with this court for

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THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objec-­ tion that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: December 6, 2013 Time: 9:00am Dept:TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: SANDRA L. MCLEAN Dated: October 09, 2013 Case Number: 160578 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013

THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objec-­ tion that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: December 20, 2013 Time: 9:00am Dept:TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: ROBERT GLUSMAN Dated: October 18, 2013 Case Number: 160650 Published: October 24,31, November 7,14, 2013

show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objec-­ tion that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: December 20, 2013 Time: 9:00am Dept:TBA The address of the court is: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Ave. Chico, CA 95926 Signed: SANDRA L. MCLEAN Dated: October 23, 2013 Case Number: 160672 Published: October 31, November 7,14,21, 2013

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner YANTI IBRAHIM filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: YANTI IBRAHIM, MICHAEL LEUICA BEATRICE IGNACIA LEUICA JENNIFER RAPPORT Proposed name: JANE WALTER MICHAEL WALTER BEATRICE IGNACIA WALTER JENNIFER BIRGITA WALTER

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner JAIMIE MICHELLE STEINBAUER WHITE filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: JAIMIE MICHELLE STEINBAUER WHITE Proposed name: JAMIE MICHELLE WHITE THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to

SUMMONS NOTICE TO RESPONDENT CASEY CAULFIELD, DORINDA A CAULFIELD AKA DORIE CAULFIELD You are being sued by plaintiff: BUTTE COUNTY CREDIT BUREAU A CORP You have 30 calendar days after this Summons and Petition are served on you to file a Response (form FL-120 or FL-123) at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter or phone call will not protect you.

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SUMMONS

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If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make or-­ ders affecting your marriage or domestic partnership, your property, and custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form.

If you want legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately.

You can get information about finding lawyers at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp) at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), or by contacting your local county bar association.

The name and address of the court are: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Avenue Chico, CA 95926.

The name, address, and telephone number of the petitioner’s attorney, or the petitioner without an attorney, are: Joseph L. Selby #249546 Law Office of Leverenz, Ferris & Selby 515 Wall Street Chico, CA 95928 Signed: Kimberly Flener, T. MORGAN Dated: May 24, 2013 Case Number: 159641 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013

SUMMONS NOTICE TO RESPONDENT VALERIE R UNDERWOOD You are being sued by plaintiff: BUTTE COUNTY CREDIT BUREAU A CORP You have 30 calendar days after this Summons and Petition

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are served on you to file a Response (form FL-120 or FL-123) at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter or phone call will not protect you.

If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make or-­ ders affecting your marriage or domestic partnership, your property, and custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form.

If you want legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately.

You can get information about finding lawyers at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp) at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), or by contacting your local county bar association.

The name and address of the court are: Butte County Superior Court 655 Oleander Avenue Chico, CA 95926.

The name, address, and telephone number of the petitioner’s attorney, or the petitioner without an attorney, are: Joseph L. Selby #249546 Law Office of Leverenz, Ferris & Selby 515 Wall Street Chico, CA 95928 Signed: Kimberly Flener, M. McCall Dated: May 17, 2013 Case Number: 159541 Published: October 17,24,31, November 7, 2013

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ARIES (March 21-April 19):

Once when I was hiking through Maui’s rain forest, I spied a majestic purple honohono flower sprouting from a rotting log. As I bent down close, I inhaled the merged aromas of moldering wood and sweet floral fragrance. Let’s make this scene your metaphor of the week, Aries. Here’s why: A part of your life that is in the throes of decay can serve as host for a magnificent bloom. What has been lost to you may become the source of fertility. Halloween costume suggestion: a garbage man or cleaning maid wearing a crown of roses.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): What don’t you like? Get clear about that. What don’t you want to do? Make definitive decisions.

What kind of person do you not want to become, and what life do you never want to live? Resolve those questions with as much certainty as possible. Write it all down, preferably in the form of a contract with yourself. Sign the contract. This document will be your sacred promise, a declaration of the boundaries you won’t cross and the activities you won’t waste your time on and the desires that aren’t worthy of you. It will feed your freedom to know exactly what you like and what you want to accomplish and who you want to become. Halloween costume suggestion: the opposite of who you really are.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Are you up

