S-2012-03-29 by News & Review

SARAN WRAP + TOILET = APRIL FOOLS’ CLASSIC see Streetalk, page 4

HEALTH-CARE REFORM HEATS UP see Frontlines, page 6

EXPLOSIONS

HIT MONDAVI see Music, page 32

RIVER CATS VS. A’S see Night&Day, page 20

FRENCH FOR DJ see 15 Minutes, page 43

SACRAMENTO’S NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

VOLUME 23, ISSUE 50

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012

LAKE TAHOE OUTDOOR ARENA AT HARVEYS 2012 SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

BOTH SHOWS ON-SALE THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 30 AT 10AM! LAUREN ALAINA

JOURNEY PAT BENATAR

FEATURING

NEIL GIRALDO

SUGARLAND

Ticketmaster.com or ApeConcerts.com

TotalRewardsTahoe.com

LAUREN ALAINA CANAAN SMITH

LOVERBOY SUNDAY, JULY 22

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18

2 | SN&R | 03.29.12

INSIDE

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.

STAGE

Editor Melinda Welsh Managing Editor Nick Miller Senior Staff Writer Cosmo Garvin Arts & Culture Editor Rachel Leibrock Copy Editor Kyle Buis Associate Copy Editor Shoka Shafiee Calendar Editor Jonathan Mendick Editorial Coordinator Kel Munger Special Sections Editor Becca Costello Editorial Interns Valentín Almanza, Jonathan Nathan, Matthew W. Urner Contributors Sasha Abramsky, Gustavo Arellano, Rob Brezsny, Larry Dalton, Joey Garcia, Jeff Hudson, Eddie Jorgensen, Jonathan Kiefer, Jim Lane, Greg Lucas, Ann Martin Rolke, Garrett McCord, John Phillips, Patti Roberts, Steph Rodriguez, Seth Sandronsky, Amy Yannello

Design Manager Kate Murphy Art Director Priscilla Garcia Associate Art Director Hayley Doshay Editorial Designer India Curry Design Melissa Arendt, Brennan Collins, Mary Key, Marianne Mancina, Skyler Smith Art Directors-at-large Don Button, Andrea Diaz-Vaughn Director of Advertising and Sales Rick Brown Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Joy Webber Advertising Consultants Rosemary Babich, Josh Burke, Vince Garcia, Dusty Hamilton, April Houser, Cathy Kleckner, Dave Nettles, Kelsi White Senior Inside Sales Consultant Olla Ubay Ad Services Coordinator Melissa Bernard Events Interns Samantha Leos Operations Manager Will Niespodzinski Sales Coordinators Shawn Barnum, Rachel Rosin Director of First Impressions Jeff Chinn Distribution Manager Greg Erwin Distribution Services Assistant Larry Schubert Distribution Drivers Mansour Aghdam, Nicholas Babcock, Walt Best, Daniel Bowen, Nina Castro, Jack Clifford, Robert Cvach, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Ramon Garcia, Wayne Hopkins, Brenda Hundley, Wendell Powell, Warren Robertson, Lloyd Rongley, Duane Secco, Jack Thorne, Kaven Umstead

BEFORE

FRONTLINES

FEATURE STORY

come under intense scrutiny across the country this past year. But in California, it’s tough for local communities to get information about the process and where it’s happening since the state doesn’t keep track. SN&R sent Cosmo Garvin to find out if fracking is going on in our region and why environmental groups say the state has largely turned a blind eye to the controversial process.

ARTS&CULTURE

Greenlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The greener, the wiser . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

NIGHT&DAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Events Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 (No) moneyball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Burning the letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 This Modern World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Guest Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

FEATURE STORY

Got fuzz keeping your upper lip warm? Then let’s see if you can cut it with some of the hottest mustachioed men and women in Sacramento. Steph Rodriguez unveils the ’stache. Also: The River Cats take on the Oakland Athletics, Explosions in the Sky (nearly) sell out the Mondavi and Serge Gainsbourg gets a party in Midtown. Popsmart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Hot lips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Scene&Heard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

GREEN DAYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

FRONTLINES

DISH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Fracking—the process of pumping a mixture of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into oil or gas wells—has

This week in the arena universe: Cosmo Garvin looks at STOP, or the Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork initiative and whether it would spell the end for the proposed Sacramento Kings new home. Also this week: Nick Miller chats with Assemblyman Richard Pan on the Affordable Care Act and what a health-care exchange might look like in California, and Amy Wong chats with author Scott Thomas Anderson on meth in the greater region. Bites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Healthy patience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Beats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Crystal clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 For the dogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Advertising Policies All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of Acceptance. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes full responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.

BEFORE

FRONTLINES

Streetalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Letter of the Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Poet’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in SN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. SN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form and to edit them for libel.

ARTS&CULTURE

President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resources Manager Tanja Poley Senior Accountant Kevin Driskill Credit and Collections Manager Renee Briscoe Business Shannon McKenna, Zahida Mehirdel Systems Manager Jonathan Schultz Systems Support Specialist Joe Kakacek Web Developer/Support Specialist John Bisignano Operations Intern Giovanni Sumulong

SN&R is printed by The Paradise Post using recycled newsprint whenever available.

VoÒume 23, Issue 50 | March 29, 2012

Ichi Maki. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The V Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Dish Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Eat It and Reap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Food Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

COOLHUNTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 ASK JOEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 STAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 True West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Sacramento Ballet’s Modern Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Now Playing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

FILM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Being Flynn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

MUSIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Explosions in the sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Sound Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Eight Gigs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Nightbeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

AFTER

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Adult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Free Will Astrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 15 Minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

THE 420

A RT S & C U LT U R E

Check out SN&R’s FREE searchable EVENTS calendar online at www.newsreview.com.

AFTER

COVER DESIGN BY PRISCILLA GARCIA

INSIDE

03.29.12

SN&R

STREETALK Asked at Cosumnes River College:

Best April Fools’ Day prank?

Christina Shiroma lifeguard

I pranked my parents once by telling them I got in a car accident and my car was totaled, so they started freaking out. That was fun. My mom started yelling at me on the phone. And then they showed up, and I told them “April fools!” and they got really upset. My dad was laughing. My mom was upset.

SN&R

03.29.12

Briana Hudgens medical assistant

My best April Fools’ prank was one time I got butter all over the bathroom floor. It was funny, because I put it in the bathtub as well, so whoever took a shower that day, they like slipped and fell everywhere. It was so hilarious.

Steven Anderson student

I once put clear wrap over the toilet and made my friend pee all over himself. That was pretty cool. That’s the best one I can think of.

Kimiko Wright student

I told my mom that I was pregnant, and she got hysterical. My dad was like, “Oh, I’m gonna beat the heck out of someone.” Then later, my parents said that that’s not funny.

Anachristina Shavers student

One day, my uncle decides to go to this guy’s car and roll down his window, and then just pours broken glass all over the car seat, the ground, everything. Dude was like freaking the eff out. He was like calling cops, he was this and that, you know, “My effing car is broken! My window’s broken!” Yeah, that’s a prank.

Nahdxyeli Valdez student

It was just the basic, put saran wrap on the toilet. It was my freshman year in college. I was staying on the girls’ floor, and so me and another roommate snuck down to the boys’ floor, and we did pranks on their bathrooms. ... They didn’t actually catch me, but I was able to enjoy my mischief.

LETTERS

Visit us at www.newsreview.com or email sactoletters @ newsreview.com

Radio responsibility

FIRST SHOT SN&R reader photo of the week PHOTO BY KRISTOPHER KLIMA

Re “Rush to the door” by Natalia Mercado (SN&R Guest comment, March 15): When considering the controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh and his lecherous comments, a larger question yet to be addressed is the role and responsibility of our local radio stations to inform and educate the voting public, especially during a presidential election year. Commercial media ownership groups are directed by their [Federal Communications Commission] licenses to serve the public interest in return for reaping huge profits from use of the publicly owned radio spectrum. Alternative political speakers are seldom heard, as local radio “talk stations” choose to LETTER OF exclusively dedicate blocks of prime time to daily conservative THE WEEK rants by Rush and others. Without being challenged, programs often devolve into politically motivated “bully pulpits” and reap criticism when the bullying becomes unacceptably offensive. But doesn’t management of the station share in the responsibility for programming the pulpit itself? When male arrogance and extreme political agendas dominate all speech, should we be shocked when a female college student is labeled a “slut” or the president a “terrorist”? Where are complex issues to be discussed and debated as we make critical decisions about leadership in an election year? As we proclaim outrage at “bullying in our schools,” how do we justify one-sided radio demagoguery and name-calling as “entertainment”? Are these local radio stations being challenged to step-up and educate and inform as a neutral party or does the ownership group serve as the exclusive loudspeaker for conservative ideologies, candidates, and extreme examples of social engineering? I support all individuals retaining their constitutional rights to debate their political opinions freely. But individuals who own and manage radio and television stations have an obligation to present more than their own profit-driven political agendas. Outrage should be directed at not only what Rush said but the cavalier way in which local radio management, entrusted to be the stewards of this precious public air-wave resource, encourage one voice to dominate all others. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

SN&R asked Facebookers to “show us your ’stache,” and this guy—who is this guy!?—obviously sealed the deal.

This innovative Prop. 63 approach will reduce future unnecessary costs in our health, social services, education and criminal-justice programs due to untreated mental illness.

Ron Cooper Sacramento

Josh needs evolved religion Re “Are you there, God? It’s me, Josh.” by Josh Fernandez (SN&R Arts&Culture, March 22): I really enjoyed this “open letter” by Josh Fernandez to God. It made me laugh and also made me think about why established religions tend to be disconnected to everyday life for so many of us. I admit that I believe there is more to reality than what we see, hear and feel. I’ve studied quantum physics to understand the nature of energy that connects the basic fabric of the universe and researched a wide range of ideas to gather my own thoughts about the divine. It seems to me that the problem with religions is that change and knowledge has accelerated to the point that any institution, which all religions become as soon as they are organized, is inflexible because it is bound by rules and rituals. Without flexibility, religion gets lost in the dust as the world races toward the constantly evolving future. And maybe in this more highly evolved future the notion of separate religions will melt together into a vision of our shared humanity. Ellen McMahill Sacramento

BEFORE

FRONTLINES

Prevention and early intervention for mental health

Dr. Wayne Clark board president California Mental Health Services Authority

Expand Prop. 63

Re “The stigma” by Jeff vonKaenel (SN&R Feature, March 15): California is fortunate to have in [Senate President Pro Tem Darrell] Steinberg a leader who not only understands that prevention and early intervention of mental illnesses are more compassionate and cost effective than institutionalization and homelessness, but who also had the vision to begin transforming our underfunded and crisis-driven mental-health system with Proposition 63. Working together with leaders like Darrell Steinberg and stakeholders statewide, California’s counties are putting the Prop. 63 transformation plan into action with services that enable our diverse communities to see mental wellness as essential to overall health and to deliver the tools individuals need before they reach the crisis point. Through the California Mental Health Services Authority, more than 40 counties have joined together to efficiently and effectively implement three statewide prevention and early intervention programs. These programs save and improve lives by reducing suicides, increasing community support and acceptance for people with mental illness of all ages, and promoting mental wellness in young people with from elementary through university campus programs. |

FEATURE

STORY

Re “The stigma” by Jeff vonKaenel (SN&R Feature, March 15): [Proposition] 63 is currently being limited exclusively to voluntary patients. The homeless psychotic individuals who are on the streets too sick to accept treatment are not being served. Other than Nevada and Los Angeles counties (which implemented Laura’s Law), not a single county offers community services for those too ill to accept it. “Whatever it takes” is a wonderful slogan, but counties have refused to recognize that doing “whatever it takes” may [mean] helping people too ill to accept services rather than simply turning them over to police. Counties should implement Laura’s Law and fund it with Prop. 63 proceeds. D.J. Jaffe executive director Mental Illness Policy Organization

the River City Homeless Program. I was thankful I had shelter and food to eat. There were about 15 women living there. We cooked together, prayed together and became a family. Although some used drugs and alcohol, others learned cognitive skills and had hope for the future. I learned a lot about myself during that time. I live by the motto, “Never give up hope!” And I realized that even though I have a mental illness, I am a very strong person. I would like to see more emphasis on creating funds for research for psychiatric drugs and their horrible side effects. The ones I take have caused me to gain so much weight, that it adds greatly to my depression. Thank you, Steinberg, for all your hard work for the homeless and mentally ill. I am glad you are on my side! Sherrie Tyler Sacramento

POET’S CORNER Waiting here Sunday, lost,

Bravo, Steinberg Re “The stigma” by Jeff vonKaenel (SN&R Feature, March 15): I had the pleasure of meeting [Senate President Pro Tem Darrell] Steinberg several years ago when I lived in a house for the homeless and mentally ill which was called |

A RT S & C U LT U R E

Have a great photo? Email it to firstshot@ newsreview.com. Please include your full name and phone number. File size must not exceed 10 MB.

AFTER

my growing need caught in the horizon, I found this garden caught in the circle of the past: fried paradise. Heat is running out into night (fruit is but a pilgrimage) I shall love all the thorns that bleed. —Cynthia Linville

Sacramento

03.29.12

SN&R

Full STOP

Assemblyman Richard Pan says his colleagues at the Capitol and industry leaders are finally realizing that health care needs to transform.

Last week, a group calling itself STOP—Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork— launched a ballot measure requiring voter approval for any public subsidies for a new Kings arena. The measure would, if it reaches the ballot and is passed by voters, likely spell the end to the by COSMO GARVIN arena deal now working its way through City Hall. Because a lot of Sacramentans, maybe most, are deeply skeptical of the arena proposal. But Bites is also deeply skeptical of STOP’s measure. At least as it’s written now: “Section 1. Title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘No Public Funding of Arena Act.’” That’s functional, if not very pretty. But then there’s this: “Section 2. Voter Approval. The city shall provide no financial support for the development of an Entertainment and Sports Complex (ESC) in the Downtown Railyards site without the approval of a majority of voters.” That’s it. Actually, Bites added in the periods at the ends of each of those sentences. Because they were missing. Along with a lot of other stuff. Like definitions. What is an “Entertainment and Sports Complex”? Would this new law prohibit any public money being spent to advance any sports and entertainment facility in the rail yards in the future? How about an entertainment facility like a Mondavi Center-sized concert hall? How about some public money for an amenity that includes sports fields for public use, along with a playground and community center? Is that an “entertainment and sports complex”? What is the “Downtown Railyards site”? Does it include all of the 240 acres that we commonly think of as the rail yards? Or just the handful of parcels near the train depot now proposed as an arena site? If backers stop calling it an “Entertainment and Sports Complex” and switch to the more truthful “Kings arena,” would it then be exempt from this ordinance? Wait, it is an ordinance that STOP is after, right? Because it doesn’t actually say. And what does “financial support” mean? What about a different project that’s 90 percent privately funded, and only needs some help with infrastructure? Would that have to go to a public vote? For that matter, is any public expenditure on any infrastructure in the downtown rail yards going to have to come to a public vote, if it helps to develop a sports or entertainment facility? Would any city planner be allowed to spend even an hour of their time on an arena plan? Or would that be “financial support” requiring a public vote? “Don’t be ridiculous, Bites,” you say. “Everybody knows what this measure means.” Maybe. But what will it mean five years from now? The Sacramento city attorney has two weeks to vet this minimalist measure and give it a title and summary. But a full impartial analysis by the city attorney won’t happen until (and unless) STOP collects the 30,000 or so signatures it needs by the end of May. (You can find out more at www.stoparenasubsidy.com.) That’s very hard to do with a volunteer effort. It will be even harder with a shoddy measure. If you’ve read this column before, you know Bites supports the idea of a public vote on any multi-hundred-million-dollar arena subsidy for the Kings. But we needn’t make it impossible for the city to pursue a better project in the future. Last week, Bites spoke briefly with James Cathcart, one of the citizens behind STOP. “We looked around and nobody else was doing it,” he said. Cathcart was for many years a consultant in the California Senate, so he’s not, in his words, “some wide-eyed know-nothing.” But Bites is, at least on this measure. Because it leaves so many unknowns. There’s time to write a better ordinance protecting the city from boondoggles while still giving City Hall flexibility to go after a good project. Better to stop this measure and start over. Ω

STOP’s arena ballot measure is just not good enough.

SN&R

03.29.12

Healthy, patience Most of America awaits Supreme Court’s health-care-reform ruling while California vigorously embraces Affordable Care Act As the second anniversary of the health-care reform law approaches, California health advocates hailed the changes that have been made and by Christina Jewett those on the horizon. They also noted the difficulties for California, which is emerging as one of the most aggressive states in implementing reform. While the Affordable Care Act has been a political hot potato in many states, it has been a catalyst for a dizzying array of reforms in California. Changes include the creation of a health benefit “exchange” that will offer low-cost plans to millions who might be required to Christina Jewett is a reporter for California buy policies. Lawmakers also are busy Watch, the state’s selecting “essential benefits” that must be largest investigative covered. Groups of doctors and hospitals are reporting team, and banding together to form accountable-care part of the Center for organizations that are meant to cut costs and Investigative Reporting. Learn more promote wellness. The Medi-Cal program at www.california has shipped cards to millions in anticipation watch.org. of a massive expansion in 2014.

Road bumps to reform have included bureaucratic tangles as Medi-Cal patients are moved into managed-care plans to hold down costs as the program’s coverage expands. And questions are cropping up over whether there are enough doctors, nurses and technicians to provide care to millions more who will gain coverage under the law.

During a Capitol press briefing last week, state leaders hailed benefits the Affordable Care Act has brought to California. During a state Capitol press briefing last week, health advocates and the Assembly and Senate health committee chairmen hailed

PHOTO BY WES DAVIS

FRONTLINES

Sacto and meth See FRONTLINES

Three days, the puppy dies? See FRONTLINES

Greenwise update See GREEN DAYS

Burning letters See ESSAY

Forgive student debt? See EDITORIAL

BEATS

Good riddance Gary? have health insurance no longer face a cap on coverage in case of a catastrophic illness. Health industry and advocacy staff are debating what types of care will be considered “essential benefits” that small group and individual health plans must offer in 2014. They include maternity care, mental health, emergency and prescription-drug care. California lawmakers are expected to define benefits in legislation that is now pending.

“We can’t sustain double-digit increases in health-care costs every year forever.” Assemblyman Richard Pan

Focus on outcomes Assemblyman Richard Pan says industry is ready to change It was an Occupy General Hospital moment: Physician and current Sacramento Assemblyman Richard Pan told SN&R that 50 percent of the health-care dollars in America are spent on the sickest 10 percent of patients. But this is the state of the nation’s health-care industry. “And where we are now is unsustainable,” Pan insisted. This, of course, is not news to many. But it is big news to hear that Pan is optimistic on the two-year anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act. As a member of the Assembly health committee, Pan hears encouraging dialogue under the rotunda dome, people talking about meaningful change. Things such as incentivizing doctors and insurers to focus on outcomes, not just earning income for more and more surgeries. Pan says the industry is motivated by recent, and unfortunate, rate jumps. “We can’t sustain double-digit

BEFORE

FRONTLINES

FEATURE

increases in health-care costs every year forever,” he said. “A very large portion of the medical community understands that we really do need to move in a different direction.” Specifically, he cited California’s forthcoming healthinsurance exchange—a stipulation of Obama’s health-care reform act where formerly priced-out patients will be able to purchase viable coverage at lower costs—which will continue to motivate insurers and physicians. This is because they’ll be focusing more on patient outcomes—there’s that term again— since there will be less of a financial incentive to perform procedures or see a revolving door of patients. But these changes, like a lot of things in medicine, will be gradual. “It is a long road,” Pan conceded. “But let’s put it this way: This is really an opportunity for transformation.”