for an experiment? Not just on Halloween, but for a week afterward, be scarier than your fears. If an anxious thought pops into your mind, bare your teeth and growl, “Get out of here, or I will rip you to shreds!” If a demon visits you in a nightly dream, chase after it with a torch and sword, screaming, “Begone, foul spirit, or I will burn your mangy ass!” Don’t tolerate bullying in any form, whether it comes from a critical little voice in your head or from supposedly nice people who are trying to guilt-trip you. “I am a brave conqueror who cannot be intimidated!” is what you could say, or, “I am a monster of love and goodness who will defeat all threats to my integrity!”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Are you

ready to be amazed? Now would be an excellent time to shed your soul’s infantile illusions, to play wildly with the greatest mystery you know, to accept gifts that enhance your freedom and refuse gifts that don’t, to seek out a supernatural encounter that heals your chronic sadness, to consort and converse with sexy magical spirits from the future, to make love with the lights on and cry when you come. Halloween costume suggestion: the archetypal lover.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Some people in

your vicinity are smoldering and fuming. The air is heavy with emotional ferment. Conspiracy theories are ripening and rotting at the same time. Hidden agendas are seeping into conversations, and gossip is swirling like ghostly dust devils. Yet, in the midst of this mayhem, an eerie calm possesses you. As everyone else struggles, you’re poised and full of grace. To what do we owe this stability? I suspect it has to do with the fact that life is showing you how to feel at home in the world no matter what’s happening around you. Keep making yourself receptive to these teachings. Halloween costume suggestion: king or queen of relaxation.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Unification

should be a key theme for you in the coming weeks. Anything you do that promotes splicing and blending and harmonizing will get extra help, sometimes from mysterious forces working behind the scenes. The more you work to find common ground between opposing sides, the stronger you’ll feel, and the better you’ll look. If you can manage to mend schisms and heal wounds, unexpected luck will flow into your life. To encourage these developments, consider these Halloween disguises: a roll of tape, a stick of Krazy Glue, a wound that’s healing, a bridge.

Why knot?

by Rob Brezsny LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): What do you

by

think you’d be like if you were among the 1 percent wealthiest people on Earth? Would you demand that your government raise your taxes so you could contribute more to our collective well-being? Would you live simply and cheaply, so you’d have more money to donate to charities and other worthy causes? This Halloween season, I suggest you play around with fantasies like that¡ªmaybe even masquerade as an incredibly rich philanthropist who doles out cash and gifts everywhere you go. At the very least, imagine what it would be like if you had everything you needed and felt so grateful, you shared your abundance freely.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): What if you had the power to enchant and even bewitch people with your charisma? Would you wield your allure without mercy? Would you feel wicked delight in their attraction to you, even if you didn’t plan to give them what they want? I suspect these questions aren’t entirely rhetorical right now. You may have more mojo at your disposal than you realize.

Speaking for your conscience, I will ask you not to desecrate your privilege. If you must manipulate people, do it for their benefit as well as yours. Use your raw magic responsibly. Halloween costume suggestion: a mesmerizing guru, an irresistible diva, a stage magician.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I

had a dream that you were in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? You were like the character played by George Clooney after he escaped from a prison chain gang. Can you picture it? You were wearing a striped jailbird suit, and a ball and chain were still cuffed around your ankle. But you were sort of free, too. You were on the lam, making your way from adventure to adventure as you eluded those who would throw you back in the slammer. You were not yet in the clear, but you seemed to be en route to total emancipation. I think this dream is an apt metaphorical depiction of your actual life right now. Could you somehow use it in designing your Halloween costume?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I invite you to try the following exercise: Imagine the most powerful role you could realistically attain in the future. This is a position or niche or job that will authorize you to wield your influence to the max. It will give you the clout to shape the environments you share with other people. It will allow you to freely express your important ideas and have them be treated seriously. Let your imagination run a little wild as you visualize the possibilities. Incorporate your visions into your Halloween costume.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In the

course of earning a living, I have worked four different jobs as a janitor and six as a dishwasher. On the brighter side, I have performed as a songwriter and lead singer for six rock bands and currently write a syndicated astrology column. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you Aquarians are primed to cultivate a relationship with your work life that is more like my latter choices than the former. The next eight months will be a favorable time to ensure that you’ll be doing your own personal equivalent of rock singer or astrology columnist well into the future. Halloween costume suggestion: your dream job.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Author

Robert Louis Stevenson loved the work of poet Walt Whitman, recommending it with the same enthusiasm as he did William Shakespeare’s. Stevenson also regarded Whitman as an unruly force of nature, and in one famous passage, called him “a large shaggy dog, just unchained, scouring the beaches of the world and baying at the moon.” Your assignment is to do your best imitation of a primal creature like Whitman.