—Nick Miller nickam@newsreview.com

STORY

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AFTER

As he departs for the East Coast, The McClatchy Co. CEO Gary Pruitt gets credit for steering his company through financial disaster. Wait, during his tenure Gary Pruitt steered The McClatchy Co. into financial disaster. Wait … Either way, Pruitt is out of here as of last week, resigning his post as boy genius at McClatchy (The Sacramento Bee’s parent company, headquartered in Midtown Sacramento) and heading to New York to lead the Associated Press news service, for better or worse. For both organizations. The Bee’s own business writer Dale Kasler wrote an evenhanded account of Pruitt’s tenure, saying the man will “will be forever judged by one transaction: the $4.4 billion takeover of Knight Ridder Inc. in 2006.” That purchase made McClatchy, briefly, the second largest newspaper chain in the country (it’s now the third) and was variously described in the trade press as being like “a dolphin swallowing a small whale,” or a “python swallowing an elephant” or, (in SN&R) “like a cat eating a watermelon.” Who could have known that Pruitt’s big deal would cause such Bee seeing you ... heartburn later on? The company took on $2.5 billion in debt, just as the bottom was falling out of the newspaper industry (and a couple of years later, the whole economy). In 2005, the year before the acquisition, McClatchy stock hit a high of $75.05 per share. Today, it’s less than $3. For years, McClatchy papers had a no-layoff policy, preferring to reduce costs through attrition when necessary. That policy was dramatically reversed with several rounds of layoffs throughout the chain. Just at the Sacramento paper, the Bee went through seven downsizings, losing about 400 people, in the last four years. Today, the company’s debt remains at about $1.6 billion. But McClatchy revenue has gone from plummeting to merely sliding, and there haven’t been layoffs for many months. Revenue is down for newspapers everywhere, and Pruitt certainly didn’t cause the turmoil that the industry finds itself in today. But Bee writer Ed Fletcher wrote on the website of the Sacramento Bee newspaper guild (the paper’s union) that Pruitt deserved his chunk of the blame. “Gary Pruitt quickly went from being the Boy Wonder of newspaper industry to a subject of scorn and derision,” Fletcher wrote. “As others saw trouble ahead for the newspaper industry, he doubled down thinking he could outsmart the market by jettisoning less profitable papers. That bet proved to be wrong.” Financial news blog Wall Street 24/7 put it less charitably, declaring, “AP Hires Worst CEO in Newspaper Industry.” The McClatchy board thought more highly of Pruitt, and rewarded him generously. He was consistently ranked by the Sacramento Business Journal as the best compensated CEO in Sacramento—racking up salaries and bonuses many, many multiples beyond the pay of the average worker Bee. According to the Business Journal, in 2010 Pruitt was paid $2.97 million. (Cosmo Garvin)

E L NEUBURGER Y NO TO B

Health leaders also are determining how the state’s health exchange will operate, conduct outreach and broker deals with insurers. The exchange is expected to begin in 2014, ideally offering affordable and valuable health-insurance plans to people who will be mandated to buy coverage. The “individual mandate” stands to be upheld or struck down by the Supreme Court sometime this summer after oral arguments took place this week. Under the Affordable Care Act, six California “pioneer” accountable-care

organizations have been named. They consist of groups of doctors and hospitals that will accept per-patient payments and be rewarded or penalized based on the health status of their clientele. The program is meant to transform health incentives so providers can cut costs even as they seek to fend off chronic illness. California’s vigor in upending the way health care is delivered has, however, met with the criticism that it’s moving too fast. That concern was the centerpiece of a recent legislative hearing that examined the challenges of Medi-Cal recipients who are being moved into managed-care programs. Some of those patients were unable to keep scheduled surgeries or access previously covered services. Gary Passmore, vice president of the Congress of California Seniors, said state budget cuts imposing co-pays and slashing 10 percent of many Medi-Cal providers’ payments also have posed problems for the program, which is expected to cover 3 million more people under health reform. “What we’re seeing is the diminution of the value of a Medi-Cal card,” he said, noting that California’s Medicaid program is among the lowest-paying in the United States. And state Sen. Ed Hernandez said he’s held hearings over the issue of having a workforce adequate to care for 6 million people who are likely to be newly insured in 2014. “We are going to have a huge access problem,” he said, especially in rural and inner-city areas. “We need to make sure that there is going to be a workforce that is going to see these patients.” Ω

PHO

benefits the law has brought to California (see sidebar, “Focus on outcomes,” for comments from Sacramento assemblyman and health-committee member Richard Pan). “The passage of this law has been transformative. And for many, I hazard to say, it’s been lifesaving,” said Assemblyman Bill Monning, chairman of the Assembly Health Committee. According to a report compiled by Health Access, a consumer-advocacy group that convened the briefing, changes under the law in California include: • About 8,600 Californians with preexisting medical conditions have gained access to affordable health insurance. Patients who have illnesses such as cancer or multiple sclerosis—who face high costs or denials on the open market—can buy insurance through the program. • More than 350,000 young adults in the state have been able to stay on their parents’ health-insurance plans until they are 26. • More than 370,000 low-income people have been covered by an expansion of Medi-Cal, the health insurer for low-income Californians, that is part of the state’s “bridge to reform” waiver to alter the statefederal program. The report says consumers saved more than $100 million when health-insurance rate increases were rolled back or withdrawn as a result of increased regulatory power to review those increases. Also, seniors saved $171 million in prescription-drug costs in a plan to close the Medicare limits in coverage. And 12 million people who currently

03.29.12

SN&R

FRONTLINES Classes Featured: Poker • Blackjack Pai Gow • Routelle Mini Baccarat

Crystal clear

$99 Tuitio Spe n This we cial ek

Local author sinks teeth into meth addiction in the Sacramento foothills

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Popular TV dramas such as Breaking Bad and Intervention offer viewers fresh and searing looks at methamphetamine culture. But local crime by reporter Scott Thomas Anderson says his new Amy Wong book, Shadow People, is a different and untold story of the meth epidemic in America. Anderson spent 18 months embedded with police in the rural counties just outside of Sacramento looking for the connection between meth addiction and criminality. After logging hundreds of hours with law enforcement from Calaveras, Jackson, Ione, Amador, and El Dorado, among others, he says national media, such as Frontline and National Geographic, do not sufficiently draw the connection the between crime and addiction in meth-affected communities.

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Scott Thomas Anderson interviewed more than 200 addicts in researching his new book. A former SN&R contributor, you can find out more about his book, Shadow People, at www.scott thomasanderson.com.

“I have seen good media pieces on meth, but they always leave out what I wrote about,” Anderson told SN&R, “which is the victimization of what this addiction drives people to do. We’re talking about all manners of property crime, identity theft, domestic violence, vicious assaults. “Child abuse is the most prevalent and invisible tragedy in the whole meth story.” Meth is a gripping drug that affects the brain’s biochemistry. Users who become dependent on the drug have relapse rates as high as 92 percent, Anderson’s book reports. Addicts suffer from paranoia, self-mutilation, sleeplessness, tooth erosion, delusions of meth mites crawling over the skin, and seeing what is described as “shadow people.” Though generally cheap, the meth market is highly volatile. One addict told Anderson that he could maintain his meth addiction on $7 a day.

Shadow People documents the U.S. government’s attempts to ban chemicals such as propanone in 1980 and, more importantly, its crackdown on ephedrine in 2005, which has failed to halt meth production and demand. The ban lead to domestic labs in most states falling by nearly 80 percent, and statistics released between 2006 and 2008 initially suggested the ban on ephedrine lead to the decline in domestic production and usage. “But it was a phantom punch,” Anderson argued. He explained that during the bans, the way meth was produced and trafficked evolved dramatically. “Prior to 2005 in California, most meth was coming out of so-called ‘ma-and-pa’ meth labs that you find in Sacramento, all along the foothills, labs all along the [Highway] 99 corridor in Central and Southern California,” he said. Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that 85 percent of meth now comes from Mexico. According to Anderson, most of the meth in Amador, Calaveras and El Dorado counties comes through Sacramento County via Southern California. This is based on police intelligence and accounts from addicts and captured traffickers. “Large drug cartels have taken the market over, and they’re cooking mountains of meth in Mexico and bringing it up into the United States,” he said. “Believe it or not, a lot of addicts are really disgruntled about the new trafficking setup, because before they could get meth from their friends who were cooking it.” The production changes in meth have also changed the population of users. “It is still chewing up poor white [communities], but it’s also causing a lot of tragedy and heartache in the Hispanic community, too, now,” Anderson said. And what you do for a living plays a big role, too.

Most of the meth in Amador, Calaveras and El Dorado counties comes through Sacramento County. “Truckers, construction workers, factory assembly people—anyone that works in an industry where there’s a financial incentive to make more money doing things your body really can’t handle—those are the industries and jobs where you see meth creep in.” Anderson is a proponent for youth programs and prevention initiatives to stave off a large fourth generation of meth addicts. “I think that’s the real battlefront. It’s the young people,” Anderson said. “Amador, Calaveras and El Dorado counties—they are on their third generation of meth addicts now.” Ω

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City animal-shelter head insists fate of Hayden Bill won’t lead to more dead pets A provocative headline looms: “State budget cuts kill innocent pets.” But reality at Sacramento animal shelters and by Jimmy Spencer such a headline are two different things entirely. Gov. Jerry Brown proposed repealing parts of the Hayden Bill, which requires shelters to care for animals at least four to six days before euthanizing. If funding is rescinded, shelters will not be reimbursed for keeping animals alive. Some call this inhumane—but reports argue that said funding has little bearing on whether stray dogs or cats are adopted or die. For Gina Knepp, director of the City of Sacramento Animal Care Services shelter on Front Street, big changes to the Hayden Bill, passed in 1990 by then state Sen. Tom Hayden, would have little or no effect on her job. “I can’t speak for the other shelters, but our business here at the Front Street shelter is to save as many lives as we can,” Knepp said. “With or without the money, I am still going to bust my ass to make sure that those protections happen. “But I don’t know if that is going to happen elsewhere,” she added. The Hayden Bill requires local shelters to offer a defined level of protection for domestic animals. The law also extended the window that a shelter is required to care for an animal before euthanizing it to four to six business days. The state, meanwhile, once reimbursed local governments for the extra The City of Sacramento care and money spent to keep these Animal Care Services shelter is located at animals alive. But there have been no 2127 Front Street; six-day hold requirements at shelters (916) 808-7387; since the law was suspended in 2009. www.cityofsacramento. Gov. Brown’s partial repeal of org/generalservices/ the Hayden Bill would save the state animal-care. $46.3 million in the coming fiscal year, an amount that represents approximately two years’ worth of claims. This proposed cut is currently in front of the Legislature for consideration. Brown’s Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer explained that if the governor’s proposal is approved, cities and counties can still hold pets for longer than three days. “It could be six days, it could be 10 days,” he said. “All the provision is saying is that if you have a hold period longer than three days, the state is not going to reimburse or pay for the costs associated with that stay period longer than three days.” BEFORE

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Knepp told SN&R that her city shelter has not received state reimbursements “for a very long time” but continues to abide by the Hayden Bill. “Granted, it is a struggle and juggling act,” she added. “Funding would be incredibly helpful, but the Front Street shelter is committed to doing what is right for the animals and the people who lost them or will adopt them.” Yet while the bill’s intent seems to benefit adoption, findings of a commission on state mandates tell a different story: A review found no link between state funding and programs that encourage animal adoption. Instead, it found that state reimbursements actually awarded more money to the shelters that euthanize the most animals, rather than those successful in adoptions.

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Gina Knepp director City of Sacramento Animal Care Services Knepp agrees with the commission, acknowledging that the mandate does nothing to increase the number of California residents each year who will adopt a pet. Simply, there will never be a shortage of pets available for adoption. “The problem lies in that not all people choose to adopt a pet from a shelter or rescue group,” Knepp argued. “People may choose to buy their pets from pet stores or breeders, while others opt for more affordable alternatives. “Go to Craigslist on any given day and look at how many animals are either being sold for very little money, and some even being offered for free.” In a YouTube video published in January, former state Sen. Hayden urged that the bill remain untouched. “I think that ever since [the bill was enacted], governors, including Jerry Brown, have tried to save a few bucks,” Hayden said in the video. “But the costs of that is to put countless dogs and cats to death, and I don’t think any governor should want to do that. “It is not a budget issue, because you can solve the problem with penalties or fees. It is a humane issue.” Ω

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Sustainable ag supporters partner with the Grange

In 1867, a group of seven men sat around a wooden table in Washington, D.C., and agreed to form a national agricultural organization that brought isolated local farmers together to work for their common interests in chapters around the country. That organization was the National Grange, and it became the go-to organization for farmers of that era. The Grange was way ahead of its time, representing farmers against the powerful railroad barons, advocating for women’s rights and supporting agricultural education. But as the number of small, local farmers decreased, so did Grange membership, and so did its political power. While the organization still has 2,700 chapters nationwide and 206 in California, the Grange is now rich in buildings but poor in members. At one time, it had 30,000 to 40,000 California members, but now it is down to 10,000. And the members are aging. Within a few decades, a large percentage of them may be farming Will the oldest in the afterlife. Without a new generation to take their places, agricultural organization the California Grange and its in the United States be buildings will fade away. But a small group of willing to redefine itself? people interested in sustainable agriculture saw an opportunity. Would the oldest agricultural organization in the United States be willing to redefine itself by including community members who support sustainable agriculture? Instead of fighting the railroads, today’s Grange could bring together all the people who support sustainable agriculture—small, family-run rural farmers; urban farmers; community-garden supportLearn more about the ers; farmers’ market consumers; and even people California Grange at who just like eating healthy food. www.california The sustainable agriculture advocates, led by the grange.org. newly elected California Grange president Robert McFarland, found that the Grange membership was very open to this idea. In California, the oldest agricultural organization in the state is now in the forefront of agricultural thinking. When I met McFarland for lunch, he told me how he first became connected with the Grange when it supported his efforts to preserve his creek. According to McFarland, the 10,000 California Grange members were thrilled to support sustainable agriculture. With 206 California chapters and 185 Grange buildings, McFarland believes that the Grange can be Jeff vonKaenel is the focal point of a social movement. And at a cost of the president, CEO and only $30 per year, Grange membership is open to majority owner nearly everyone. Here in the Sacramento region, we of the News & Review have Grange chapters in Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, newspapers in Sacramento, Chico Rio Linda and Orangevale, to name just a few. and Reno. While this combination of sustainable-farming supporters and the Grange may seem like a wildly impossible idea, that’s what they said about the very creation of this organization way back in 1876. Ω

PHOTO BY WILLIAM LEUNG

GREEN DAYS The greener, the wiser SN&R chats with Julia Burrows, new head of the mayor’s Greenwise Joint Venture environmental nonprofit “Emerald City” is Mayor Kevin Johnson’s follow-the-green-brick-road vision for a clean air, smart water-use, green-tech by Jeff vonKaenel and eco-minded future here in Sacramento. jef fv@ But talking about an emerald city newsreview.com and actually becoming one are two very different worlds. The mayor launched his Greenwise Sacramento environmental campaign in 2010, and new executive director, Julia Burrows, now leads the charge. This past February, Greenwise Joint Venture even received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. But there’s still a mountain of work to be done. More than 100 action items, in fact. SN&R spoke with Burrows to get an update on the city’s sustainability campaign. Some of our readers aren’t up to speed with Greenwise. So, why don’t you talk about its genesis, and what you’re up to now? OK, so Mayor Kevin Johnson launched Greenwise in May 2010, and the purpose was to come up with a shared vision for our region to become the greenest region in the country and a hub for clean technology. He appointed a leadership council, and we had five policy committees that met over an eight-month period to develop a regional action plan. … Today, we have four purposes as Greenwise Joint Venture. The first is to continue to convene, coordinate and align leaders in the region, so we’re going to keep the speaker series; we’re going to have working groups. ... Second, to obviously implement the regional action plan, so we have this hundred-page document with 103 actions in it, in economy engagement and environment.

Find out more at http://greenwisejv.org.

Full disclosure: In his role as CEO of the News & Review newspapers, Jeff vonKaenel is in conversations with leaders in the local and statewide environmental and sustainability realm related to possible creation of paid, client-based education publications.

BEFORE

How do groups such as SMUD and Sacramento Area Council of Governments and the Sacramento Tree Foundation, which have large staffs and that are doing big things, fit in with Greenwise? In the case of the tree planting, for us it’s making more connections for them—and that’s an easy one to explain, because it’s kind of ramping up and making sure that because we have a common goal … we’re going to support them in planting trees and help with marketing, help with contacts for potential sponsors, and just trying to make |

FRONTLINES

sure that it’s on the radar of people like Mayor Johnson to show up at events. When you have a project like “smart grid” and the region … if I’m meeting with somebody—if I know what SMUD is doing, if I know what [Sacramento] State is doing—I can be part of the storytelling, because I may come in contact with people that they don’t, I’m part of their marketing arm. …

“If you don’t set goals ... then we’re not going to move the dial.” Julia Burrows executive director Greenwise Joint Venture I think that’s really going to be a great added value out of Greenwise, that we’re going to fund the “funder”—the funding scout—and we’re going to help edit grant applications and polish them. I think that bringing the Greenwise speakers was very inspirational and cool, but to me, there was always this kind of bizarre disconnect, which is we want to make Sacramento the greenest city ever, people are ready to put up signs in the airport proclaiming that we are the greenest city ever, and yet the amount of water we use is 300 cubic gallons per person. Compared to Southern California, which is 100. … You have to set those goals, or else you’ll never get there. And water, the state mandate is there, and—in listening to the folks involved in that—there was no way you could set a goal that was stiffer than what the state’s requiring. … We’re going to try our best to work with the air districts, work with the cleaner-air partnership, work with John Woodling over at the Regional Water Authority. … But you’re right, [Greenwise’s action items are] almost so broad that it’s a bit daunting. But then again, if you don’t set goals and you don’t have people continuously have people talking about it, then we’re not going to move the dial.

FEATURE

STORY

Greenwise Joint Venture executive director Julia Burrows brings 20 years of experience to the table—a table hopefully made of reclaimed wood and eco-friendly products.

The engagement was excellent at Greenwise. But then sometimes we were in this situation where we were discussing something, but none of us were experts. It was like having a discussion on how to diagnose a patient, all six of us contributed, but only one of us went to medical school. (Laughs.) I sat in on some of those. … I’m trying to figure out who the champions are. … But to actually have the people and ask, “What are you guys doing and what could we be doing?” I think that would be great—and starting with water, starting with the water folks. But are there any major water-conservation campaigns going on right now in Sacramento? I am not aware of one. Well, that’s my point. I’ve seen fractured water campaigns going on, like if you’re in Yolo County, they’ve got their water campaign, and if you’re in Roseville, they’ve got their water campaign. But if the idea is to get everyone in the region together in the same room.

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So, how do we go to that next level? It’s not difficult. It’s not difficult to turn off your sprinklers in November, because it’s going to rain enough between now and April that you don’t need to have water. And if it is a little brown, so what? Get used to that look. … If I were to ask you who the environmental leader in the region is, who is it? Doris Matsui. But the city could do a lot. They are talking big, but they are not doing the basic things that they should be doing. This has been a really valuable conversation, it really has. With my economic background, I am going around and saying financing is key. But this really is about the big picture, the whole portfolio of things, and making sure that we take advantage of opportunities that are right there in front of us. And you know what that means? That means time. That’s what it takes; it takes time to ask, time to prioritize, and then time to change the dial. And some resources. Ω

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I recently received a big packet of letters I wrote to my friend Bob between 1972 and 1977—hundreds of letters. He was cleaning out his garage and by came upon the cache, and since he didn’t want Todd Walton them anymore, he gave them back to me. The an author, musician first several letters I read so annoyed me and and regular contributor to SN&R upset me and embarrassed me, that I burned them, the woodstove in my office handy for the swift eradication of printed matter. But then I regretted burning the letters; and a moment later I was glad I burned them; and then I regretted the burning; but then I was glad. I didn’t like who I was in those letters. I didn’t like how I came across. I loathed how self-deprecating and self-aggrandizing I was, sometimes in the same sentence.

I burned those letters because they confirmed my lifelong suffering from two huge and insanely competing ideas: that I am good, and that I am no good.

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We were having a long-distance dialogue, Bob and I, but because I didn’t have his letters to refer to, I could only guess at what he might have written to elicit the various responses from me, most of which seemed insensitive and pompous and stupid and obnoxious, so much so that I marveled Bob had stayed my friend. We disagreed about many things, but we also clearly loved each other. We couldn’t find our own ways in the world but had reams of advice for the other. I was forever apologizing for being such an asshole in my previous letter, and then I would proceed to be an even bigger asshole. In some of my letters I thanked Bob for sending me postage stamps or a few dollars. I was poor in those days and he had a job working for the state, so he had a little money and shared some with me. In many of these letters I wrote about being poor, and I also wrote about what I would do if I ever struck it rich. I wanted to own a house with some land so I could have a big garden and a greenhouse and an orchard. I wanted to start a collective of artists. I wanted to make world-saving movies. I wanted to be a famous writer and musician. I wanted people to truly, madly, deeply love my music. I wanted love and sex and understanding and sex and to be left alone and to never be left alone. Forty years later, nothing has changed, and everything has changed. I read a few more of my letters to Bob, and I burned those, too, though some of the letters I burned were terribly interesting to me and full of things I had forgotten. I wondered why I felt

the need to burn these letters. When my father died five years ago (two years after my mother died), I inherited several hundred letters I’d written to my parents, and I burned all of those because they were the same letter written over and over again begging my parents to love me despite my being and doing everything they did not want me to be and do. But these letters to Bob were a record of my life in the 1970s, and they contained bits of wit and insight amid the bravado, as well as some fascinating remembrances. Political events, movies, travel experiences, and relationships I’d long forgotten were chronicled therein. Even so, I continued to read and burn, read and burn, until Marcia said she might like to read some of the letters, and her saying that stopped me from feeding more of my past to the flames—the pile diminished by half. Today I read a letter I wrote to Bob in 1975. I imagined Marcia reading the words, and I realized that the reason I burned those other letters was because of the very thing the letters so vividly described, which was that I was ashamed of myself for not succeeding as an artist, ashamed of being poor, ashamed of not owning a house, ashamed of not building that creative collective of fellow artists I so continuously dreamt about, ashamed of having done so little of what I set out to do so many years ago. And this shame is something I still occasionally feel, despite the modicum of success I attained now and then in the intervening years. I understood that I burned those letters because they confirmed my lifelong suffering from two huge and insanely competing ideas trying to share this one little body-mind-spirit consortium called me: the idea that I am good, and the idea that I am no good. Yet when I imagined Marcia reading these letters, I realized that despite the persistent (and annoying) neurotic overlay (which she is well aware of and forgives) the letters have their fascinating moments, so why not keep them around a while longer? Miraculously (or matter-of-factly, if you can’t stomach the idea of miracles), Bob and I still correspond by regular mail, a letter a week back and forth, though we no longer save each other’s letters. We just don’t. We are still the best of friends, having gone through thick and thin together for 45 years, having been teenagers and young bucks and middle-aged farts together—nothing changing and everything changing so fast it doesn’t seem possible—waiting for Godot but no longer overly concerned that he hasn’t showed up yet, because we now know he’ll get here when he gets here. Right, Roberto? Ω

OPINION

EDITORIAL

THIS MODERN WORLD

BY TOM TOMORROW

Forgiveness

Cartoonist Garry Trudeau labels it a “shaming wand” in females who just happen to be seeking a legal Doonesbury, and he correctly equates the abortion. instrument used for compulsory and nonconWhat’s next? Chastity belts? Virginity tests, sensual invasive transvaginal-ultrasound such as women are forced to endure in some procedures to rape. A sexual predator receives Middle-Eastern countries for the crime of years of jail time for forcible penetration with speaking their minds? If this sounds fara foreign object. fetched, remember: Not This is not forcible, so long ago, the very you say? But any time a idea of “shaming What’s next? Chastity female is required, withwands” and compulsory out consent, to have her transvaginal ultrasounds belts? Virginity tests, by would have been Dorothy L. Wake vagina penetrated with a such as women have decried as “far-fetched.” the author of Mother 10-inch ultrasound wand been forced to endure in as a condition for obtainThese misogynists will Jones, Revolutionary stop at nothing! Leader of Labor and ing a legal medical some Middle-Eastern Social Reform and procedure—an aborIf women were purcountries for the crime was an editor and tion—that constitutes suing and enacting writer for “force.” And the men of speaking their minds? legislation to control Sacramento’s former who pursue and pass male sexuality and progressive reproduction, men newspaper, Because such laws, as well as those who actually commit this crime against would be rioting in the streets. But, of course, People Matter females, are rapists—who, like all rapists, are such a scenario is beyond our imagination, obsessed with controlling females through because males are firmly in control of all sexual violations. branches of government and, overwhelmingly, Have a comment? If someone hires a hit man to commit women are not participants in our rape culture. Express your views murder, both they and the hit man are guilty— Male control has raped our environment; plunin 350 words on even though the one who did the hiring didn’t dered our homes, retirement plans, pensions a local topic of interest. actually pull the trigger. In the case of these and jobs; educational opportunities; health Send an e-mail to new compulsory transvaginal-ultrasound laws, care; and last but not least, assaulted and vioeditorial@ others are being paid to commit forcible rape lated our Constitution. newsreview.com. with a foreign object on an entire class of Rise up, women and caring men, before it’s too late! Ω

Here’s the bad news: The average student who graduated from college in 2010 has accumulated $25,000 in student debt. And that number increases with age as interest adds up. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that students (and their parents) are borrowing more each year to keep up with the rising cost of college and the reduced amount of aid available. And then student graduates into one of the dimmest job markets in recent memory. Enter the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012, House Resolution 4170, sponsored by Rep. Hansen Clark (D-Missouri). This bill would make a number of changes to the student-loan process, the first—and most far-reaching—a “10/10 Loan Repayment Plan.” What it means for the average graduate is that once you’ve paid Don’t think of this as 10 percent of your discretionary income every month for 10 years, a handout. It’s an the loan can be forgiven. investment. Right This provision alone would make a huge difference for those now, recent college college graduates who are burgraduates are having dened by student-loan debt, but also working in a low-paying the worst time of all field—many social workers, in the job market. health-care workers, and even some teachers—as well as those people who ran into severe difficulties (like health issues) after graduating and are unable to work. But the forgiveness provision is not the only good thing about this act. It also caps the interest rate for federally subsidized student loans at 3.4 percent. That’s a big deal; the interest rate for Stafford loans is set to rise to 6.8 percent on July 1, while many borrowers are still struggling with the recession’s consequences. Another big plus are the changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which will reduce from 10 to five years the length that graduates in some low-paying public-service jobs (special-education teachers and public-health workers, for example) will have to pay before loan forgiveness kicks in. Finally, if enacted as proposed, this law would allow those who have also made private-education loans with banks or other for-profit lenders to refinance the loans through the federal student-loan system. Learn more about the Don’t think of this as a handout. It’s an investment. Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012 Right now, recent college graduates are having the at Open Congress: worst time of all in the job market—mostly because www.opencongress.org/ those of us who are older are staying put, thanks to the bill/112-h4170/show. economic insecurity we’re all experiencing. This delayed beginning of their careers, coupled with the heavy burden of debt accrued for their educations, is putting an entire generation at economic risk. It’s not a risk our country can afford. We’re talking about our best hope for a decent future when we refer to our college students and our recent college graduates. We need these well-educated young people to build the foundation for a strong economy, and that’s a tough job under the best of circumstances. With debt in the mid-five figures, it’s next to impossible. We urge our readers to call or email their Congressional representatives with strong support for the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012. If we have hope for the future, we need to support the people who will build it. Ω

BEFORE

Enough already

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FEATURE

STORY

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AFTER

03. 29.12

SN&R

Why isn’t the state regulating fracking? California wants to know. BY COSMO GARVIN COSMOG@NEWSREVIEW.COM PHOTOS BY

WILLIAM LEUNG

SN&R

03.29.12

epending on whom you ask, fracking is either the new environmental bogeyman or a blessing for America’s energy supply. It is blamed for contaminated groundwater in Wyoming and for earthquakes in Ohio. When fracking is mentioned, people think about YouTube clips of people setting tap water on fire as it pours from their kitchen faucets. Or they think about Battlestar Galactica, though the sci-fi F-bomb “frak” is spelled without the “C.”

Fracking is also a big part of the reason that natural gas in North America is cheap and plentiful. Compared to coal or gasoline, natural gas is also easier on the air and much lighter in polluting carbon. But worries about fracking have prompted intense scrutiny of the controversial practice, which involves pumping a mixture of water and sand and chemicals— sometimes very nasty chemicals—at very high pressure into oil or gas wells. This helps break up rock and more easily bring the precious fossil fuels to the surface. The process is called hydraulic fracturing, “fracking” for short. Nine states have recently passed laws requiring companies to disclose when and where they frack, along with information about the chemicals being used in the process. The state of New York went so far as to impose a moratorium on fracking, pending a full environmental review that’s just wrapping up now. And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun its own three-year study of fracking. The administration of Gov. Jerry Brown says there’s very little fracking happening in California. But it is happening, and routinely. SN&R found one company that has been fracking wells in the Sacramento area for years. And rumors of fracking have some Sacramento River Delta residents nervous, too, though it’s tough for local communities to get information about fracking in California because the state doesn’t keep track of it.

Indeed, environmental groups complain that the state has largely turned a blind eye to fracking—despite the problems that have cropped up in other parts of the country. “It’s this commonplace method, but we know nothing about it,” says Bill Allayaud, lobbyist with the Environmental Working Group. Allayaud is one of the main advocates for a state law that would require more disclosure of fracking—following the example of states like Colorado, Wyoming and Texas. “I think we ought to know where it’s being used and what the chemicals are.”

Where the frack? The fracking horror stories are widely known by now. In Pavillion, Wyoming, the EPA has linked fracking drinking water tainted with benzene and methane and, according to the EPA, other chemicals “consistent with gas production and hydraulic fracturing fluids.” In Northeastern Ohio, state regulators say that the pumping of fracking wastewater into underground injection wells set off a series of small earthquakes. More than any other story, it was probably the documentary Gasland that gave fracking its bad reputation. That film featured now famous footage of families in Dimock, Pennsylvania, lighting their tap water on fire. A fight is still going on there between residents, Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation and the EPA over whether the elevated levels of methane in Dimock’s well water is or isn’t caused by natural-gas drilling and fracking. In Washington, D.C., Gasland’s creator, Josh Fox, was arrested last month by Capitol police for attempting to film a public hearing regarding fracking by the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee. Late last year, the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club sued the Bureau of Land Management to prevent fracking plans on public land in Fresno and Monterey counties. But other than this, California has largely avoided the fracking drama. The head of the California Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources, Tim Kustic, says hydraulic fracturing has been occurring for 60 years in the state without any problems. California’s geology is different than back East where fracking is more prevalent. “Much of our natural gas is produced from sand, which does not require fracking stimulation,” he wrote in a letter to the Chico Enterprise Record earlier this year. Where the practice has occurred, “fracking has been used to stimulate production without a single report of environmental damage.” Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York all sit atop the Marcellus Shale formation. It’s only been in the last few years that fracking technology has allowed producers to get at the gas trapped in the otherwise impermeable rock there. “You couldn’t get to the gas without fracking there,” says UC Davis geology professor William Glassley. With fracking, a vast new territory for gas exploration has opened up. And that’s keeping gas cheap. One of the biggest environmental concerns has been with what goes into “the frack,” as the mixture of water and chemicals is sometimes called. Some of the stuff in fracking fluid sounds pretty benign—like sand and salt. Sand acts as a “proppant” to help force or prop open tiny openings in the rock.

SN&R found one company that has been fracking wells in the Sacramento area for years. And rumors of fracking have some Sacramento River Delta residents nervous, too.

But the frack also contains things like surfactants, corrosion inhibitors and bactericide. And it can include some nasty stuff like benzene—a known carcinogen and neurotoxin—or lead, or highly toxic chemicals methanol or ethylene glycol, or even radioactive isotopes used to trace the frack underground. Defenders of the practice say that it’s not the fracking that causes flammable tap water and other problems. Most of the actual fracking goes on far below the water table. And as long as a well is properly encased in concrete, there shouldn’t be any leakage of gas or chemicals into the groundwater. More often than not, it’s something like defective well casings that break and allow chemicals to leak out. The industry says that’s pretty rare, and it can happen whether a well is fracked or not. Likewise, the California Clean Water Act governs the construction of gas and oil wells in California, and the safe disposal of the fracking fluid.

But what shows up on FracFocus is only what is voluntarily reported by companies. In California and most other states there are no rules requiring disclosure of the practice. So even in places where gas drilling has been going on for years, people may fret about fracking. For example, there have been rumors of fracking in gas fields near Rio Vista in the Sacramento Delta. One company in particular, Vintage Production LLC, had residents wondering earlier this year. But it’s been tough for locals to get answers, partly because Vintage is actually a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum. So SN&R contacted Occidental to ask about whether the company was fracking in the Sacramento Basin. “Due to proprietary reasons, we do not normally discuss the specifics of our operations,” explained company spokesperson Susie Geiger, in an email. “However I can tell you that we are not currently using nor have plans of using hydraulic fracturing at this time in the Sacramento/Rio Vista area.”

“It’s true we [Californians] don’t have the horror stories that have happened in other places. But we also don’t know for sure what’s going on.” Bill Allayaud Environmental Working Group

Bill Allayaud with the Environmental Working Group says state regulators have turned a blind eye to fracking.

But critics say we don’t actually know much about the safety record for fracking in California, because so little is being recorded. In a report released last month titled “California Regulators: See No Fracking, Speak No Fracking,” the Environmental Working Group says its review of industry records suggests that thousands of wells had been fracked. But, according to the report, “since the agency does not know where hydraulic fracturing is taking place, it could not look for evidence of contamination even if it wanted to.” “It’s true we don’t have the horror stories that have happened in other places,” EWG’s Allayaud, one of the authors of the study, told SN&R. “But we also don’t know for sure what’s going on.” If you visit the website FracFocus (www.fracfocus.org), which is run by a consortium of state water agencies, you’ll see fracking reported in the oil fields of Kern County and a couple other spots in Southern California. According to the Western States Petroleum Association, fracking on California oil wells is only used for a limited duration, to stimulate production or get an old well flowing again.

But most of the wells in the Delta are owned by othe companies. SN&R asked the state Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources how much fracking was going on in California and where it was and how local communities could find out if it was happening near them. DOGGR makes records about every gas well in the state available to the public. But Donald Drysdale, spokesperson for the California Department of Conservation, which includes DOGGR, explained that, “Because we don’t permit hydraulic fracturing, you may or may not find anything related to the practice in the well history of a file.” SN&R looked at dozens of well records for the 900 wells in Sacramento County and found no mention of fracking. The regulatory gray area can be confusing even for government officials. In Santa Barbara County last year, the Denver-based oil and gas company Venoco Inc. got in trouble with county officials who said Venoco didn’t have the proper permits for fracking two oil wells near Los Alamos. When it turned out the company didn’t need special permits for fracking, since the practice is unregulated in California, the county was forced to back off. There’s been considerably less scrutiny of Venoco’s hydraulic fracturing in the Sacramento Basin. It’s not a secret. In fact, Venoco vice president Mike Edwards spoke at length about Venoco’s operation in the Sacramento area. “There’s a lot of misinformation that goes on,” said Edwards.

“OH, FRACK!”

continued on page 17

I L LU STR AT

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I O N BY P R I S C I L L A G A R C I A

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The Center for the Arts presents at

VETERANS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM, 255 S. AUBURN STREET, DOWNTOWN GRASS VALLEY

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! An evening of Music and Story with

KANSAS with Lorraine Gervais’

JIMMY CLIFF concert followed by

WOMEN OF ROCK UNPLUGGED opening

DANCE PARTY WITH DJ REDLOCKS until 11:00pm

THURSDAY, APRIL 12

SATURDAY, APRIL 14

8:00PM, $38 MEMBERS, $48 NON-MEMBER

7:30PM, $45 MEMBERS, $50 NON-MEMBER

COMING TO THE CENTER’S INTIMATE 300-SEAT MAIN STAGE THEATER Friday, April 6, 8:00PM

Saturday, April 7, 8:00PM

$30 members, $35 non-member

with Reflections music of Thelonious Monk $20 members, $22 non-member

Jackie Greene Band

The Ted Nash Quartet

Sunday, April 22, 7:30PM

Lisa Loeb

$22 members, $25 non-member

Friday, April 27, 8:00PM

An Evening with

Bruce Cockburn $45 members, $50 non-member

Thursday, May 3, 7:30PM The Freewheeling

Yo La Tengo

$25 members, $28 non-member

Friday, May 4, 8:00PM

Rosanne Cash with John Leventhal

$65 members, $75 non-member

The Center for the Arts Box Office, 314 W. Main Street, Grass Valley - 530-274-8384 Tickets also at BriarPatch Co-op - 530-272-5333 • Cherry Records - 530-823-2147

www.thecenterforthearts.org

16 | SN&R | 03.29.12

“OH, FRACK!” continued from page 15 Frackramento Just step back for a moment here to middle-school science class: Remember that all fossil fuels come from deposits of organic material, especially layers of decomposing vegetation, algae and marine muck, that get buried and subjected to heat and pressure and over time turns into methane—the lightest, simplest fossil fuel— along with the heavier hydrocarbons that make up oil. Methane is the main component of the natural gas we use in our stoves and heaters and city buses.

One of the biggest environmental concerns is about what goes into “the frack”—it can include nasty stuff like benzene, a known carcinogen and neurotoxin, or other highly toxic chemicals. In some places, the gas has a lot of liquid petroleum in it, which can make it burn too hot. Or it has too much of some inert gases, like nitrogen, which can make it burn too cool. Those impurities have to be taken out, and that costs more money. Venoco likes the Sacramento Basin, Edwards said, because the gas here is pretty clean. Most of Venoco’s wells are in the Grimes gas fields in Sutter County and Willows field in Glenn County. The company has also been active in the Dutch Slough in near the Delta town of Oakley. All are within what’s called the Sacramento Basin by geologists—stretching from the Klamath Mountains to the north, down to the San Joaquin-Stanislaus County line. Reports to the company’s investors over the last five years indicate that the company has had a fracking program in the basin since 2007. Venoco fracked 70 wells by the end of 2008. In 2009, it was two wells, 12 in 2010, and 21 wells fracked in 2011. That’s nothing compared to the scale of the fracking back East. But it confirms what some suspected and state regulators can’t tell us: Fracking is happening here on a routine basis. In Sacramento the geology is a much more permeable mix of shale and sandstone, compared to the Marcellus Shale. The way Edwards described it, the round grains of sand in the Sacramento Basin act more like a room full of basketballs. The “pore space” in between the balls is where the balls get trapped. When they get jostled around, the gas comes loose pretty easily. By comparison, shale acts more like dinner plates stacked on top of each other, trapping gas underneath. Fracking is a good way to get more gas out of an old well and also to free up gas in parts of the underlying rock formation that has more shale. Edwards said the actual fracking is usually carried out by a contracting oil-services company. Venoco works with some wellknown outfits like Halliburton and Schlumberger. The company has been producing about 60 million cubic feet of natural gas in the Basin every day. (By comparison, the state consumes about 12 billion cubic feet of it every day.) But Edwards says the company is easing back on gas drilling in the Sacramento Basin, because a glut of natural gas being produced back East has driven prices too low to justify much investment in California’s comparatively smaller and more spread-out gas fields. Last year, the company invested $60 million and started 40 new wells. This year, Edwards expects it’ll dig five.

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Fracking in the light of day But when prices do go up, that will likely mean more gas production and more fracking in California, said Bob Wieckowski, a California assemblyman from Hayward, who has introduced a law he hopes will shed more light on fracking in the state. “We need to look beyond the next five minutes to the next 10 or 15 years. That’s why we need to set up a disclosure bill now,” Wieckowski told SN&R. Wiecowksi’s Assembly Bill 591 (co-sponsored by Sacramento Assemblyman Roger Dickinson) would require companies to disclose when and where they are fracking, what’s in the fracking fluid, and what is done with the used frack water. The bill bogged down last year when Halliburton and other companies objected to disclosing proprietary information about their fracking fluid. But amendments are in the works to model the law on rules recently passed in Colorado, which allows for protection of certain “trade secrets.” Asked if companies could then hide certain harmful chemicals by declaring them to be part of a trade secret, Wieckowski said, “Right now, I’m not expecting it to be abused. If we find out it’s overused or abused, we’re going to change it.” The bill would also likely require that fracking information be posted on an easy-to-use website, like FracFocus. Both Wiekcowski and Allayaud think there will soon be a deal. Edwards also told SN&R that oil and gas companies favor a disclosure bill. “I think the industry is willing to work with the Legislature and figure out what is best for California,” he said. Geologist Glassley said he would recommend going a step further, and having the state not only collect the information about fracking, but also do some analysis of that information and monitor for problems.

A bill by California Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski would require oil and gas companies to disclose when and where they frack, and what chemicals they use. Nine other states already have similar laws.

“We need to look beyond the next five minutes to the next 10 or 15 years. That’s why we need to set up a [fracking] disclosure bill now.” Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski author of Assembly Bill 591 “It would be a great investment for the state, and it would save money in the long run,” Glassley told SN&R. Wiecowski doesn’t disagree, but said given the state’s fiscal predicament, the bill can’t cost much money. “Because it is 2012, the fiscal impact of the bill had to be minimal. I didn’t want that to be the reason the bill got killed.” He considers his bill the granddad of fracking legislation, a way to find out if further regulation is warranted. “Let’s know what the facts are first.” Of course, some critics would just as soon ban fracking in California altogether. In the absence of flammable tap water or some similar catastrophe, that’s not likely to happen. For now, the best they may be able to hope is just to know where the frack it is. Ω

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In hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a mixture of water, sand and chemicals is pumped at very high pressure into the surrounding rock to create fractures and free up oil and gas that would otherwise remain trapped.

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ARTS&CULTURE POPSMART Dress you up Madonna released her latest album MDNA this

Smarted by Popsmart? Got something to say? Let Rachel know: popsmart@newsreview.com.

SN&R

03.29.12

JOHN DOWNS

THE”1980S FRENCH AVIATOR”

SEAN RAIGER

ANTHONY GIANNOTTI

week and, as usual, the iconic performer’s drawing controversy—not for her music however, but for her image. The singer’s 12th studio album is an electronic-based collection of bombastic dance tracks, chill trance mixes and by RACHEL LEIBROCK straight-up pop songs. But although the record, her first new collection since 2008’s Hard Candy, is being touted as a deeply personal “divorce album,” it seems as more people are interested in what Madonna’s wearing rather that what she’s singing in this aural kiss-off to ex-husband Guy Ritchie. To be honest, MDNA is hardly Madonna’s strongest album—the songs here are largely repetitive, derivative or silly. The album’s first track, “Girl Gone Wild,” for example, is chock-full of inane, tone-deaf, revenge-oriented lyrics while, “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” even with its trendy Nicki Minaj cameo, is little more than a Gwen Stefani rip-off. (Sorry Madge, but it’s true.) But most people aren’t paying attention to Madonna’s music because they’re too busy criticizing her clothing, or lack thereof. Apparently, at 53, the singer is too old to flaunt it—even if she’s still got it. During Madonna’s February Super Bowl performance, for example, her choice of costume—the latest in haute couture Viking-wear—garnered plenty of derision and mockery among media critics and casual viewers alike. “For goodness sakes, start to act your age,” griped one online commenter on the OMG! celebrity blog. “For her age, she looks amazing, but Madonna is still old enough to be the mother of the oldest player in Super Bowl XLVI,” mused a Yahoo! Sports writer. Funny, but I don’t remember anyone pointing out the age difference between performer and athlete when, say, the Who headlined the half-time show. Or Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Prince, the Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen, for that matter. Seriously, what exactly does Madonna’s Perhaps my age have to do with her music or the clothing she wears—at the Super Bowl or anywhere? I defense of thought we were long past the era when Madonna is largely society pressured women to adjust their wardrobe choices to their age bracket. sentimental—I Should Madonna cut her hair into a bob grew up listening to and don capri pants and Crocs? Maybe a pastel sweater set paired with a prim kneeher music and grazing skirt? How about a long-sleeved watching her turtleneck worn with mom jeans? Anything to cover up that middle-aged identity morph. body, right? Sorry, but after decades of exhausting dance routines and intense yoga, the singer is more physically fit than most men and women half her age. If she wants to wear nothing more than a leotard—as she did in the video for 2005’s “Hung Up” video—then why not? But in a world where there’s even a Facebook page—clumsily called Madonna, You’re So Far Past Your Prime So Put Some Clothes On—devoted to the subject, it really shouldn’t surprise me that some people are uncomfortable with a menopausal woman unafraid to show a little skin. Certainly, Madonna’s not the first female performer to face such criticisms. Cher, for example, has long earned public scorn for refusing to hang up those ass-bearing chaps. That discomfort, however, says more about the viewer’s sexist and ageist beliefs than it does the performer. Perhaps my defense of Madonna is largely sentimental—I grew up listening to her music and watching her identity morph. And while the performer’s song catalog isn’t always defendable, I’ve long admired Madonna’s fearless attitude toward self-image and public perception. Whereas she once caused a stir dolled up in wedding dresses and bondage accoutrements, now all it takes for Madonna to push boundaries is to refuse to be ashamed of—or bow to pressure to hide—her perfectly toned, ageless body. Ω

JENNIFER KECK

THE “YOSEMITE SAM”

THE “STRONG MAN”

“OLD WESTERN HANDLEBAR”

HOT LIPS BY

STEPH RODRIGUEZ

PHOTOS BY

WILLIAM LEUNG

FOR THESE SACRAMENTO FOLKS, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STYLE OF THE ’STACHE

hether they’re appearing on TV shows such as Portlandia where hipsters grow 1890s-styled mustaches to rack up scene points, seemingly growing into place overnight on the trendy barista at your local cafe or simply residing, as usual, above your grandpa’s upper lip, it’s hard to deny that there’s been a boom in the popularity of mustaches—across the country and in Sacramento. They come in endless shapes and sizes: Whether styled as an imperial horseshoe reminiscent of a Civil War general or a friendly handlebar courtesy of an old-timey barber, every ’stache is worn as homage to

individuality. While some crochet lip sweaters for facial hair enthusiasts around town, others find hirsute company in groups such as the Moustache and Beard Social Club, which hosts the Northern California Beard and Mustache Competition this weekend at the PowerHouse Pub in Folsom. All proceeds benefit Ride to Walk, a nonprofit organization helping children with neurological disabilities through therapeutic horseback-riding lessons. Handling each follicle like Miyagi handles bonsai trees, the following five men—and one crafty young woman—have fine-tuned techniques for the perfectly groomed mustache and its accessories.