In fact, consider being him for Halloween.

Maybe you could memorize passages from Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and recite them at random moments. Here’s one: “I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, / I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES and DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

Karl Travis You may have heard of string theory, but have you ever heard of knot theory? Thomas Mattman, a professor of mathematics and statistics at Chico State, has a passion for knots and the mathematical study of them, and shares it with colleagues and students alike at the annual Topology Conference at Chico State (happening May 2-4), where knot theorists from all over the continent come to talk knots.

Mattman, a native of Canada, has two young daughters with his wife, local jazz pianist Shigemi Minetaka. He has been teaching at Chico State for 13 years and has been working with knot theory for nearly 20 years.

What exactly is knot theory?

15 MINUTES

BREZSNY’S

For the week of October 31, 2013

We look at knots, which are what you think, but, the question is, when somebody gives you two jumbles of string, you want to know—is there a way to move this one around to make it look just like that one? It’s hard to tell just by looking at it, so what we usually do is find different ways of associating a number or some equation with the two knots, so that if they’re different, then the equations will be different.

Where does knot theory come from?

It started with chemists about a hundred years ago. Before they had the atomic theory, they had this idea that substances were different because they were represented by different knots, and that’s what made nickel different from iron. So they started to make a table of knots, like a periodic table. But then, pretty soon after that, they started to know more about atoms, so the chemists put it aside and the mathematicians got interested and started making it their own.

What is it that fascinates you about the theory?

For me it’s like a puzzle. Some people do crossword puzzles, some do Sudoku; it’s an intellectual challenge. It’s like Mount Everest—you do it because it’s there.

What are some of its practical applications?

One of the main things that people have been doing is using it to study DNA. It turns out that there’s an enzyme that will grab two pieces of DNA and make a little break in one of them and pass through the other and then refasten. This enzyme is really clever because it can take a complicated bit of DNA, that’s really tangled up, and untangle it very efficiently. Mathematicians can help biologists understand how this enzyme works.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Mathematics has a lot of creativity and beauty to it, and it’s unfortunate that many people don’t have a chance to see that. Knot theory doesn’t feel like math for a lot of people, so it’s a nice way to make contact with those who maybe had a bad experience with math before.

FROM THE EDGE

by Anthony Peyton Porter anthonypeytonporter@comcast.net

Free gas In the ’60s, when we were gonna go out looking for a party on the weekend, we’d first chip in for gas, usually a dollar or two at a time. I didn’t buy a full tank until I started working at the language lab at college. In Chicago, the Clark station at 95th and South Park (South Park Way was later renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, now sometimes called “Junior Drive.”) was a favorite because it was a penny per gallon cheaper than the Standard station just across the street and 3 cents cheaper than Shell.

There was a legend about how my friend Elgy could get free gas from the Clark station any time Rudolph was working. That made sense, because we all knew Rudolph, and while his elevator might go all the way to the top, it took a helluva long time about it and made you wonder if it was worth the effort. He was a nice guy, placid and affable, and I hope he’s well and happy now.

Elgy would pull up to a pump and tell Rudolph that he wanted a dollar and a half or something, and after Rudolph had gone back to get the hose nozzle and found the gas tank and put the nozzle in the intake

tube and turned on the pump, Elgy would get out of his car and ask Rudolph a random question.

That didn’t make sense at first, because no matter what you might want to know past “Where’s the restroom?” you would never consider asking Rudolph, not if you knew him. Elgy might ask Rudolph, “What’s the quickest way to get to the Loop?” or “What time is the next bus?” only because Rudolph had no answer and it would take him a while to realize it.

When Elgy asked his question, Rudolph would swing his focus from the gas pump around to Elgy, and as Rudolph rattled on trying to find an answer where there wasn’t any, gasoline continued to gush into Elgy’s tank, far exceeding the amount requested.

Back in this particular day, you paid for only what you asked for. The rest was “sticking it to the man.”

The one time Big Bob asked, “Hey, Rudolph, when’s the next election?” Rudolph said a lot of people had tried that trick, and we had been in school together, and he would have to make up the difference out of his pay, and “Why would you want to cheat me like that?” That’s when we realized that Rudolph wasn’t “the man” we thought we were sticking it to, and we didn’t have an answer any more than he did.

October 31, 2013

CN&R 39

KICK OFF EVERY SATURDAY WITH A COLD ONE.