See NIGHT&DAY

JENNIFER KECK ’STACHE STYLE: THE STRONG MAN OCCUPATION: WAITRESS A fascination with facial hair shouldn’t be stunted just because you’re not actually capable of growing a mustache. Just ask Jennifer Keck, who stitches her love of lip sweaters with her crafty side by crocheting mustaches and beards for $6 to $10, depending upon the style. Keck’s hand-crafted pieces have earned her the nickname “Jenn Viking” among customers who order her wares (email her at missleigh36@gmail.com for ordering details). “I try to incorporate as many different types of natural yarns. I use a lot of browns, a lot of blacks,” Keck says. “I’ve done almost every single style I can possibly think of—the Fu Manchu, the Western, the soul patch, the Charlie Chaplin [and] the Viking where the little braids hang off.” Keck’s first memory of appreciating facial hair is rooted in the familiar scruff of her father’s burly beard when she was child—and recognizing it as more than just growth on one’s face. “Maybe it’s one of those comforting things. I wear glasses, and so having glasses is almost having face flair,” she says. “Maybe for a man to have facial hair—and the fact that he keeps it trimmed and does stuff with it—it’s almost like he has his own little flair.” SEAN RAIGER ’STACHE STYLE: HORSESHOE-FU MANCHU/THE YOSEMITE SAM OCCUPATION: SUBCONTRACTOR Sean Raiger has been perfecting his styling techniques for more than four years now, and says his secret is a pomade that keeps his lengthy ’stache flowing down the sides of his face better than any wax he’s tried. And, Raiger adds, he’s no stranger to a blow dryer when shaping his whiskers. As such, his bold, black ’stache might be a bit intimidating to some but, Raiger says it’s a distinguishing mark that he plans to keep for a lifetime. “I have to go to customer’s houses [for work]. It’s pretty wild,” he says, explaining that, sometimes, his customers seem surprised when they first see his facial accessory. “Usually, it’s the old ladies that get scared, but I’m always so nice and friendly. I look them in the eye and I just smile and talk to them, and they love me,” Raiger says.

BEFORE

FRONTLINES

Be the bento See DISH

Cake, NPR too See COOLHUNTING

“I couldn’t deal with ... cutting it off,” he adds. “I would feel naked or like I failed myself.” ANTHONY GIANNOTTI ’STACHE STYLE: OLD WESTERN HANDLEBAR OCCUPATION: OWNER AND BARBER OF ANTHONY’S BARBERSHOP An old-timey profession deserves an homage to a classic styled mustache such as the handlebar. Likewise for Anthony Giannotti, owner of Anthony’s Barbershop in Midtown, a well-groomed ’stache is timeless—even if he thinks the current popularity of facial hair is just a passing hipster fad.

“

A mustache is very American, and it takes a big, proud American man to wear a mustache.

“

River Cats vs. Oakland

Brandon Morgan vice president of the Mustache and Beard Social Club

Either way, Giannotti admits he loves the attention his own whiskers earn. “It’s funny, [the attention] is why I did [this style],” Giannotti says. “I’m a 20something-year-old dude with this ridiculous mustache.” Still, it’s not like this haute hirsute is out of place in Giannotti’s life. “For me or old-timey bartenders, we have a reason to [wear these mustaches],” he says. “Barbering is an old profession. It’s being resurrected right now, but it was gone for a long time, and I feel that mustaches are kind of the same thing.” BRANDON MORGAN ’STACHE STYLE: IMPERIAL HORSESHOE OCCUPATION: VICE PRESIDENT OF THE MUSTACHE AND BEARD SOCIAL CLUB With a plot of facial hair as brute and unforgiving as a Civil War general, Brandon Morgan fancies his mustache as something akin to American Chopper’s Paul Teutul Sr.—but with a personal twist. “Every kind of facial hair is like an expression of your own individuality,” he says. “A mustache is very American, and it takes a big, proud American man to wear a mustache. If you look at the history throughout America, almost all the men in power or just your everyday Joe had a mustache; especially during the gold-rush era, Civil War era,” he says. “With facial hair, you don’t just grow it because you want to look cool. You grow it because you are cool.” |

FEATURE

STORY

Explosions at Mondavi See MUSIC

JOHN DOWNS ’STACHE STYLE: THE 1980S FRENCH AVIATOR OCCUPATION: TECHNICAL DIRECTOR FOR THE SACRAMENTO FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL Mustache enthusiasts usually boast unique grooming secrets and opinions on which wax works best, but John Downs will forgo store-bought facial products and created his own from natural ingredients. “I started making my own wax out of beeswax, coconut oil [and] gum of Arabic. The coconut oil cuts the wax. The gum of Arabic makes it tacky,” he says. “I also put in eucalyptus oil, which makes a nice smell.” The process is easy, he adds. “I just pour all the ingredients in a tin and melt it in water on the stove. In the winter, you put more oil, less wax because it’s cold out, and if it’s too tacky, it just pulls hair when you try and use it. So, in the winter less wax in the mix, in the summer, more wax in the mix.” When Downs first grew his ’stache, his wife wanted it gone, but now, he says she never wants him to shave. “My wife wanted me to keep my mustache,” he says. “She says, ‘A kiss without a mustache, is like a meal without salt.’” RYAN ANTHONY SCALISE ’STACHE STYLE: HANDLEBAR OCCUPATION: PRESIDENT OF THE MUSTACHE AND BEARD SOCIAL CLUB Tending to his mustache like some men would to a classic car, Ryan Anthony Scalise admits the showmanship of a well-primped handlebar is all in the details from waxing and shaping, to snipping away those straggly imperfections. “I do believe the whole hipster attraction to [mustaches] can make the lip sweater be looked [at] as a novelty, but the true men will continue to grow and show,” he says. And for those who have trouble coaxing out a style? “Just say be patient [and] take care of your body, because your hair is an extension of what you put into it,” he says. “Experiment with what you can grow. By trying one style, you may realize on the journey that another [style] has presented itself to your face.” Ω Northern California Beard and Mustache Competition; Saturday, March 31; 5 p.m.; $20 competitor fee; $10 admission fee. PowerHouse Pub, 614 Sutter Street in Folsom; (916) 355-8586.

Sacto’s French deejay See 15 MINUTES

March rat-ness I never saw myself as a rat person, until my girlfriend brought home a snail. I certainly didn’t see myself spending a weekend watching basketball with a trio of rodents. Lacey, the ever-caring animal lover that she is, couldn’t stand to let a snail, whose shell she pulled off trying to move it out of harm’s way, suffer. This meant an urgent trip to Petco to find all of the supplies to repair its shell. On our way around the store, we found ourselves in front of the rat cages. On top of her expertise with snails, Lacey also knows a lot about rat care. It was pretty obvious with all of the adorable eyeballs on me that we weren’t walking out of here without a new pet. Even as we were gathering the cage, the treats and anything adorable we could bribe them with, I was having second thoughts. All of the pets I’ve ever had were rescues from the SPCA. I’d rather adopt an animal than buy one stocked on a store shelf. As if reading my mind, the cashier at Petco mentioned they had three female rats that had been abandoned together. We weren’t walking out of there without three new pets: Olive, the skittish brown-andwhite one; Abby, the black-and-white food finder; and Rosie, the tan little ball of adorable. The early going was rough. They didn’t know who we were, we didn’t know who they College basketball: were. The only way to fix this was It’s rat-tastic. with a weekend bonding together inside watching the NCAA

men’s basketball tournament. The terrible punishments I’m willing to go through for the care of animals. Fascinating thing about college basketball: There’s a whole lot of sneaker squeaking. Fascinating thing about rats: They love squeaking. At least these three do. After a game or two, the girls were sneaking out of their nest to look around their cage for the noise. Rosie gave up first, going to sleep in their second home—a graham-cracker box. Olive gave up the second she realized I was paying attention to her and hid in the main nest. Then there was Abby. She was the one brave enough to come to the edge of the cage and see what was going on. She stood up watching the second half a foul fest between Michigan State and St. Louis. Thirty-five fouls kept her on her hind legs and glued to the TV. Sadly, with the Final Four this weekend, I’m running out of regular basketball content that doesn’t require a cable subscription. But Abby doesn’t seem to mind. She’s adapted to catching up on The Walking Dead with me—outside of the cage now. I’m a little worried how fascinated she is when someone gets mauled by a zombie, though. Might have to put on The Waltons to take the edge off. —Kyle Buis

kyleb@newsreview.com

For more information on Sacramento-area mustaches and beards, visit www.facebook.com/ themustacheandbeardsocialclub. A RT S & C U LT U R E

AFTER

03. 29.12

SN&R

NIGHT&DAY SCREENING: ARNA’S CHILDREN: Yussef committed a suicide attack in Hadera, in 2001. Ashraf was killed in the battle of Jenin by the Israeli army. Alaa leads a resistance group. The film tells the story of a Palestinian theatre group that was established by Arna Mer Khamis in Jenin and shows suicide

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29THURS Special Events

SACMETRO MAGAZINE BUSINESS SHOWCASE: Enjoy free food, drinks, mingle and discover new businesses that are local to the Sacramento and surrounding areas. Th, 3/29, 5:30-7:30pm. Free. Morgan Creek Golf and Country Club, 8791 Morgan Creek Ln. in Roseville; (916) 546-4383; http://sacmetromagazine.com/ 2012/02/businessshowcase.

Meetings & Groups BALANCE YOUR EMOTIONS WITH HYPNOTHERAPY: Stressed? Worried? Upset? Learn to live a calmer and happier life with hypnotherapy by reprogramming your brain’s responses to the stressors in your life. Each session will begin with a progressive relaxation followed by post-hypnotic suggestions designed for maximum transformation and change. Registration required. Th, 10-11am through 4/5. $100. Creative Healing and Arts Center, 2862 Arden Way; (916) 209-0599; www.new emergencehypnotherapy.com.

30FRI

Wait, there’s more!

DON’T MISS!

Looking for something to do? Use SN&R’s free calendar to browse hundreds of events online. Art galleries and musems, family events, education classes, film and literary events, church groups, music, sports, volunteer opportunies—all this and more on our free events calendar at www.newsreview.com. Start planning your week!

NEIL HAMBURGER: Neil

Hamburger is a stand-up comedian character played by Gregg Turkington. Hamburger’s live act features a barrage of question-and-answer jokes aimed often at celebrity targets, as well as depressing barbs aimed at his ex-wife. Local comic extraordinaire Keith Lowell Jensen will also perform. F, 3/30, 9pm. $15. Sacramento Comedy Spot, 1050 20th St., Ste. 130; (916) 444-3137; www.saccomedyspot.com.

Special Events MIDTOWN STOMP SWING DANCING: Have a great time swing dancing with beginning lessons every week before the dance, designed to get you out on the dance floor your very first night. There are hundreds of people just like you learning to dance and meeting new people. F, 7:30pm. $8-$12. Eastern Star Ballroom, 2719 K St.; (916) 221-1582; www.midtownstomp.net.

SN&R

03. 29.12

attackers in their childhood. F, 3/30, 7:30pm. Free. Lavender Library, 1414 21st St.; (916) 492-0558.

Art Galleries BEATNIK STUDIOS: Tower & Broadway Icons, Beatnik Studios will celebrate a new exhibition of original artwork inspired by the Tower Theatre and other icons of the Broadway corridor. Beatnik Studios is also highlighting Broadway businesses by co-hosting a pub crawl along the legendary corridor to unite the community with great food, drinks, art, and music. F, 3/30, 7pm-midnight. Call for pricing. 2421 17th St.; (916) 443-5808; www.beatnik-studios.com.

Film THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE: As part of its quarterly film program at the Crest Theatre, Verge Center for the Arts hosts a screening of The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye. This award-winning film documents the journey of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and his partner, Jaye, as they work on their project, “Pandrogyne.” F, 3/30, 7:30pm. $13-$15. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.; (916) 442-7378.

Sports & Recreation NATURE BOWL SEMI-FINALS: Student teams (from third- to sixth-grade groups) work together to find answers to environment-related questions that are aligned with State Science Standards in multiple fun challenges and activities. Everyone is invited to watch this fun and informative friendly competition. F, 3/30, 9am-5pm. Free. Placer Nature Center, 3700 Christian Valley Rd. in Auburn; (530) 878-6053, ext. 608; www.placernaturecenter.org.

SPORTS-A-RAMA: Kids in the fifth to eight grade can compete to win the top prize in a number of sports. They can have fun competing with peers in dodge ball, ping pong, obstacle courses and other outdoor challenges. F, 3/30, 4pm. $2. Riverview Community Center, 10700 Ambassador Dr. in Rancho Cordova.

Teens YOUTH ARTIST SHOWCASE: The Alliance for Social Health and the Miners Foundry Cultural Center have combined to present a Youth Arts Showcase. It will feature performances and visual art by teens and 20-somethings.

Performers and artists will also be able to learn stagecraft, promotion and exhibition design. F, 3/30, 6pm. $5-$$10. Miners Foundry Cultural Center, 325 Spring St. in Nevada City; (530) 265-5040; www.minersfoundry.org.

Concerts J MOSS LIVE IN THE CAPITAL CITY: This nationwide tour is a fierce, creative explosion of seven of today’s leading voices in Christian music and spoken word and will feature hip-hop artists, too. F, 3/30, 7pm. $15$20. Center of Praise, 1228 23rd St.; (916) 912-0473; www.ewbent.com.

Free. CA Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1498 L St.; (916) 481-6020; www.norcaltrav. com/vva500.htm.

Classes BE A PRO ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER: Listen to a lecture by Mchele Jennae, editor-in-chief at The Indie Times, a digital magazine and online newspaper. Jennae is also a business and career coach and sole proprietor of InfluenSphere. This is a handson workshop, so bring your laptop to guide you through the ins-and-outs of Facebook and Twitter. Sa, 3/31, 11am-4:30pm. $50. Creative Music Services, Register for address in Auburn; (530) 613-9440.

HOW TO USE A TELESCOPE & STARGAZE: Whether you are

31SAT

DON’T MISS! CESAR CHAVEZ MARCH:

Organized by the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, the 11th annual Cesar Chavez March travels from Southside Park to Cesar Chavez Plaza. It celebrates community organizing and action to unite people at a grassroots level, and aims to address issues affecting communities in the Sacramento area and abroad. Sa, 3/31, 10am. Free. Southside Park, Sixth and T streets; (916) 808-5200.

Special Events AUTHORS DAY: This day is filled with authors who have written about the wonders of Lake Tahoe, California in the days of the historic gold rush and the last of the band of the Yahi Indians in North America. There will be a special appearance by the Ghost of Mark Twain. Sa, 3/31, 9am-4pm. $75. Sacramento Marriott Rancho Cordova, 11211 Point East Dr. in Rancho Cordova; (916) 638-1100.

FAMILY HEALTH AND LIFE CELEBRATION: Enjoy a day full of fun activities for the entire family. Learn how to improve your well-being and prevent cardiovascular diseases through heart-healthy decisions. Sa, 3/31, 10am-2pm. Free. La Familia Counseling Center, 5523 34th St.; (916) 431-2366.

VETERANS FORUM: Assembly member Mariko Yamada will host this event for veterans who would like to learn about and apply for state and federal benefits earned through their military service. Caseworkers will be available throughout the day to help veterans file disability and pension claims. Sa, 3/31, 9am-3pm. Free. Veterans Memorial Theatre, 203 E. 14th St. in Davis; (530) 757-5626.

WELCOME HOME VIETNAM VETERANS DAY: Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 500 invites all Veterans, their families, friends and the public to join together for a wreathlaying ceremony in remembrance of all those who have gone before us, and to “welcome home” all Vietnam Veterans who have served our country. Sa, 3/31, noon-1:30pm.

looking to buy a telescope, want to learn more, or need to brush up on yours skills, comet hunter Don Machholz will show you how to use this specialized piece of scientific equipment. Learn how to set-up, operate and use your telescope. Sa, 3/31, 6pm. $9-$15. Placer Nature Center; 3700 Christian Valley Rd. in Auburn; (530) 878-6053, ext. 608; www.placernaturecenter.org.

Kids’ Stuff SPRING FLING: Spring has sprung in El Dorado Hills, and families are welcome to come out to the El Dorado Hills Town Center to enjoy an Easter egg hunt for kids 12 and under. Radio Disney’s Rockin’ Road Show Crew will also be out with music, dancing and games—as well as a special appearance by the Easter Bunny. Sa, 3/31, 10:30am-1pm. Free. El Dorado Hills Town Center, 4364 Town Center Blvd. in El Dorado Hills; (916) 955-1313; www.eldorado hillstowncenter.com.

Meetings & Groups UFOS AND RELIGION: Hear a lecture and Powerpoint presentation on aliens as part of the Mutual UFO Network, Sacramento Chapter meeting. Sa, 3/31, noon-2pm. Free. Cocos Family Restaurant, 1830 Arden Way; (916) 922-6741; www.Mufonsacramento.org.

WRITING WORKSHOP: The Sacramento Public Library invites writers to meet and hone their word craft. Attendees are encouraged to bring samples of their writing to share, offer ideas and feedback on others’ projects, and participate in freewriting exercises to jumpstart their creativity. Open to adults and older teens of all writing levels. Sa, 3/31, 2pm; W, 4/11, 6:30pm; Sa, 4/28, 2pm. Free. Antelope Library, 4235 Antelope Rd. in Antelope; (916) 264-2700.

Sports & Recreation A’S VS. RIVER CATS: For the first time in half a decade, Sacramento will host Major League Baseball when the Oakland A’s visit the Sacramento River Cats. This marks the fifth time Raley Field has hosted the four-time World Series champion Oakland A’s. Sa, 3/31, 6:05pm. Call for pricing. Raley Field, 400 Ballpark Dr. in West Sacramento; (916) 371-4478; www.RiverCats.com/Oakland.

Concerts RELAXED NIGHT OUT: This event features live music and poets, including saxophonist Eugene Peebles, slam poet Anthony Lemuel, comedian Tristan Johnson and singer Erin Loveland. A preshow fashion show will be presented by Robin’s Nest Fashion Boutique. Sa, 3/31, 7-10pm. $10-$15. Guild Theatre, 2828 35th St.; (916) 208-7638; http://jazzand poetrynight.eventbrite.com.

01SUN

DON’T MISS! APRIL FOOLS’ SACRAMENTO HISTORY: The Royal

Sacramento Lyceum and Hall of Antiquities, Curiosities, Rare Tomes and Manuscripts invites you to attend a lecture by James Scott, Tom Tolley and Amanda Graham, who will speak about incredible occurrences in Sacramento history. As the lecture contains wild fabrications, guests are encouraged to attend with friends of a trusting disposition. Su, 4/1, 2-4pm. Free. Sacramento Public Library (Central Branch), 828 I St.; (916) 264-2920; www.saclibrary.org.

Special Events SPRING OPEN HOUSE ON THE FARM: Spring is right around the corner, and everyone is invited to take a break from city strife to experience the awakening of life. There are miles of walking trails along Putah Creek, a bountiful organic market garden, hedgerows in full bloom, ponds of teaming tadpoles, and birds and wildlife all around. Su, 4/1, noon-4pm. Free. Farm on Putah Creek, 5265 Putah Creek Rd. in Winters; (530) 795-1520; http://landbasedlearning.org/ springtime.php.

Film WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH AND EARTH DAY EVENT: The Brickhouse Art Gallery, The Black United Fund of Sacramento Valley and the Sacramento Area Black Caucus are celebrating Women’s History Month and Earth Day with the premiere screening of the documentary Taking Root. It tells the the story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, whose simple act of planting trees grew into nationwide and international movements. Su, 4/1, 4-6pm. Free. Brickhouse Gallery & Arts Complex, 2837 36th St.; (916) 484-3750; www.brickhouseoakpark.com.

Concerts CAPITAL JAZZ PROJECT TRIO: Join an intimate show with the CJP Trio performing classic jazz and originals. The CJP Trio, plus select members of the Davis High School jazz program will play together, with the Davis High School Big Band opening. The CJP Trio consists of Mike McMullen, Henry Robinett and Kerry Kashiwagi. Su, 4/1, 7:30pm. $5-$12. Davis High School Richard M. Brunelle Performing Arts Theater, 315 W. 14th St. in Davis; (530) 758-4010; www.capitaljazzproject.com.

COLCANNON: Community Concerts presents Colcannon, a modern Irish group. Colcannon, never drifting to New Age or Celticrock clichés, has remained a group of traditional entertainers, displaying emotional stories, heroic and sorrowful, backed by a precise blend of instruments that characterizes the best of Irish music. Su, 4/1, 3pm. $30. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.; (916) 442-7378.

NAJEE: Enjoy an intimate evening with smooth-jazz saxophonist Najee. Su, 4/1, 5-11pm. $25. Doubletree Hotel, 2001 Point West Way; (916) 599-9601; www.jazzplaya.jigsy.com.

02MON Special Events

TRIVIA NIGHT AT KILT PUB: Join Questionable Trivia at Kilt Pub every Monday for two rounds of general knowledge questions. Prizes include discounts on food and drink. Teams must be between two and six players. Show up around 7:30 p.m. for seating. M, 8pm through 12/31. Free. Kilt Pub, 4235 Arden Way; (916) 487-4979; http://questionabletrivia.com/ where-and-when.

Classes COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS: Learn computer basics, including parts of a computer, using a mouse, using the keyboard, managing programs, managing files, moving and copying files, changing the Windows desktop, creating documents, working with pictures, and saving and printing documents. Students must be more than 55 years old. M, 4/2, 9:30am-noon. $30 for six lessons. Rio Americano High School, 4540 American River Dr.; (916) 485-9572; www.seniornet.org.

03TUES DON’T MISS! LISA LING: Lisa Ling,

American journalist and Sacramento native, rounds out the 2011-2012 season of the Sacramento Speaker Series. Season and prorated subscriptions are available to groups and individuals. Tu, 4/3, 8pm. $205-$420. Sacramento Community Center Theater, 1301 L St.; (916) 388-1100; www.sacramento speakers.com.

Call for Artists WINTERS THEATRE COMPANY AUDITIONS: Auditions for classic melodrama Green Gold is My Valley will be held at the Winters Community Center. Performances will be May 11th and 12th. This production incorporates all the elements of a classic melodrama: the villain, the hero, heroine and many supporting characters. The cast calls for five males and three females. Tu, 4/3, 7:30pm; Th, 4/5, 7:30pm. Free. Winters Community Center, 201 Railroad Ave. in Winters; (530) 795-3683; www.winterstheatre.org.

Film

Kids’ Stuff

CLASSIC MOVIE NIGHT: Join for a

PICNIC IN THE PARK CONCERT: Shop

series of classic movies handpicked by staff who will share the reason for their choice, the historical context of the movie and interesting behind-thescenes facts regarding its production. Drama, comedy, adventure and romance filmed between the 1920s through the 1970s will be screened in the West Meeting Room. First Tu of every month through 12/4. Free. Sacramento Public Library (Central Branch), 828 I St.; (916) 264-2920; www.saclibrary.org.

Concerts GARY MENDOZAS OPEN-MIC BLUES JAM: Gary Mendoza is hosting this event, so bring your guitar, bass and harmonica. Drums are provided by the house, so just bring your sticks if you’re a drummer. Tu, 7-10pm through 9/11. Free. Elk Grove Sports Bar & Grill, 9661 Elk Grove Florin Rd. in Elk Grove; (916) 688-0299; www.facebook.com/ninakuhl.

04WED

The Sacramento River Cats take on their MLB affiliate the Oakland Athletics Saturday, March 31; 6:05 p.m.; look for tickets at www.rivercats.com.

city of West Sacramento will provide free trees and classes to schools, residents, businesses, churches and nonprofit organizations. Ten species of shade trees have been chosen based on resistance to pests and diseases as well as good growing results in our area. W, 4/4, 6:30pm. Free. West Sacramento Community Center, 1075 West Capitol Ave. in West Sacramento; (916) 617-4629.

ONGOING DON’T MISS!

Special Events CROCHET AND KNITTING CIRCLE: Enjoy conversation and companionship at the Fair Oaks Library Crochet and Knitting Circle. All ages and skill levels welcome. This is not an instructional class, but some assistance will be available. Bring your own hooks, needles, yarn and a project to work on.

First W of every month, 6:30pm. Free. Fair Oaks Library, 11601 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Fair Oaks; (916) 264-2920; http://saclibrary.org.

investigating the stream, grassland and cultural history at Traylor Ranch Bird Sanctuary and Nature Reserve. Designed for grades three to six, registration is required for this workshop. W, 4/4, 10amnoon. $5-$10. Traylor Ranch, 5050 English Colony Rd. in Penryn; (530) 878-6053, ext. 608; www.placernaturecenter.org.

FEATURE

STORY

A RT S & C U LT U R E

AFTER

4/2-4/5, 8am-4pm; 4/9-4/12, 8am-4pm. $230. Sacramento State Aquatic Center, 1901 Hazel Ave. in Gold River; (916) 278-2842.

LEFT COAST CRIME MYSTERY CONFERENCE: The convention will

LEARNING FROM THE LAND AT TRAYLOR RANCH: Spend the day

FRONTLINES

SPRING BREAK CAMP: Do you need a safe and fun place for your kids to go during the hours they would be at school? Bring kids ages 7 to 14 to Sacramento State Aquatic Center’s Spring Break Camp. Their camp activities will include boating safety activities, sailing, stand-up paddling, kayaking and team building.

Special Events

Classes Learn how to use basic principles and concept to improve your drawing skills. Class fees include all materials. W through 4/25. Opens 4/4. $120. Patris Studio and Gallery at S12, 1200 S St.; (916) 397-8958; www.s12studios.com.

The Sacramento Public Library will host Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives: From Homer to Hip Hop, a free program designed to encourage people to take a fresh look at classical literature and understand how it continues to influence and invigorate American cultural life. W, 4/4, 6:30pm. Free. Sacramento Public Library (Central Branch), 828 I St.; (916) 264-2920; www.saclibrary.org.

Sacramento State’s Symphonic Wind Ensemble will perform the popular “Bugler’s Holiday” during its concert. Guest artist professor Gary Dilworth will solo on trumpet for Gryc’s “Evensong.” Other pieces include “Gloriosa” by Ito and “Overture to Candide” by Bernstein. W, 4/4, 7:30pm. $5-$10. Sacramento State Music Recital Hall, 6000 J St.; (916) 278-5155; www.csus.edu/music.

BEGINNING OIL PAINTING CLASS:

BEFORE

ANCIENT GREEKS/MODERN LIVES:

WIND ENSEMBLE PERFORMS:

SHADE TREE WORKSHOP: The

Well, this Saturday, the pros of the past return when the A’s visit West Sacramento to battle their minor-league brethren. And, while Oakland is obviously supposed to win, I’m going out on a limb: The River Cats will take this year’s exhibition matchup. How? Manny Ramirez’s dreads— the slugger might suit up for the Cats before serving his 50-game drug suspension. And also the fact that the A’s, who’ll have just returned from two games in Japan, will likely be jetlagged like a bad hamstring. I betcha a Dinger Dog. —Nick Miller

Literary Events

Wait, there’s more!

Concerts

DON’T MISS!

he running joke among Oakland Athletics fans—lifer here!—is that they’re “quadruple-A.” Yankees, Red Sox, the Giants— they’re Major League Baseball. And then there’s “triple-A,” which would be your Sacramento River Cats. And finally, the A’s are somewhere in the middle. Not quite majors, definitely not minors. You’ve seen Brad Pitt in Moneyball, so you know that the Athletics have one of the lowest team payrolls in all of MLB. Quadruple-A. Anyway, too much inside baseball, right. No matter: The River Cats are awesome. They’re winners in a winning stadium. But the best players (such as A’s second baseman Jemile Weeks) are always sent up to the majors in Oakland, which sucks for the 916 (and 530).

the Davis Farmers Market, enjoy bluegrass music by Notorious Shank Bros, buy dinner at the International Food Faire, drink at a wine and beer garden. Children can enjoy bounce houses, a rock-climbing wall, clowns, face-painting and more. W, 4/4, 4:30-8:30pm. Free. Davis Central Park, 401 C St. in Davis; (530) 756-1695; www.davisfarmersmarket.org.

feature panels of authors and experts speaking about mysteries, thrillers and writing novels. LCC will host an award banquet Saturday night to recognize outstanding books, authors and fans, and a live and silent auction with all proceeds donated to the Sacramento Public Library Adult Literacy Program. Th, 3/29,

1:30pm; F, 3/30, 9am; Sa, 3/31, 9am; Su, 4/1, 9am. Call for pricing. Sheraton Grand Sacramento, 1230 J St.; (916) 941-9780; http://leftcoastcrime.org/2012.

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DISH

Gringo-wiches See FOOD STUFF

Be the bento

MIDTOWN’S NEWEST ICO N

Ichi Maki 11291 Folsom Boulevard in Rancho Cordova, (916) 635-8880 by GREG LUCAS

Rating:

★★★ Dinner for one:

$10 - $25

★

FLAWED

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★★★ APPEALING

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Still hungry?

Search SN&R’s “Dining Directory” to find local restaurants by name or by type of food. Sushi, Mexican, Indian, Italian— discover it all in the “Dining” section at www.newsreview.com.

BEFORE

Entering Rancho Cordova’s Ichi Maki in office attire leads Ray, one of the sushi chefs, to ask if this is a visitor’s first visit to Sacramento. Located around the corner from a few hotels, it’s a safe bet to assume that a suited person sitting alone at the restaurant’s long rectangular sushi bar is an out-of-towner. Ichi Maki—which literally means “one roll” or perhaps,“No. 1 roll”—seems incongruous; an oasis bordering on a chain-link fenced parking lot filled with freight-truck trailers. Ichi Maki looks deceptively small from the outside, but enter through the front doors and look past the sushi bar into a lengthy dining room, and the restaurant reveals itself as a large and open space. Here, the crowd is larger at lunch with the denizens of the nearby business parks eager to escape their tilt-up environs and become one with bento, deluxe or standard. Or the nigiri. Or katsu, udon, teriyaki, tempura, donburi and all the other stalwarts of Japanese eateries. Given the maki in the name, it’s no wonder there are more than 50 types of rolls, along with a sizable selection of sashimi: Hamachi, salmon and tuna being the most obvious. In the maki bull pen there’s everything from avokyu—a bargainbasement $3.50 avocado-and-cucumber roll—to the aptly named Sumo—featuring shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, bell pepper, hamachi, avocado and more, with the whole kit-and-caboodle landing near the $14 mark. Most of the rolls lie within the $10 range. Ray tells one patron that Ichi Maki goes through a case of avocados each day. Not surprising. So here’s the question: To what standard should a Japanese restaurant be compared? Bento seems largely to be bento wherever it’s found. An artful teriyaki is neither syrupy, saccharine nor salty. Sashimi in its glorious nakedness can only be sullied if stale, and that’s something a diner understands straightaway. So in places where a sushi bar is a major component, as it is at Arigato Sushi or Mikuni Sushi or Nishiki Sushi or Miyagi Bar and Sushi, part of the judgment call rests firmly on intangibles such as the bonhomie and the chefs’ snappy repartee, the servers’ attentiveness, and the caliber of freebies such as miso, edamame or sunomono. (At Ichi Maki you’ll get a tumbler of miso.) But back to the snappy repartee: This genial bantering can occur either between the chefs or with the patrons or both. The venerable Tony at Miyagi expends most of his energy on the patrons, while Nishiki and FRONTLINES

FEATURE

Mikuni offer some entertaining give-and-take among the chefs. The team at Ichi Maki consists of Ray and “Q.” There’s plenty of good-natured back-and-forth between them and plenty of attention from them to patrons at the bar. On one visit, the ponytailed Q is asked for a maki that won’t be found elsewhere. He dices hamachi (yellowtail), mixes in garlic, some onions, and then lays on a cloak of avocado topped with roe, thin jalapeño rounds and dots of siracha. No other sauce—better to stick mainly to the flavors of the fish and vegetables, Q says.

Sashimi in its glorious nakedness can only be sullied if stale. So what is this creation called? If it earns two thumbs-up then its name is “Something Special,” Q says. Thumbs-down? Then, it’s best forgotten. It’s enough of a thumbs-up to order it again on a subsequent sit-down meal. The poki, on Ichi Maki’s list of specials, lives up to its billing. It’s a crunchy combination comprising tuna chunks smothered in daikon, onions and a sprinkling of scallions—no wakame—in the midst of a moat of tomatoey ponzu. Service here is a little uneven. Not that everyone needs to hover to instantly act on every customer whim, but there are moments when no eye can be caught for water or to rustle up some saba nigiri for desert. Still, overall, a good value and a good time. Ω

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DISH Where to eat? Here are a few recent reviews and regional recommendations, updated regularly. Check out www.newsreview.com for more dining advice.

Midtown

Mati’s There’s a reason “Indian Express” was part of Mati’s previous title. A variety of dishes are offered daily in a buffet, but Mom serves instead of diners slopping stuff onto their own plates. Options are fairly straightforward: A small dish at $6.99 with rice and two items, and a large, which has up to four items, at $8.99. Subtract $1 if going vegetarian. There’s five dishes in the daily veg rotation, most of them vegan. Offerings run the gamut from mild to spicy, although the temperature of spicy is well within tolerance, except for the most heat adverse. This is straightup, nicely prepared Indian food without frills. Mom and daughter make it even more appealing. Indian. 1501 16th St.; (916) 341-0532. Dinner for one: $9-$12. ★★★ The Porch The Porch is light and white with a vibe that suggests the airy sweep of an antebellum Charleston eatery. One can only envy the extensive on-site research conducted by chef Jon Clemens and business partners John Lopez and Jerry Mitchell, creators of Capitol Garage. The most enjoyable menu selections

are salads or seafood sandwiches or entrees. Slaw on the barbecue pork sandwich elevates its status, and its pickled vegetables are sweet and tart, adding an additional dimension. The shrimp and grits dish, while laden with cheddar and gravy, is a synergistic mélange— perhaps The Porch’s trademark dish. Also in the running is the purloo, the low country’s version of jambalaya, with andouille, crunchy crawfish appendages, and the same sautéed bell peppers and onions that also appear in the grits. Southern. 1815 K St., (916) 444-2423. Dinner for one: $20-$30. ★★★

The Press Bistro There are flashes of Greece, such as the crisscross rows of bare light bulbs over the front patio. Or the summery small plate of stacked watermelon squares with feta and mint. Even Italian vegetarians get cut into the action with mushroom ravioli and its corn, leek and dill triumvirate. Another special is a colorful small plate of pepperonata—slightly-pickled-in-champagne-vinegar stripes of peppers awash in olive oil. Speaking of olive oil, it’s all that’s needed to accompany the fluffy, light focaccia, whose four rectangles come neatly stacked. Share The Press with someone you love. Mediterranean. 1809 Capitol Ave., (916) 444-2566. Dinner for one: $15-$30. ★★★1⁄2

Sampino’s Towne Foods Sampino’s Towne Foods turns out to be a bright jewel in a drab Alkali Flat strip mall of paycheck cashers and laundromat. It’s everything an Italian deli should be and more, right down to the Louie Prima on the box and the timpano in the

refrigerated display case. Several lobbyists, who elect to drive the six to seven blocks from their offices near the capitol, to pick up sandwiches or—in one instance—five meatballs, begin spewing superlatives when asked their views on Sampino’s. Italian Deli. 1607 F St., (916) 441-2372. Dinner for one: $7-$15. ★★★★1⁄2

Thir13en From the start—and, lo, these many weeks hence—the situp-take-notice plate remains the pork tonnato sandwich. It’s the Italian peasant spread or sauce made with tonno—tuna—tonnato that empowers this open-face masterwork. Spread on a toasted half baguette, the tonnato is the foun-

dation upon which the pork rests. Above the pork is an awning of mixed greens, with a generous overhang, sprinkled with not enough crispy onions and paperthin slices of pickled fennel. There isn’t space to wax poetic about the cordon bleu sandwich, the burger, the designer cocktails or the fizzy water from Wales. See for yourself. Very authoritative. American. 1300 H St., (916) 594-7669. Dinner for one: $12-$20.

East Sac

Formoli’s Bistro Formoli’s is the other half of the restaurant swap on J Street that sent Vanilla Bean Bistro (formerly known as Gonul’s J

EAT IT AND REAP Kickin’ spices Paneer and curry leaves aren’t the easiest things to find. Heck, you’ll be hard-pressed to find them at even high-end specialty markets. However, take a small trip to the Arden area along Fulton Avenue, and you’ll come across Kaveri Indian Grocery. Even if you’re not looking for curry leaves, many Sacramento cooks have discovered one of the true secrets of Kaveri, and that is its spice selection. Spices like fenugreek and black mustard seeds are sold in massive packages for very good prices. You’re even guaranteed to find a few things that are

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probably completely new to you (unless you’re already familiar with Indian cuisine). An assortment of ready-to-make ramens and premade sauces are also available, though I imagine it’s only time before they find their way into the ethnic aisles of Save Mart Supermarkets everywhere. Next door is Kaveri Madras Cuisine. It’s a bit pricey, but well worth it, as the kormas are kickin’, and the curries are so fragrantly spiced, it will drive you back to the grocery store to pick up supplies so you can attempt making the dishes at home.

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Vanilla Bean Bistro Gonul’s J Street Cafe has moved up the street and evolved into the Vanilla Bean Bistro. Its narrow, lowceilinged coziness is consonant with its understated, whatever-theimpulse-inspires alchemy that owner/chef Gonul Blum, has shown over the past eight years. Blum hails from Turkey. That country’s culinary tradition provides a sturdy foundation, but for her, it serves more as a launching pad. A recurring feature practiced here is the inclusion of fruit—preserved and fresh—in many dishes. And the tabbouleh delivers a roundhousepunch flavor combination. Turkish. 3260-B J St., (916) 457-1155. Dinner for one: $10-$20. ★★★★1⁄2

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Street Cafe) to Formoli’s old warren and brought Formoli’s into its current high-ceilinged, spare, dark cranberry space of black tables and chairs just six blocks away. Flavor combinations are a big part of the Formoli playbook, and the blend of the tower’s components is the payoff just as it is in the salad of beets—wafer-thin enough to be used interchangeably in the carpaccio—with shaved fennel, frisée, a few orange segments and pistachios laced with a stentorian balsamic vinaigrette. Mediterranean. 3839 J St., (916) 448-5699. Dinner for one: $20-$40. ★★★★

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drous, metaphysical, even. This 35year-old East Sacramento landmark sells old-fashioned steamed franks and sausages. The menu warns that the Fiesta Dog—refried beans, onions, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and taco sauce—is “surprisingly good.” Who can quarrel with truth in advertising? Even a simple, straightforward creation such as the Ranch Dog, starring—natch—ranch dressing, can engender a “Whoa, tasty!” The sausages—such as the Polish or Tofurky Kielbasa—are grilled as is the bacon-wrapped dog with its not-easily forgettable jalapeño relish. American. 715 56th St., (916) 455-0497. Dinner for one: $10-$20. ★★★★

Land Park/ Curtis Park

Pangea Two Brews Cafe Tables, tall and short, are large and communal, fostering that casual camaraderie that should be the goal of any self-respecting brewpub. There’s a fairly extensive menu, including breakfast items. Not to put too fine a point on it: Pangaea’s offerings are not beers that will be found at Save Mart or even Nugget. They are nuanced. Brewed with artisanship. In some cases for hundreds of years. A large number are Belgian. There’s the usual panoply of French dip, hot pastrami, Reuben and so on. Among the signature offerings is The Gobbler. Turkey, natch. Cranberry sauce, natch. Then red onion, several roma tomato slices, a thicket of

green leaf and pepper jack cheese, all shoehorned into a big baguette. Brewpub. 2743 Franklin Blvd., (916) 454-4942. Dinner for one: $10-$20. ★★★1⁄2

North Sac

Enotria Restaurant and Wine Bar Enotria is an enophile’s dream. The waiters here speak fluent wine and their knowledge is both capacious and definitive. Enotria promises “Food made for wine made for food,” and it delivers on the pledge. The paella remains Enotria’s signature dish. A recent $32 prix-fixe meal begins with a rectangular plate upon which is served an alternating line of caramelized plantains and campaign-button size pork tenderloins. The accompanying wine is a 2008 white burgundy, Olivier LeFlaive “Les Setilles.” The one-two punch here is, obviously, the food and wine. But the knock-out punch—at least when all cylinders are firing— is the delivery. American. 1431 Del Paso Blvd., (916) 922-6792. Dinner for one: $20-$40. ★★★★1⁄2

South Sac Sabaidee Thai Grille If the menu is any indication, pumpkin and other squashes play a major role in Laotian cuisine, which, in turn, plays a major role at Sabaidee. The khalii khapou, listed as “curried crab stew” on the menu, comes from the hometown of the matriarch who is happy to answer questions about the ingredients and volunteers what is apparent after one mouthful: real crab is used. A word about the freebie salad that accompanies each meal: expect

INDULGE

ILLUSTRATION BY MARK STIVERS

The Wienery The Wienery is won-

Where else in Carmichael can you find a $222 meal for two—without alcohol? There is coulis and confit and soufflé and brûlée and reductions and stuff that’s sliced wafer thin and, of course, vast white real estate that surrounds the small portions served on the plates. As the meal progresses, the presentation of the food gets better and better, as does the complexity of the offerings. Baked Alaska for dessert is as rich and decadent. It is also the largest item to appear on a plate all evening. Kudos to chef and owner Morgan Song for a truly memorable meal. American. 6440 Fair Oaks Blvd., (916) 489-8464. Dinner for one: $60 and up. ★★★★★

mixed greens, a dash of carrot shreds, cucumber chunks, a quarter of a tomato, a spattering of sesame seeds and what taste like fried shallots. All this with a tamarind emboldened dressing. Sabaidee is a quality meal for the price. Thai/Laotian. 8055 Elk GroveFlorin Rd., (916) 681-8286. Dinner for one: $10-$20. ★★★1⁄2

Roseville

Yard House Everything about Yard House is big. It’s a big brick building in the big Fountains at Roseville shopping center. The beers are big, even the samplers. Some can be served in those big vase-shaped “yard” glasses. On the menu, there’s a big selection of wines, designer martinis, burgers, pizza, seafood and steak—and even a big selection of garden offerings; and a trademarked soy, wheat-and-so-forth meat substitute. While colossal, the 1,665-calorie barbecue-chicken salad—there’s a reason the calorie count is not on the menu—has disparate ingredients that combine artfully. Yard House is over-thetop, a bit overwhelming and mustn’t be overlooked. American. 1166 Roseville Pkwy., Roseville; (916) 922-6792. Dinner for one: $20-$40. ★★★★

Arigato Sushi Tucked inconspicuously into a strip mall on Howe Avenue, Arigato’s décor seems skewed to a youngish demographic: One wall is lit with changing colors—blue, green, magenta. The miso is somewhat bereft of the tofu and seaweed flotsam and jetsam found in many bowls elsewhere. The poki, with slices of cucumber and onion, is artfully presented and more than lives up to its “three red chili” billing in the menu with an unrelenting assault on the tongue. The chef recommends the Spanish mackerel (aji) over the mackerel for dessert. He’s right, of course. There are beginner’s sushi samplers, bento boxes, udon, teriyaki and sukiyaki options. But Arigato’s chief attraction is raw fish bits. And if that’s what you crave, then this place’s crowds you should brave. Sushi. 1608 Howe Ave., Ste. 5; (916) 920-5930. Dinner for one: $20-$40. ★★★1⁄2

Arden/ Carmichael

Ambience It’s not surprising the folks at Zagat have done a fair amount of hyperventilating over Ambience, the decidedly upscale eatery on Fair Oaks Boulevard.

LAND PARK’S

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Festivals of food The food-festival season is upon us. Within the next few months, the Sacramento area will see such celebrations as SactoMoFo 4, the Roseville BerryFest and this weekend’s Festa di Vino. Hosted by Point West Rotary at the Sacramento Scottish Rite Masonic Center (6151 H Street), the Festa di Vino features music, auctions, and, of course, food and wine. So far, nearly two dozen local restaurants are on board, and many of them specialize in Italian food, including Café Vinoteca, Mama Suzanna’s Ristorante Italiano and Espanol Italian Restaurant. A number of participating wineries—nearly 30 have signed up—are also local, including Carvalho Family Winery, Clarksburg Wine Company and Sierra Vista Vineyards and Winery. Local cover band, the Q-Balls, will perform a danceable mix of classic rock, and proceeds go to Sierra Forever Families. Tickets cost $45 in advance online or $55 at the door. It happens on Saturday, March 31, 6:30 to 10 p.m. Visit www.festadivino.com for more information. —Jonathan Mendick

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COOLHUNTING Tasty tribute Cake’s ‘The Winter’ video

rethink family dining Easter – April 8 Dine with friends and family and enjoy Easter with us! Offering brunch specials from 11 am – 4 pm, as well as our spring menu. Also open for dinner. Ten22 Caters to You! Quality, affordable catering customized to ﬁt all needs and budgets. Call today to ﬁnd out more about our newly launched catering and delivery service. 1022 Second Street 916.441.2211 Ten22oldsac.com valet and validated parking available Like us on Facebook and we’ll like you back with special offers!

Iconic Sacramento band Cake recently invited fans to participate in the making of a video for its song “The Winter” by sending in clips of themselves singing the tune. The result is a sweet montage of more than 170 people, ages 5 to 55 from 20 countries and 165 different MUSIC cities—including Sacramento, of course. It’s not the first time the band’s yielded the spotlight: The 2001 “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” video featured random people on the street listening to the single on headphones. The latest clip, however, is a real testament to the band’s enduring career. Here, the band members make a few cameos, but the real fun here is watching Cake aficianados pay tribute to one of their favorite bands. http://bit.ly/CAKE_thewinterYT. —Rachel Leibrock

Jeepers, peepers Cooperative Trompe L’oeil Eyeglass Case In a retail world filled with cheap, disposable ’80s fashion knockoffs, these Cooperative Trompe L’oeil Eyeglass Cases ($10 each), available at Urban Outfitters, really stand out. Indeed, they’re the rare item that look like they really could be vintage; made from cotton, these cases cleverly keep your eyewear safe by snapping shut at the top. There are three designs available online (screened with images of Lolita heart glasses, 3-D glasses and cat-eyed frames) FASHION and a few more designs available in stock right now at the Urban Outfitters store at Arden Fair mall. Pick up a pair of shades, too, but keep in mind that Wayfarer knockoffs are totally out. www.urbanoutfitters.com. —Becky Grunewald

C R A A N D B M I P R O U D LY P R E S E N T

Aural roadmaps NPR’s Song of the Day If you think mainstream-radio programming pretty much stinks and want to find a roadmap to broaden your musical horizons, then do what I did: Check out the NPR Song of the Day feaMUSIC ture. Every weekday NPR provides a link to one new, notable or reissued sonic selection from a sort of lottery jar of mixed genres. Then, in just a click of a mouse, you’re transported to a brief essay review on the artist and an opportunity to listen to a diverse acts such as Here We Go Magic and the Dodos (indie rock), Mickey Murray (1970s soul), Vijay Iyer (pictured, jazz), and Midtown Dickens (folk, bluegrass). Catch up to the rest of the world, one song at a time. http://n.pr/g8evrU.

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Pretty cool Priti NYC nail polish Although it’s fun to color fingernails with polish, many brands will weaken and discolor nails—not to mention that their ingredients are often toxic with solvents, such as toluene, and carcinogens, such as formaldehyde. But for those who value their health, environment and vanity, there is nontoxic Priti NYC’s polish. The company awesomely lists its organic products’ ingredients and where they are derived from on its website, and I found Priti’s formula to chip BEAUTY less than popular high-end drugstore brands (I won’t name names). There are more than 100 options in Priti’s spectrum of hues to fit any mood, and here’s the icing: The company also has a nail-polish recycling program and makes a nontoxic nail-polish remover, too (see The V Word, “Smells like candy,” page 23). That’s pretty cool. www.pritinyc.com. —Shoka

ASK JOEY Ditch the script by JOEY GARCIA

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Write, email or leave a message for Joey at the News & Review. Give your name, telephone number (for verification purposes only) and question— all correspondence will be kept strictly confidential. Write Joey, 1124 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95815; call (916) 498-1234, ext. 3206; or email askjoey@ newsreview.com.

I met a man through my job and felt a spark but was not certain he did. Finally, just when I gave up hope, he asked me on a date. We went to dinner and had a wonderful time. The next day, he left the country on business. We used Skype and email to keep in touch. I felt really close to him. He asked me to meet him at the airport when he returned. I did and felt the spark again. He said, “I would love to see you tomorrow, but you probably have plans.” Why would he say that? Why wouldn’t he just say he wanted to see me? Or why didn’t he make plans with me before? When he was overseas, he said he hoped to earn a lot of money so he could bring me to Europe with him on his next trip. I wrote back that it was a little soon for that. We’ve only been on two real dates. I like this guy but can’t figure out if he likes me. Oh, sweetie! You have a script in your head, and he won’t read his lines correctly, right? Either you need to toss your story of the perfect romance, or you must audition another leading man. Oh, wait! There’s a third option. You can forgo acting altogether and begin now to be real. Here’s how: Stop treating this man like a boyfriend. If a friend said she wants to get together but is concerned that you already have plans, how would you respond? Probably “I would love to see you!” It’s unlikely you would waste mental energy ferreting hidden meanings from her words.

Think back to third grade: He’s a boy who is your friend, but you’re also attracted to him. And, speaking of overthinking things, let’s consider the late invitation. It’s true that asking someone out for the next day can signal that little effort went into planning the date. But a late invitation can also be the result of living a busy schedule that includes overseas travel. Or that the man you are dating was hedging the possibility of rejection. By wrapping his invitation

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in your schedule, he gave you an easy out and shielded his ego. Every relationship is an opportunity to grow in selfunderstanding. Use this dating experience to practice your communication skills. Say what you want, but don’t forget to keep the flirtation fire alive. So instead of delivering a smackdown (“It’s too soon to travel to Europe together”), try, “I would love to go to Europe with you, sometime in the future, after we know each other better. I’ll really look forward to that.” Think back to third grade: He’s a boy who is your friend, but you’re also attracted to him. Interact with him as you might with any true friend, and your dilemma is solved. I lost my job earlier this year and have an idea for starting a business. I have always wanted to be my own boss, and the time is ripe for my idea, except I don’t have the cash to launch. I don’t qualify for a loan because my credit hit bottom due to trying to live on unemployment benefits. But the idea of letting go of my dream just turns my stomach. Of course it does! The creative energy in you desires expression. Pay attention to your body’s visceral response to the threat of a dream’s demise. Local dynamo Maryellen Burns leads stimulating, informative and inspiring workshops on crowdfunding, a simple way for entrepreneurs and artists to raise capital through social media. Attend her excellent workshops through MatrixArts or the Sacramento Public Library. Let her words at her blog Funding Your Dream (http://fundingyour dream.blogspot.com) motivate you. And don’t miss her workshop on May 15, at the Valley High Library. Most of all, believe in your ability to birth your dream. Ω

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STAGE O, brother, where’s the beer? True West Who needs an enemy when you’ve got a brother? That’s the question for Austin and Lee, the by brothers at the heart of Sam Shepard’s bestKel Munger known play, True West, now in an inspired production at Capital Stage. kelm@ newsreview.com You might think of it as an alternative take on the Cain and Abel story, but that’s a bit too simplistic. Of course, there’s sibling rivalry; but beneath that, there’s a thread of alcoholfueled camaraderie—and a nihilistic impulse that will not be denied. Austin (Cole Alexander Smith) is a writer and family man, “down” to Southern California from somewhere “up north” in an attempt to sell a screenplay to a movie producer. He’s staying at his vacationing mother’s home, and his wayward brother, Lee (Jonathan Rhys Williams) has shown up.

damaged heavy drinkers obsessed with small appliances. But it’s certainly all about the brotherhood. Ω True West, 7 p.m. Wednesday; 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; $18-$28. Capital Stage, 2215 J Street; (916) 995-5464; www.capstage.org. Through April 22.

Easy, breezy and very new Sacramento Ballet’s Modern Masters

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Of course, there’s conflict. The brothers are—to all appearances—as different as it is possible for two brothers to be; they are as different from each other as we all think we are from our own siblings, at least outwardly. But scratch the surface and tap the twin veins of rage and hope, as these brothers do, and it quickly becomes apparent that they are far more alike than different. Smith’s ability to play Austin as a bit of a tightass in the first act makes his later abandon of social niceties—including a foray into larceny—all the more striking. That’s matched by the way that Williams takes Lee from a sleazebag you’d cross the street—hell, you’d cross the town—to avoid into a bit of a lost boy, desperate to change his life. As the movie producer, Eric Baldwin does quite well, and the venerable Janis Stevens makes a short appearance as Austin and Lee’s mother. But the show belongs to these fullgrown, middle-aged boys, and director Stephanie Gularte lets them run with it—as well as throw things, break things and steal things. Cain and Abel? No, True West is more like the Marx Brothers, if they’d been emotionally

Choreographers have their own language: plies, jetes and all kinds of pas de las. But few use the vocabulary of dancemaker Edwaard Liang. “Easy, breezy. CoverGirl, right?” he tells his dancers. “Just Marky Mark it.” That’s his dance speak for “Do it like Mark Wahlberg— smooth ... nice and smooth.” Liang’s 2009 dance, “Wunderland,” will be one of three presented Thursday through Saturday in the Modern Masters program by the Sacramento Ballet at Three Stages at Folsom Lake College. He rehearsed it with the ballet troupe last week, after an assistant had spent the week setting it on the company. The troupe performed parts of “Wunderland,” with Liang critiquing and polishing in front of an audience attending Rockin’ and Rollin’ at the ballet company’s studio. “Wunderland” is a challenging contemporary dance, putting the classically trained dancers in off-kilter positions, en pointe and relying on a single hand in the armpit to steady them. “No movement is static,” he warns. “It’s constantly moving.” Also on the Modern Masters program is the world premiere of “Jazzin’” by Darrell Grand Moultrie and a reprise of Septime Webre’s delightful “Fluctuating Hemlines.” Moultrie, who won the ballet company’s 2010 Capital Choreography Competition, was commissioned to create “Jazzin.’” Set to a soundtrack of Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis and others, the dance also features a sung narrative (Ruth Brown’s saucy “If I Can’t Sell It, I’ll Keep Sittin’ on It,” danced by Ava Chatterson). Webre’s “Fluctuating Hemlines” begins with the dancers in ’60s attire, the women with beehive hairdos. They quickly strip to their skivvies, literally shedding pretense to reveal their true selves. The dance will be performed to live accompaniment by the Tigger Benford Percussion Ensemble. —Jim Carnes

Modern Masters, 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday; $45. Sacramento Ballet at the Three Stages at Folsom Lake College, 10 College Parkway in Folsom; (916) 608-6888; www.sacballet.org; www.threestages.net. Through March 31.

s ’ R & N

Now Playing

IN ABSENTIA

Absence, anxiety, loss and loneliness are at the heart of Canadian playwright Morris Panych’s latest play, getting its American debut here. An excellent cast—Elisabeth Nunziato, Kurt Johnson, David Pierini, Jamie Jones and Dan Fagan—tackles the wordy and sometimes problematic script with supreme confidence. Tu 6:30pm; W 2pm &

2 1 20

6:30pm; Th, F 8pm; Sa 5pm & 9pm; Su 2pm. Through 4/15. $18-$30 with some student rush tickets available. The B Street Theatre; 2711 B St.; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. J.C.

You drafted them. You revised them. You polished them until they shined like little gems. Now get some payoff from all that hard work.

THE BEST MAN

Gore Vidal’s best play about American political corruption and sex scandals is still fresh and contemporary in this production by Theater One. Directed by Bobby Stewart, it features a strong performance by Bill Willkins as a sitting president asked to choose between his party’s two candidates to be the next nominee. F, Sa 8pm; Su 2pm. Through 4/1. $12-$14. Theater One at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 2425 Sierra Blvd.; (916) 790-4294; http://uuss.org. J.C. PHOTO BY PHOTOGRAPHER

The Best Man : Seriously, we know you never get enough of this campaign stuff.

Fill out the entry form below (photo copies OK), attach it to a copy of your essay, and send it to us by April 15. If you submit via email, make sure to include all that info at the top of the submission. We’ll print the finalists in a May issue of SN&R, and the winners will get a little something to help with all those college expenses. First prize is $2,012. Second prize is $750, and third prize is $250. Second and third prize are being sponsored by InterWest Insurance Services, Inc.

CATHOLIC SCHOOL GIRLS

RULES:

F, Sa 8pm; Su 2pm. 3/31, 4/1, 4/5, 4/6, 4/14, 4/15, 4/19, 4/21. $15. Actor’s Theatre of Sacramento

at the Wilkerson Theatre in the R25 complex at 25th St. and R St.; (916) 501-6104. M.M.

LEGALLY BLONDE

This lighthearted confection is exactly as advertised, which means it’s good-natured fun. Elle (Cassie March) goes from Malibu beach bunny to high-powered Harvard Law student and learns some valuable lessons along the way. Excellent choreography by Darryl Stroh, including a wonderful jump-rope action sequences. Directed by Bob Baxter, with additional stand-out performances by Matt Welch and Kate Richardson, not to mention Kobe and Bubba (a Chihuahua and an English bulldog). F, Sa 8pm; Su 2pm. Through 4/1. $15-$22. Runaway Stage Productions at the 24th Street Theatre, 2791 24th St.; (916) 207-1226; www.runawaystage.com. K.M.

SN&R wants to see your college application essays—and we’ll reward the best with money. That’s right, cash. Semolians. Scratch. The stuff that disappears so quickly when you’re going to college.

The Actor’s Workshop of Sacramento takes a look at parochial schools and dogma with Casey Kurtti’s Catholic School Girls, directed by Eason Donner. Four women act out multiple parts as both school girl and nun and create a fast-paced and funny production. In repertory with Be Aggressive, which opens March 29.

! T S E T N O C Y A S LL EGE ES

This contest is open to seniors graduating in 2012 only. If you’re heading to college but did not write an essay for your application, feel free to do so now. Essays will be judged anonymously. No employees or relatives of employees of SN&R may enter. Only one entry per student, so if you wrote more than one application essay, pick your best.

DEADLINE:

YOUNG TOM EDISON

Entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 13.

Include the following information with your entry:

This hour-long Family Series show is primarily for younger kids. The script is somewhat inchoate, but there are marvelous cameos, including Rick Kleber’s wild scene as a cowboy; children in the theater giggled with delight. There’s also a fine scene on a moving train, an ingenious lowtech illusion. Sa, Su 1pm & 4pm. Through 4/15. $13-$22. B Street Theatre, 2711 B St.; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. J.H.

NAME: TITLE OF ESSAY: ADDRESS: EMAIL: PHONE NUMBER: HIGH SCHOOL ATTENDED:

Short reviews by Jim Carnes, Jeff Hudson, Maxwell McKee and Kel Munger

COLLEGE YOU APPLIED TO WITH THIS ESSAY: COLLEGE YOU’LL BE ATTENDING:

Longer reviews of these plays are available online at www.newsreview.com/sacramento/home.

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03. 29.12

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Show timeS valid mar 30-apr 5, 2012

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FILM A writer and his dad, the writer Being Flynn And so the book, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, becomes the movie, Being Flynn. Do you suppose some water has been added? Paul Weitz by directs his own adaptation of Nick Flynn’s Jonathan Kiefer memoir about wanting to be a writer and working in a homeless shelter at which his long-estranged father, also an aspiring writer, one day appeared. This affords a casual study of self-delusion and self-debasement as a matter of inheritance, with invitingly comfortable performances—and dueling narration—by Robert De Niro and Paul Dano as Flynn pere et fils.

“LAUGH ALL YOU WANT...IT’S A BLAST.” Peter Travers,

Sorry, he’s just not hungry enough.

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COLUMBIA PICTURES AND METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES PRESENTMUSIC IN ASSOCIATION WITH RELATIVEXECUTIITY VMEDI A AN ORIGINAL FILM/CANNELL STUDIOS PRODUCTION “21 JUMPBASED ONSTREET” BRI E LARSON DAVE FRANCO ROB RI G GLE WITH ICE CUBE BY MARK MOTHERSBAUGH PRODUCERSE JONAH HILL CHANNING TATUM EZRA SWERDLOW TANIA LANDAU PRODUCED THE TELEVISION STORY SCREENPLAY SERIES CREATED BY PATRICK HASBURGH & STEPHEN J. CANNELL BY MICHAEL BACALL & JONAH HILL BY MICHAEL BACALL BY NEAL H. MORITZ STEPHEN J. CANNELL DIRECTED BY PHIL LORD & CHRISTOPHER MILLER

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“Some part of me knew he would show up,” Flynn wrote, “that if I stood in one place long enough he would find me, like you’re taught to do when you’re lost. But they never taught us what to do if both of you are lost, and you both end up in the same place, waiting.” Yes, the forecast calls for schmaltz, against which the book and the movie both take courteous precautions. In both, Flynn gets to know his father partly through written correspondence in which the elder proclaims himself the best American novelist since Mark Twain. “It’s classic,” he keeps saying of his latest work in progress, the only evidence of which is a publisher’s polite rejection letter. When an exasperated Nick finally asks if the book even exists, dad shouts, “Do you even exist, Nicholas Flynn?” The best moments involve that high-wire walk on the almost invisibly thin lines separating raconteur from con man, or pride from shame. Bringing this briefly into its sharpest relief, the ladies in the Flynns’ lives, played by Olivia Thirlby and Julianne Moore, casually light the movie up from within its margins. By necessity, huge swaths of the book’s plot—which is to say, Flynn’s life—have been cut to make the movie work. It would be naive or churlish to call this a violation, except maybe in a general sense; Being Flynn implicitly endorses the bigotry of cultural priorities by which we apparently concede that books

aren’t fully realized unto themselves and require over-literal movie abbreviations in order to seem successfully complete. But oh well; at least it gives movie critics something to do. Weitz respects the material to a fault of redundancy, telling and showing, and deals with artiste clichés and addict clichés by just powering on through them. That business of the competing narration only approximates the book’s shattered chronology, a mindful assembly of subjective fragments. It’s an innately literary conceit, and the film has not worked out a clean way of transposing it into cinematic terms. Maybe there is no such way beyond the simplest: just letting it play. In addition to its glimmers of great dialogue, the movie has a few beautiful nonverbal moments, like when the elder Flynn stands among battered boxes in his hard-won Section 8 apartment, and the first thing he does to unpack is put a book on the shelf. But the overall result seems tainted by lassitude, and it’s hard not to feel entitled to a harder try. It is good to see De Niro step slightly beyond his recent complacency, but that’s also a reason to hope for more. There’s no shortage of formidable father figures in his bag of tricks, and his pugnacious performance here—honest enough, yet still mannered in that De Niro way—comes with a dispiriting sense of having split the difference between This Boy’s Life and Little Fockers. (It seems relevant that latter also was directed by Weitz.) Another actor might have had to work harder at this, wanted it more. Both literally and figuratively, De Niro’s version of hungry still seems well-fed.

The overall result of Being Flynn seems tainted by lassitude, and it’s hard not to feel entitled to a harder try. Dano, meanwhile, abides, inhabiting this uneasy world with elegance and charm. He has a moment or two of the shouting actorly intensity to which he apparently has a longstanding contractual obligation, but also no-frills vulnerability which is nice to see because movie vulnerability usually has frills. It’s what the movie needs. But the movie’s just the movie. When the real Flynn so movingly wrote, “Perhaps the book you hold in your hands is the coin for his eyes,” he seized upon a very special intimacy—not just between father and son but also between reader and text. Being Flynn can’t capture that, and maybe no movie can—or should. Ω

by JONATHAN KIEFER & JIM LANE

A fast-talking, insincere literary agent (Eddie Murphy) finds a magic tree in his backyard that loses a leaf for every word he says; when the last leaf is gone, he and the tree will both die. How does he know this? It has something to do with a simpering New Age guru (Cliff Curtis), but really, don’t ask—it’s just one of the gaping holes in Steve Koren’s script, which seems to be suffering from some mysterious strain of screenplay blight. The movie is equal parts labored allegory without resonance and forced comedy without laughs. Murphy does what he can but is reduced to flailing and grimacing; his considerable talents don’t extend to making a bad script better, and neither do the far more modest skills of director Brian Robbins. Kerry Washington, Clark Duke and Alison Janney flounder in support. J.L.

The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye

One charming feature of Marie Losier’s new documentary is its total failure of expository consideration. If The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye seems randomly beamed in from outer space, that just goes to show its commitment to the material. For the sake of easier access, here’s some background: Once upon a time, one Genesis P-Orridge, frontman of proto-industrial noise outfit Throbbing Gristle, fell in love with a pretty young dominatrix called Lady Jaye. Their partnership was a charmed accumulation of poignant whimsy and unbridled creativity; eventually, maybe inevitably, it involved an ultimate consummation, the “Creating the Pandrogyne” project, in which the soul mates underwent plastic surgery to more closely resemble each other. When Lady Jaye died in 2007, or “dropped her body,” as Genesis nicely puts it, hearts were broken but the spell was not. Appropriately enough, Losier’s crazy quilt of home-movie and performance footage seems giddily undomesticated. Reveling unaplogetically in the selfexploratory allures of bohemian East Village chic, this is simply one sincere and affecting answer to the question of how to really live and love like an artist. J.K.

Casa de Mi Padre

Two Mexican brothers (Will Ferrell, Diego Luna) struggle to protect their father’s ranch from a ruthless drug kingpin (Gael García Bernal); meanwhile, Ferrell’s dim-bulb Armando finds himself falling for his brother’s voluptuous fiancée (Genesis Rodriguez). Ferrell and his old Saturday Night Live colleagues Andrew Steele (here, the writer) and Matt Piedmont (director) parody—by faithful imitation—the torrid conventions of the telenovelas of Spanish-language TV. They try to do what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns—right down to the overwrought title tune sung by a smoldering Christina Aguilera— but an overextended SNL skit is exactly what the movie feels like, with chuckles instead of genuine laughs. Still, the chuckles are plentiful, and everyone is gamely straight-faced about being over the top. J.L.

Friends With Kids

Two platonic best friends (Adam Scott and writer-director Jennifer Westfeldt) agree to have a kid together, no strings attached, so they can get “the parent thing” out of the way and continue their separate searches for Ms. and Mr. Right. We know where this is heading, but the beauty of Westfeldt’s script is that the characters are so three-dimensional that we want it to go there, and there are a lot of knowing laughs along the way. First-time director Westfeldt, a veteran actress and writer of 2001’s Kissing Jessica Stein, has something like the wit and insight of Woody Allen at his best, and her movie is a bracing antidote to shallow rom-coms like Failure to Launch and Made of Honor. She has a great cast, too (Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Chris O’Dowd), and gives them plenty of good lines. J.L.

•

A Thousand Words

The Hunger Games

Adolescents from a dozen districts of some future former America annually are chosen by lottery for a woodsy death match on live TV. Two of them, played by Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, hold our interest. This comes from the first book of Suzanne Collins’ bestselling sci-fi trilogy, and the script, by Collins, Billy Ray and director Gary Ross, has its own battles to fight against pseudo-suspense and other bloating filler. Reportedly inspired by Collins’ experience of

2 5 0 8 L A N D PA R K D R I V E L A N D PA R K & B R O A D WAY F R E E PA R K I N G A D J A C E N T T O T H E AT R E “A DISTINCT DELIGHT.” - Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE

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WINNER 5 ACADEMY AWARDS

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BEING FLYNN

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Jeff, Who Lives at Home : Don’t throw it to Jeff. He’s too stoned to catch it.

ARTIST

WED/THUR: 11:00AM, 1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8:05, 10:20PM FRI-TUES: 2:40, 7:40, 9:50PM

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- Richard Roeper, RICHARD ROEPER.COM

“BETTER THAN ANY FILM I’VE SEEN IN YEARS.” - David Edelstein, NEW YORK MAGAZINE

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F O R A D V A N C E T I C K E T S C A L L FA N D A N G O @ 1 - 8 0 0 - F A N D A N G O # 2 7 2 1

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

A 30-year-old stoner/slacker (Jason Segel) ventures out of his mother’s basement on an errand, but quickly gets sidetracked on a search for a mysterious “Kevin,” a name he feels sure came to him as a sign from the universe. Before the day is through, his quest will involve his mother (Susan Sarandon), brother (Ed Helms, in the kind of part he plays so well), sister-in-law (Judy Greer)—and yes, several Kevins. The writing-directing team of brothers Jay and Mark Duplass have a way of making movies that hardly seem written or directed at all, just earnestly improvised and captured on the fly. This one galumphs along from one episode to the next with a somehow lovable sense of ramshackle inevitability toward a sweet and extremely satisfying conclusion. Rae Dawn Chong tags along as Sarandon’s co-worker. J.L. flipping channels between war coverage and reality TV, it seems appropriately more mindnumbing than groundbreaking or actively satirical. Peripheral not-quite-characters are played with brightly costumed monotony by Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz and Donald Sutherland. But Hutcherson commits to his sudsy subplot, and Lawrence anchors it all with enough presence and genuine vulnerability to reward the patient attention of those many people who’ve been waiting in line to watch since before you began reading this. J.K.

John Carter

A Civil War veteran and gold prospector in 1880s Arizona Territory (Taylor Kitsch) is miraculously transported to the planet Mars, where his superior strength and agility make him a mighty warrior, while his valor, honor and good looks win the heart of a beautiful Martian princess (Lynn Collins). Edgar Rice Burroughs’ seminal 1912 pulp-fiction adventure, after influencing fantasy and science fiction for 100 years, comes to the screen courtesy of Disney, Pixar and writers Mark Andrews, Michael Chabon and Andrew Stanton (who also directed). The result is great fun, true to the spirit of the original and, with some tweaks and adjustments, reasonably faithful to the letter as well. Burroughs fans everywhere (he still has millions) can rest easy, and hope that Stanton and company can keep the series going. J.L.

Project X

Three high-school losers (Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown) plan a huge parents-out-of-town party to put them on the social map, but things get immediately out of hand, and before the night is over, their neighborhood looks like Baghdad on a bad day. Written by Matt Drake and Michael Bacall and directed by Nima Nourizadeh—and couched once again in the form of found-footage video, a style fast becoming tiresome—the movie seeks to be the ultimate party flick. It certainly pulls out all the stops, with all the sex, booty shots, bare boobs and destruction-without-consequences that a 15-year-old dweeb could possibly want, even though he wouldn’t be old enough to get into this R-rated show on his own. But underneath all the jacked-up mayhem, it’s a lame, laughless, pathetic little comedy. J.L.

Thin Ice

A sleazeball insurance agent (Greg Kinnear) hustles his way through life never playing straight with anyone—then he meets a senile old farmer (Alan Arkin) with a rare violin he doesn’t know the value of, and plots to rip the old fool off. Throw in a psycho locksmith (Billy Crudup), a sudden murder and escalating blackmail, and the agent’s life gets worse than he ever imagined. The script by sisters Jill and Karen Sprecher (Jill also directed) is nicely unpredictable, and the spiraling black comedy yanks you along breathlessly, wondering where it’s all leading. Where it’s leading is so complicated that the Sprechers can only

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resolve it with too much here’s-what-happened narration, but the ride is pretty giddy up to then. Lea Thompson plays Kinnear’s estranged wife, Bob Balaban the violin’s appraiser. J.L.

This Means War

Wanderlust

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Treat y

“HILARIOUS FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.”

Two CIA agents and close buddies (Chris Pine, Tom Hardy) find themselves dating the same woman (Reese Witherspoon) at the same time they’re more or less following the case of an international thief (Til Schweiger) who’s out to avenge their having killed his brother. Timothy Dowling, Simon Kinberg and Marcus Gautesen’s script is a fantasy for stunted adolescent boys masquerading as an action rom-com—too much action, not enough comedy, and no romance at all. Director McG (full name Joseph McGinty Nichol, whose body of work makes Michael Bay look like Woody Allen) manages to waste both Angela Bassett and Rosemary Harris in less-than-nothing roles. For that matter, he wastes Witherspoon too; she serves as a beard for Pine and Hardy’s characters; these two spies are obviously in love only with each other. J.L.

– DEBBIE LYNN ELIAS, CULVER CITY OBSERVER

Two New Yorkers (Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd) lose their apartment and are forced to move in with his brother in Atlanta (Ken Marino, co-writer with director David Wain); on their way south, they stumble across a hippie commune and decide they’d rather live here than with the obnoxious brother and his liquor-addled wife (Michaela Watkins). Be warned: The script is raunchy, profane and studded with producer Judd Apatow’s trademark frontal nudity, but if you leave your prudery at home, you probably won’t see a funnier movie all year. Aniston and Rudd’s comic rapport, sharpened on Friends and 1998’s The Object of My Affection, hasn’t lost its edge, especially when the good lines come as fast and thick as they do here. Great supporting cast, too: Alan Alda, Justin Theroux, Kathryn Hahn, Linda Lavin, etc. J.L.

OK, so if there wasn’t really anything to say, why exactly did We Need to Talk About Kevin? Director Lynne Ramsay’s adaptation (with Rory Kinnear) of Lionel Shriver’s novel contemplates the perpetrator of a high-school massacre. With its emptily evil brat embodied at various ages by Rock Duer, Jasper Newell and Ezra Miller, the nonstory plays out as a mannered retrospective litany of warning signs, cut against his mother’s stoic guilt. Tilda Swinton dignifies this exercise with such skill that for a few moments we even stop asking why she would, but basically it’s just some hyperpretentious horror flick. Complete with self-congratulating music cues, and John C. Reilly as the malefactor’s too-credulous father, Ramsay’s shriveled vision regresses us to the pretentious indie rubbish of the 1990s. It’s an outdated, unexamined pose of nihilism, somehow at once sneering and ingratiating—which, to some tastes, might indeed seem “masterful.” J.K.

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MUSIC Explosions at Mondavi The popular Austin band on Terrence Malick, Jeremy Lin and South by Southwest It’s funny how every band SN&R chats with on the phone is “just doing some laundry and getting ready to leave soon for tour.” As was the case with by Munaf Rayani of Texas’ Explosions in the Sky Nick Miller when we spoke last week. Anyway, the nickam@ dreamy, certainly epic instrumental foursome newsreview.com comes to the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in April, nine years after killing it in downtown Sacramento.

Given the nature of your music, do filmmakers approach you about this a lot?

Not as often as we’d like. … I try to look at it as the glass is half-full, so it’s a nice thing when somebody says, “God, we know your band, and we love your band, and we temp your music all the time.” And that’s always kind of the punch line of a joke: You just temp our music? Why not use our music? Do you guys love sports documentaries as much as they seem to love you?

We love basketball. I mean, we could talk about the Sacramento Kings. How do you feel about the team staying? I’m more concerned about who’s paying for the arena. Who’s your team?

The New York Knicks. Hmm, I’ll trade you Tyreke for Lin.

Wait, you want Lin already? … It’s just so crazy how the world works. That’s what it takes, just a little bit of fire, and people will run away with it. Within two weeks when Jeremy Lin started to make noise and get his points up, he had a shoe contract, Madison Square Garden’s going to do a Jeremy Lin night.

p o r t r a i t • t r a d i t i o n a l c o l o r • b l a c k / g r e y • c ov e r - u p s • g r a f f i t i s t y l e • r e a l i s m

ud 9 Tattoo o l C

t s o u m C Ink

Wanna get your band photo in SN&R? Add a dog. (Oh, this is Explosions in the Sky; Munaf Rayani is on the left.)

The last time you came to town was 2003.

And let me guess, the club was called Capitol City Garage? Dang, pretty good: Capitol Garage. It was a great spot for all-ages music—but then it was demolished for a bro nightclub.

Oh no. Old places, old venues that have some sort of legendary quality to it or historic quality to it—I don’t know if the price of real estate goes up or what’s happening, but sometimes the mom and pops get pushed out, and that’s a real shame. Where is your favorite spot to eat while touring, of all the places in the world?

The first one that jumps to mind is a little place in Chinatown in New York that’s off the side street of a side street, and we try to go there every time we’re in New York. There are but a few tickets left for Explosions in the Sky’s gig at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, April 15; 8 p.m.; $29.50. Try www.ticketmaster.com.

four diverse & professional artists each with 10+ years of experience 6321 Folsom blvd • 549–8614 open mon–sat 1pm–11pm

Appointments encouraged, walk-ins welcome • ½ mile from Sac State

SN&R

03. 29.12

Do you remember the name?

I do remember the name. But I can’t reveal it, because then you might see me stuffing my face there. If you could score a film for any filmmaker?

No. 1, on the top of the list, is Terrence Malick. And probably closely followed by Paul Thomas Anderson or Marty Scorsese or David Gordon Green.

And then dumb fans want to trade for him.

You know, sports are very fair-weather. Minus the very die-hard loyals that will just be with the team through all their ups and all their downs. Everybody else just wants to get behind the superstar. And if you’re not a superstar, then boy. The music industry is the same way, no?

Absolutely. Boy, people really love to get behind somebody. If all the right publications and all the cool blogs say something good about you, you don’t even have to have a record out; you’re already bigger than most people. … But once you follow that up with something mediocre or subpar, see ya. And SXSW is the petri dish for this?

Not just South by, but think about how many festivals are in operation right now just in the United States. It’s just kind of an overload. It’s amazing how quickly the word can get out about things. But, as quickly as it gets is as quickly as it can burn out. And with that, there’s oversaturation of music. So how do you keep focused? For instance, what’s the first thing you think of when you get onstage with the other guys for a gig?

Before we go on, we give each other big hugs and wish each other well. And kind of encourage each other to play full-fledge, play 100 percent. And how it goes after that, for better or worse, is how it will go. Ω

SOUND ADVICE Set that song on fire More fun on top?: It must be awful to have the No. 1, most-downloaded, chart-topping song in America. Which incidentally came to town this past Monday night. The track, “We Are Young,” made its cameo on the Sacramento State campus at a soldout gig for a band called Fun. Dads chaperoned junior-high entourages and feigned Errol Morris with iPhones. Freshman girls resurrected the long lost art of shadow dancing. And Good Day Sacramento’s Mark S. Allen was in the house, to boot; make what you will of that. Fun actually fashions a period at the end of their name—Fun.—and according to Wikipedia, refer to themselves as “Fun Period.” But no one else calls the New York City troupe “Fun Period,” not even NPR’s Guy Raz, with whom I heard lead singer Nate Ruess chat this past weekend. They’re just Fun. After seeing their live set, however, they might consider an exclamation point instead. Because the group’s H&M meets chastity belt, sociably singalong, hipster-theatrical brand of rock is really needs something more. This, of course, flies in the face of the band’s millions of downloads, album sales and noxious commercialization. Elbow rubbers at powerhouse ad and marketing firms hand-picked

“We Are Young” sometime last year, when the ditty was already a petite indie triumph, a bubbler on the blogs. And soon, in December 2011, Glee was covering it. Boom. Then even bigger: During a Super Bowl ad for a Obama-bailout approved Chevy mid-sized two-door, the song’s chorus blasted into hundreds of millions of living rooms. Evidently, the biochemistry of the tune’s anthemic, fist-pump chorus—“Tonight / we are young / so we set the world on fire / we can burn brighter / than the sun”— and chicken wings dipped in ranch is enough to inspire rabid downloading. Which exploded: By March 7, fans sucked Fun’s “We Are Young” from Apple’s iTunes database to the tune of 1.5 million units. As of this week, “We Are Young” was No. 1 on the Billboard 100 and No. 2 on iTunes (Justin Bieber still owns all, natch). So on Monday, after nearly an hour of hushed pop rock sprinkled with post-choirboy ballads, Fun let “We Are Young” out of the bag. The Sac State crowd nearly drowned out Ruess’ stubbly but pointed tenor while singing along. And there were more smartphones held in the air video taping than I’d ever seen at a live gig. But then the song ended with a mad dash to the exits. Moms and dads and hundreds of undergrads— they’d seen that TV commercial, that

song that buzzes from their car stereo two or three times a day, that melody they find themselves humming in the shower each morning. They were sated. They were done with it. Beat it: 2012 will mark the year when the Sacramento Electronic Music Festival bossed up with big beats. Gone are the days of TownHouse Lounge, what with its charming grime. In is Harlow’s and Momo Lounge. Out is the chill of January, in is the glow of May 3, 4 and 5. And also in are the headliners. The big dog this year is Shlohmo, Los Angeles-based producer known for glitchy beats in the vein of Flying Lotus. Fellow headliners include Mux Mool of Ghostly International (same label as Tycho; will he pop up on the bill last minute?), synth funk party troupe B Salvo and the Starship Connection, Lorn, Giraffage, Chachi Jones, Dolor, Adoptahighway, James & Evander, DJ Nobody, Dan Casey and Salva. Sacramento artists on the bill include Dibiase, Raleigh Moncrief, Doom Bird, Favors, Dusty Brown and Little Foxes. And the breaking news: Death Grips is in as well. Look for more announcements at www.facebook.com/semfpresents.

INDULGE

—Nick Miller

nickam@newsreview.com

EYE-FI Sacramento live-music scene grabs PHOTO BY STEVEN CHEA

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Sacramento State kids took their minds off tuition hikes and the forthcoming spring quarter at Fun’s gig this past Monday. Fun currently has the No. 1 song in the country (see story, above). BEFORE

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03. 29.12

SN&R

EIGHT GIGS

30FRI 31SAT

31SAT

01SUN

Serge Gainsbourg tribute

Nicole Kidman

T-Rosemond

Dan Bern For nearly 15 years, singer-songwriter Dan Bern has released records with great critical acclaim. Although he gained popularity during his stint on the Sony-affiliated Work label, he has been quite prolific touring and releasing albums on indie labels. You may have heard one (or more) of his songs in the movie Walk Hard, or read some of his short storiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re the literary sort. For the hard-core fan and $1,000, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll craft the perfect wedding or birthday song. FOLK For $5,000, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll come to your house and play an intimate show. Buy a ticket to this show, and have Bern at your disposal. 908 K Street, www.danbern.com.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Eddie Jorgensen

This benefit show for Zanmi Lakay, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of Haitiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s street children, features Haitan singer T-Rosemond and his band Ital Souls. Rosemond, currently living in WORLD Northern California, exudes a Haitian ethos in his music. With a soulful croon, he performs reggae-influenced originals and contemporary pop covers in Haitian Creole and English. Opening acts include Davis glitch-hop and dubstep producer DJ Big Joe Daddy, as well as reggae and dancehall selector DJ Wokstar. Donate $20 (suggested) to a good cause, and enjoy an eclectic mix of international music all in one night. 716 N Street in Davis, www.trosemond.com.

Say what you will about Serge Gainsbourgâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; he was an alcoholic philanderer, a parent with questionable boundariesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but his atmospheric pop songs remain timeless. The French singer, whose daughter, singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, gained notoriety at age 12 after recording â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lemon Incestâ&#x20AC;? with her father, would have been 83 this year. This tribute features bands interpretLOCAL ing Gainsbourg classics in a venue without a name, hosted by Record Club Sacramento, with proceeds benefiting the Sacramento French Film Festival and Verge Center for the Arts. The lineup includes the Harley White Jr. Trio, the Afternoon Teacup Collection and the Slippery Slope. 1630 I Street, www.facebook.com/recordclubsacto.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Jonathan Mendick

TOWNHOUSE THURSDAY 3/29

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The Javalounge, 8 p.m., $5

1630 I Street, 8 p.m., $5

N Street Music, 9 p.m., $20

Marilynâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on K, 7 p.m., $12-$15

LIVE BAND KARAOKE

Reminiscent of nerdcore electronic artist Atom and His Package is West Covina, Calif., native Jon Barba, who writes and performs folky emo tunes all by his lonesome. With a slew of instruments that include a Yamaha PSR-32, distortion ELECTRONIC pedals and guitars, Barbaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solo act, Nicole Kidman, is worth checking out. It features looped sounds layered between mixtures of high-pitched vocals, sharing everything with audiences from heartache to new relationships. Since Barba recently relocated to the Oakland area, I suspect heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll visit Sac more often. Supporting acts this evening include Doofy Doo and Casey Chisholm. 2416 16th Street www.youtube.com/jonbarba.

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01SUN 01SUN 02MON 05THURS Emcee Olympics

Eligh & Amp Live He’s not arguing with a Coors Light can, but West Coast rapper Eligh has become an underground hip-hop icon the past two decades. The Los Angeles HIP-HOP native formed 3 Melancholy Gypsys with Murs and MC Scarub before moving to the Bay and joining seminal crew Living Legends. Outside of collaborations, Eligh dropped at least nine solo LPs, exploring groovy minimalist hip-hop with sharp stylistic left turns. There’s enough science for an honorary degree in his big-picture rhymes, keyed to clinical social dissections. He collaborated with DJ Amp Live (Zion I) for the first time in November on Therapy at 3, an offbeat atmospheric electro hip-hop effort. 1417 R Street, http://elighmusic.com.

Firehose

Joyce Manor

Pistol Pete’s Brew and Cue, 9 p.m., $10

Ace of Spades, 6:30 p.m., $13

Harlow’s 8 p.m., $18-$20

Luigi’s Fun Garden, 6 p.m., $5

No fooling: An annual Emcee Olympics really goes down in the hip-hop haven that is the burg of Auburn this April Fools’ Day evening. Admission is $15 for emcees (hit up emceeolympics@gmail.com to play) and competition includes the categories of best written verse, freestyle and audience interaction. I recommend enhancing audience interaction by buying beers for the house. Or the judges. Or at least me. Contestants include—well, dang, they won’t tell me who is competing this year. But HIP-HOP judges are Chase Moore, DJ Lex Level of Heiroglyphics and others. Plus, Sleeprockers (pictured) are the deejays for the night. 140 Harrison Avenue in Auburn.

—Nick Miller

Mike Watt is a beast. When I was a teenager, I played bass; when asked, I would list my favorite bassists as Victor Wooten, Les Claypool and Watt. There’s just something ineffable about his ability to exude punk rock with such a subtle instrument. It’s nearly impossible to ignore. In support of the reunion tour of Watt’s legendary postMinuteman band Firehose, the ROCK band hand-picked local post-prog locals Tera Melos, who recently had Watt do guest vocals on “Manar the Magic” from its Zoo Weather EP, released February 22. Watt’s other band, Mike Watt and the Missingmen, has done extensive touring with the local three-piece. 2708 J Street, www.facebook.com/wattfrompedro.

Joyce Manor has been blowing up all over punk blogs and websites since its debut selftitled album came out last year. Punknews.org, in particular, loves the band, with good reason. It has a sound that is catchy, yet raw, honest and PUNK immediate. It has the self-depreciating emotional intensity of Alkaline Trio, the fist-pounding anger of Off With Their Heads and the energetic pre-emo rawness of Jawbreaker. Though its songwriting and arrangements are clearly punk, Joyce Manor has some eclectic indie-rock sensibilities, too. Weezer is an obvious influence, which is most apparent on its slower, heavily distorted songs, like “Beach Community.” 1050 20th Street, www.facebook.com/joycemanorband.

—Chris Parker

—John Phillips

—Aaron Carnes

Irish COCKTAIL

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CHALLENGE

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Streets of London for their Irish Coffee Martini Made with Kahlua Coffee Liqueur, Jameson Irish Whiskey, chilled and strained into an iced martini glass and Creator of the Irish Coffee Martini:

topped with house-made

Gen. Manager West Sac location

whipped cream. Yum!

Elizabeth Schroeder,

City of Westminster

Streets of London Pub streetsoflondon.net 1804 J Street In Midtown 498.1388

BEFORE

2200 Lake Washington Blvd West Sac 376.9066

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649 E.Bidwell Folsom 984- 3706

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03. 29. 12

S N&R

NIGHTBEAT

THURSDAY 3/29

FRIDAY 3/30

BADLANDS

Tipsy Thursdays, Top 40 deejay dancing, 9pm, call for cover

Fabulous and Gay Fridays, 9pm, call for cover

Saturday Boom, 9pm, call for cover

BLUE LAMP

1400 Alhambra, (916) 455-3400

CRAIC HAUS, RIOT RADIO, DEAD HORSES; 9pm, $7

THE STRIPMINERS, THE SECRETIONS, BRIAN HANOVER; 9pm, $10

DEREK DUNN, STARS & GARTERS, VIVA LE VOX; 9pm, $8

THE BOARDWALK

OUR ENDLESS OBSESSION, CYBORG

ART OF CHAOS, VEGAS DIVIDED, KRYPTIC MEMORIES; 8pm, $10-$12

ONE-EYED KING, CALIFORNIA CHILD, THE FOURTH HORSEMAN; 8pm

2003 K St., (916) 448-8790

List your event!

Post your free online listing (up to 15 months early), and our editors will consider your submission for the printed calendar as well. Print listings are also free, but subject to space limitations. Online, you can include a full description of your event, a photo, and a link to your website. Go to www.newsreview.com/calendar and start posting events. Deadline for print listings is 10 days prior to the issue in which you wish the listing to appear.

9426 Greenback Ln., Orangevale; (916) 988-9247 OCTOPUS, A PLAGUE UPON HER; 7pm

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 4/2-4/4

Sin Sunday, 8pm, call for cover

Mad Mondays, M; Latin video flair and Wii bowling, 7pm Tu

TWIN STEPS, BRAINSTORM; 8pm Tu, $5

1815 19 St., (916) 822-5668

CENTER FOR THE ARTS

RENEE WILSON, MARCUS SHELBY TRIO; 8pm, $20-$22

314 W. Main St., Grass Valley; (530) 271-7000

THE COZMIC CAFÉ

Open-mic, 7:30pm, no cover

BOSEN & SUEDE, 8pm, $8

DISTRICT 30

1016 K St., (916) 737-5770

DWNTWN, RONY’S PHOTOBOOTH, DJ Sam I Jam, DJ Adam J; 9pm,

Deejay dancing, 9pm, call for cover

FACES

Deejay dancing and karaoke, 9pm, $3

Hip-hop and Top 40 Deejay dancing, 9pm, $5-$10

FOX & GOOSE

HANS AND THE HOT MESS, AMY BLEU, ADAMS AND EVES; 8-11pm, no cover

STREET URCHINZ, STORYTELLERS; 9pm- FORTUNATE FEW, VINTAGE VANDALS, midnight, $5 DRY COUNTY DRINKERS; 9pm, $5

594 Main St., Placerville; (530) 642-8481

1001 R St., (916) 443-8825

G STREET WUNDERBAR 228 G St., Davis; (530) 756-9227

Want to be a hot show? Mail photos to Calendar Editor, SN&R, 1124 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95815 or email it to sactocalendar@ newsreview.com. Be sure to include date, time, location and cost of upcoming shows.

SUNDAY 4/1

BOWS AND ARROWS

2000 K St., (916) 448-7798

Hey local bands!

SATURDAY 3/31

DRAWING OUT LIFE, KEEPING SCORE, LUST YOU CAN’T AFFORD; 8pm, $5

Hip-hop and Top 40 Deejay dancing, 9pm, $5-$10

Dragalicious, 9pm, $5

LOVELORN, 8-11pm W; Open-mic, 7:30pm M, no cover; Pub Quiz, 7pm Tu, no cover

DJ Smilez, 10pm-1:15am, no cover

DJ Julius Pleaser, 10pm-1:15am, no cover

THE GOLDEN BEAR

DJ Shaun Slaughter, 10pm, call for cover

DJ Crook One, 10pm, call for cover

DJ Whores, 10pm, no cover

HARLOW’S

GOAPELE, 10pm, call for cover

TOM RIGNEY & FLAMBEAU, 7pm, $15

MELISSA CORONA, 6pm, call for cover; HIP SERVICE, 10pm, $12

JAVALOUNGE

JOHN DENECOCHEA, JENN ROGAR, OLLA; 8pm, $5

EBONY DRONE ENSEMBLE, SEAN GASKELL; 8pm, $6

GARAGE JAZZ ARCHITECTS, TAO JIRIKI; 4pm, $5; GET SHOT!, MOANS; 8pm, $5

LUNA’S CAFÉ & JUICE BAR

Joe Montoya’s Poetry Unplugged, 8pm, $2

KEN KOENIG, CHELSEA SHAYE; 8pm, $6

DAVID HOUSTON & STRING THEORY, HENRY ROBINETT; 8pm, $6

MARILYN’S ON K

“Rock On” Live Band Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

DAN BERN, 7pm, $12-$15; MR. P CHILL & RICKY AND DEL, THE CRASH THIMBLES; TRUNK OF FUNK, POOR; 9:30pm, $7 9:30pm, $7

NAKED LOUNGE DOWNTOWN

World’s Worst Doctors Comedy Improv, 8:30pm, $5

CRUNK WITCH, ILL IMPERIAL, AURORA; 8:30pm, $5

OLD IRONSIDES

1901 10th St., (916) 442-3504

LP SESSIONS, SPIRIT OF SAINT LOUIS, MASON REX; 9pm, $5

WHISKEY & STITCHES, BLEEDIN MIND X QUARTET, CRAZY HARRIS HEARTS, STREET LAMP JUNKIE; 9pm, $5 BAND; 9pm, $5

ON THE Y

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

FOUR ON THE FLOOR, 9pm, no cover

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

THE SUN KINGS, 8:30pm, call for cover

GATOR BEAT, 8:30pm, $15

2326 K St., (916) 441-2252 2708 J St., (916) 441-4693 2416 16th St., (916) 441-3945 1414 16th St., (916) 441-3931 908 K St., (916) 446-4361 1111 H St., (916) 443-1927

670 Fulton Ave., (916) 487-3731

THE PALMS PLAYHOUSE

13 Main St., Winters; (530) 795-1825

OUT OF PLACE, DONNER; 8:30pm, $5

ACE OF SPADES THURSDAY, MARCH 29

THE SAW DOCTORS THE NICKEL SLOTS

FRIDAY, MARCH 30

PURIFICATION BY FIRE INTERNAL DECAPITATION - THE HUMAN CONTORTION FALL OF MAN - DIRE PERIL

SATURDAY, MARCH 31

ALACER BEFORE YOU FALL - THEA SKOTIA - THE SUN SETS HERE & MORE SUNDAY, APRIL 1

ELIGH+AMP LIVE ILL EFFECT - 2ME - KMAC

FRIDAY, APRIL 6

OZOMOTLI CUMBIA TOKESON

Industry Night, 9pm, call for cover

DOOFY DOO, NICOLE KIDMAN, CASEY CHISHOLM; 8pm, $5 Nebraska Mondays, 7:30pm M, $5-$20; Comedy night, 8pm W, $6 HOT CLUB DE CARMICHAEL, BOB WOODS, MRQ, DIRT NAP; 5:30pm Tu ADRIAN BOURGEOIS, BRAN JENNINGS AND FRIENDS; 8:30 pm, $5

Open-mic comedy, 9:30pm, no cover

SN&R

03.29.12

Karaoke, 9pm Tu; MINENWERFER, CHAOS IN MIND, AT DUSK; 8:30pm M, $3

1417 R Street, Sacramento, 95814 www.aceofspadessac.com

ALL AGES WELCOME! COMING SATURDAY, APRIL 7

BETA STATE

STAND OUT STATE - FIRST CLASS ACT - TODD MORGAN & THE EMBLEMS - THE ROOFTOP UNDERGROUND - THE DOWNBEAT CROWD

SUNDAY, APRIL 8

PAPER DIAMOND MINNESOTA

MONDAY, APRIL 9

AWOLNATION MOOSTACHE - KING CLIFTON

FRIDAY, APRIL 13

ICONOCLAST ROBOT STUCK - RICK JAMES PROJECT - BELL BOYS MUSIC ONE LOST MC - KODAC VISUALZ W/ JOEY GORGEOUS

SATURDAY, APRIL 14

KILL THE PRECEDENT

Tickets available at all Dimple Records Locations, The Beat Records, and Armadillo Records, or purchase by phone @ 916.443.9202 |

Jazz session, 8:30pm M; MEDODORA, 8:30pm Tu, $5; JAZZ GITAN, 8:30pm W STRAPPED FOR CASH, NUANCE; 7:30pm M; Karaoke, 9pm Tu; Open-mic, W

CITY OF VAIN - THE SECRETIONS - GIANT SQUID - BLACK MACKEREL - KILLDEVIL 36

Queer Idol, 9pm M, no cover; Latin night, 9pm Tu, $5; DJ Alazzawi, 9pm W, $3

SOON

4/18 4/19 4/20 4/21 4/22 4/25 4/28 4/29 5/6 5/7 5/8 5/11 5/12 5/16 5/21 5/24 5/25 5/31 6/2 6/8 6/17 6/19 6/22 6/28 7/17 9/5 10/11

Childish Gambino Buzzcocks Roach Gigz Cali Swag District Eve 6 Tech N9NE All Shall Parish Hyper Crush Curren$y Imagine Dragons Delta Spirit Andre Nickatina Kid Ink & Kirko Bangz The Supervillains Fear Factory The Real McKenzies Destruction (HED) Pe & Mushroomhead Yo Gotti Dredge My Darkest Days Mayer Hawthorne & The County Arden Park Roots Who’s Bad (Michael Jackson Tribute) Reverend Horton Heat Powerman 5000 D.R.I

THURSDAY 3/29

FRIDAY 3/30

THE PARK ULTRA LOUNGE

DJ Eddie Edul, 8pm, call for cover

PISTOL PETE’S

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

PO’ BOYZ BAR & GRILL

Jam with Roharpo, 7pm, no cover

POWERHOUSE PUB

LEFT OF CENTRE, 9:30pm, call for cover

THE PRESS CLUB

THE STRANGE PARTY, SOUTHPAW, NO BEATINGS FROM HOLLY; 8:30pm, $3

1116 15th St., (916) 442-7222

140 Harrison Ave., Auburn; (530) 885-5093 9580 Oak Avenue Pkwy., Folsom; (916) 987-2886 614 Sutter St., Folsom; (916) 355-8586 2030 P St., (916) 444-7914

MA BARKER, 9pm, $5

SATURDAY 3/31

SUNDAY 4/1

DJ Peeti V, 9pm, call for cover

Asylum Downtown: Gothic, industrial, EBM dancing, 9pm, call for cover

BONEDRIVERS, 9pm, $5

Karaoke, 9pm W, no cover

JOHNNY RAWLS, 9pm, $10

Blues Jam, 2pm, no cover

Open-mic comedy, 9pm M; Jam with Dave Channell, 7pm Tu; Trivia, 7pm W

FOREVERLAND, 10pm, $10

THE NICKEL SLOTS, ISLAND OF BLACK & WHITE; 10pm, $10

JOHN NEMETH, 3pm, call for cover

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WEEDIPEDIA Spring is here. Time to plant seedsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but first, know your buds. by Ngaio Bealum

March 29, 2012

page 5

A weekly look at medical cannabis in the Sacramento region

march 29, 2012

The 420

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march 29, 2012

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The 420

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The 420

Ngaio Bealum a local comedian and medical-cannabis advocate

WEEDIPEDIA

Spring is here. Time to plant seeds—but first, know your buds.

Wikipedia has everything. Almost everything. What it doesn’t have is a comprehensive look at medical-cannabis strains. For instance, if you type the term “Afgoo” into Wikipedia’s search engine, it asks if you were looking for “afo.” No, I wasn’t. Lesson learned: Wikipedia is not a “Weedipedia.” Which is a shame: Life is fine when things combine. Cannabis growers are constantly mixing and interbreeding plants to create new strains. So, if you find Trainwreck nice but a little too heady, why not crossbreed it with a good indica? Mix that OG Kush with a Sour Diesel, and you get a strain known as Headband. Combine Hash Plant with G-13, and you get a plant known as Mr. Nice. And Wikipedia, the resource for everything it seems, should embrace this. Until then, however, let’s play science experiment and look at a few strains and the hybrids they’ve helped create, Weedipedia style.

The hybrids

Blue Dream. A cross between Blueberry and Haze, Blue Dream has become one of the most popular strains in California. This strain is very balanced, neither too heady nor too debilitating. Green Ribbon. Derived from three strains (Afgoo, Trainwreck and Green Crack), Green Ribbon is definitely a winner. The light green and frosty look gives way to a fresh and slightly fruity aroma, which leads to an earthy sweet flavor. Green Ribbon definitely exudes sativa dominancy. Its uplifting and cerebral goodness lets the mind wander creatively or focus intently during a task. Patients often praise the pain-relief benefits. Green Ribbon typically tests over 18 percent THC and commonly reaches numbers in the low 20s. Cannabidiol content is normally present as well. Many patients find that the CBD content makes this herb not as likely to produce the anxiety that can be associated with high THC sativa strains like Trainwreck. Bubba Kush. A cross between Bubblegum and the Kush plant, Bubba Kush is my favorite The ProgeniTors of all the kushes. Sweet Trainwreck. Why is it skunky flavors combined called Trainwreck? with a nice balanced Bubba Kush is good Because this high make this strain superstrong pure for anxiety and effective for a variety sativa (mostly of ailments. Bubba depression, plus it Colombian crossed Kush is good for will most likely give with Mexican sativa anxiety and depression, with a little Afghani) you the munchies. plus it will most likely comes on crazy give you the munchies. strong? Is it because of The Cure. Afgoo, the rumor that this legendBubba Kush and a strain ary, light-green, long-leaved, called Monkeypaw mixed delicious plant was first grown together. Earthy and fruity, The Cure in Humboldt County near the site of an old (named after the ’80s band, not the slang trainwreck? The world may never know. term for entering rehab) is a mostly indica But we do know that for at least 15 years plant that won’t slow you down too much. this plant, with the strong head effects and BOG Sour Bubble. Created by the the smell of pine and skunk, has been a legendary cannabis cultivator known as favorite of patients and growers everywhere. Bushy Old Grower, Sour Bubble is a cross The effects of Trainwreck can be overbetween Bubblegum and Bubblegum. By whelming for some new cannabis users. selecting different Bubblegum plants and Bubblegum. This strong indica breeding for desired characteristics, BOG originated in the Midwest. Known for its has created a Bubblegum strain that is sour, sweet, sweet flavor (it smells like bubblesmooth and strong. This plant is a heavy gum—surprise) and strong couch-lock indica, good for insomnia but not for when effects, Bubblegum is often hard to find you have something to do. Occasionally, in its pure form, but it has been used to samples of this strain grown by BOG create many different popular strains. himself show up in Sacramento. Afgoo. Another indica from the Midwest, known for its pain-relieving properties. Tasty, strong and a big yielder, Afgoo can be oTher nice hybrids found at almost every cannabis dispensary. Girl Scout Cookies. A wonderful plant with Blueberry. As the name implies, this a terrible name, GSC is OG Kush crossed indica smells and tastes like blueberries. Like with Durban Poison and Cherry Kush. It Bubblegum, Blueberry is often hard to find, does indeed smell like cookies. It is also very but it shows up in many different hybrids. tasty and powerful. A Bay Area favorite. Haze. Haze is an old-school pure Jack Herer. Named after the late great sativa from Jamaica. Haze is a very strong marijuana superhero Jack Herer, this mix breed, and many patients have reported of Haze, Skunk No. 1 and Northern Lights psychedeliclike effects. The flavor is No. 5 is a sativa dominant breed good for spicy and earthy, with a hint of lemon. clear thinking and stress relief.

A weekly look at medical cannabis in the Sacramento region

The 420

march 29, 2012

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The 420

march 29, 2012

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): A few months

after America invaded Iraq in 2003, soldier Brian Wheeler wrote the following to help us imagine what it was like over there: “Go to the worst crime-infested place you can find. Go heavily armed, wearing a flak jacket and a Kevlar helmet. Set up shop in a vacant lot. Announce to the residents that you are there to help them, and in the loudest voice possible yell that every Crip and Blood within hearing distance is a PANSY.” As a character-building exercise, Aries, I highly recommend you try something like this yourself. April fool ! I was just kidding. What I just said is not an accurate reading of the astrological omens. But this is: Get out of your comfort zone, yes, but with a smart gamble, not a crazy risk.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): According to a recent poll, God’s approval rating has dipped below 40 percent for the first time on record. My research suggests the new low is due in part to a disproportionate amount of dissatisfaction by those born under the sign of Taurus. Can you fix this please? If you’re one of the discontent, please see if you can talk yourself into restoring some of your faith in the divine Wow. April fool ! The real truth is, I encourage you to be skeptical in regards to all authorities, experts and topdogs, including God. It’s an excellent time in your cycle to go rogue, to scream, “I defy you, stars!” Be a rabble-rousing, boat-rocking doubter.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

Photographer Darrin Harris Frisby doesn’t think people should smile in photographs. He regards it as “superficial and misleading.” In the greatest portraits ever painted, he says, the subject’s gaze is almost always neutral, “neither inviting nor forbidding.” Did Rembrandt ever show people grinning from ear to ear? No. Did Vermeer, Goya, Titian, Sargent or Velasquez? Nope. Make that your guiding thought in the coming week, Gemini. Be a connoisseur of the poker face. April fool ! I lied. The truth is, in the coming week you will have more than ample reasons to be of good cheer. You should therefore express delight extravagantly.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Back in 1835,

a newspaper known as The New York Sun resorted to an extreme measure in order to boost readership: It ran a story about how the renowned astronomer Sir John Herschel had perfected a telescope that allowed him to see life forms on the moon, including unicorns, two-legged beavers that had harnessed fire and sexually liberated “manbats.” If I’m reading the astrological omens correctly, Cancerian, you temporarily have license to try something almost equally as wild and experimental to “boost your readership.” April fool ! I lied about the unicorns. Don’t refer to clichéd chimeras like them. But it’s fine to invoke more unexpected curiosities like fire-using beavers and sexually liberated manbats.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In his documentary

film Prohibition, Ken Burns reports on the extreme popularity of alcohol in 19th-century America. He says that the typical person over 15 years of age drank 88 bottles of whiskey a year. In light of the current astrological omens, Leo, I suggest you increase your intake to that level and even beyond. April fool ! I lied. It’s not literal alcoholic spirits you should be ingesting in more abundance, but rather big ideas that open your mind, inspirational sights and sounds that dissolve your inhibitions, and intriguing people who expand your worldview.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A woman in

Euclid, Ohio claims her house is haunted by randy ghosts. “They have sex in my living room,” Dianne Carlisle told a TV news reporter. “You can see the lady’s highheeled shoes.” I suspect you may soon be dealing with a similar problem, Virgo. So consider the possibility of hiring an X-rated exorcist. April fool ! The naked truth is that you will not be visited by spooks of any kind, let alone horny ones. However, you would be smart to purify and neutralize old karma that might still be haunting your love life or your sex life. Consider performing a do-ityourself exorcism of your own memories.

BEFORE

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In Karley

Sciortino’s NSFW blog Slutever, she announces that, “This is a blog intended to trick strangers into thinking my life is more exciting than it actually is.” I highly recommend you adopt that approach, Libra. Do whatever it takes—lying, deceiving, exaggerating, bragging—to fool everyone into believing that you are a fascinating character who is in the midst of marvelous, high-drama adventures. April fool ! I wasn’t totally sincere about what I just said. The truth is, your life is likely to be a rousing adventure in the coming days. There’ll be no need to pretend it is, and therefore no need to cajole or trick others into thinking it is.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Before you

diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem,” said author William Gibson, “first make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.” This is a good time to check in with yourself, Scorpio, and see if Gibson’s advice applies to you. Lately, the jackass quotient seems to have been rising in your vicinity. April fool ! I was halfjoking. It’s true that you should focus aggressively on reducing the influence of jerks in your life. At the same time, you should also ask yourself rather pointedly how you could reduce your problems by changing something about yourself.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Do

not under any circumstances put on a frog costume, go to a shopping mall and ride around on a unicycle while reciting erotic poetry in German through a megaphone. April fool ! I lied. That wouldn’t be such a terrible use of your time. The astrological omens suggest that you will be visited by rather unusual creative surges that may border on being wacky. Personally, though, I would prefer it if you channeled your effervescent fertility in more highly constructive directions, like dreaming up new approaches to love that will have a very practical impact on your romantic life.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In F.

Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is stirred to the point of rapture by Jay Gatsby’s silk shirts. “I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts before,” she sobs, burying her face in one as she sits in his bedroom. I sincerely hope you will have an equivalent brush with this kind of resplendence sometime soon, Capricorn. For the sake of your mental and even physical health, you need direct contact with the sublime. April fool ! I half-lied. It’s true that you would profoundly benefit from a brush with resplendence. But I can assure you that plain-old material objects, no matter how lush and expensive, won’t do the trick for you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Last

December, a woman in Tulsa, Oklahoma made creative use of a Wal-Mart. She gathered various ingredients from around the shelves, including lighter fluid, lithium, and drain cleaner, and set up a meth lab right there in the back of the store. She’s your role model for the coming week, Aquarius. April fool ! I lied, kind of. The woman I mentioned got arrested for illegal activity, which I don’t advise you to do. But I do hope you will ascend to her levels of ingenuity and audacity as you gather all the resources you need for a novel experiment.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A Filipino man

named Herbert Chavez has had extensive plastic surgery done to make himself resemble Superman. Consider making him your role model, Pisces. I hope he inspires you to begin your own quest to rework your body and soul in the image of your favorite celebrity or cartoon hero. April fool ! I lied. In fact, you’d be wise to avoid comparing yourself to anyone else or remolding yourself to be like anyone else. The best use of the current cosmic tendencies would be to brainstorm about what exactly your highest potentials are, and swear a blood oath to become that riper version of yourself.

You can call Rob Brezsny for your Expanded Weekly Horoscope: (900) 950-7700. $1.99 per minute. Must be 18+. Touchtone phone required. Customer service (612) 373-9785. And don’t forget to check out Rob’s website at www.realastrology.com.

FRONTLINES

FEATURE

15 MINUTES

by NICK

MILLER PHOTO BY WES DAVIS

by ROB BREZSNY

FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 29, 2012

Party en francais Chris Tafoya is perhaps better known as DJ Christophé, the city’s premier source of awesome French music. The former Tower Records employee of 15 years says he doesn’t quite recall how he got into French tunes, but says that his friends really dug the “eclectic mixes” he’d make back in the cassette era and encouraged him to start deejaying. Now Tafoya, 45, works for the Secretary of State, but he spends his spare time doing things such as costuming for films and photo shoots and crafting vintage cocktails. And mixing songs, of course. Catch DJ Christophé at this weekend’s third annual Serge Gainsbourg Birthday Party on Saturday, March 31, at 1630 I Street in Midtown. The soiree begins at 8 p.m., and the $5 admission benefits the 11th annual Sacramento French Film Festival and the Verge Center for the Arts.

You’re deejaying a party for French President Nicolas Sarkozy. What song do you play to get him dancing? Sarkozy is kind of the George W. Bush of France. I would love to boycott him, but if I were forced to play in the interest of international relations, I’d play something by Carla Bruni. Since he’s married to her, he better get up and dance, in the interest of domestic relations. There’s probably no danger of that, however, given that Sarkozy has a son, Pierre, who is a deejay and flies around in a private jet on the French taxpayers’ dime. Or Euro. I’m sure he’d get the gig.

You say, “1960s French pop.” Most people respond, “WTH?” Help them. France Gall and Brigitte Bardot were the gateway drugs for me. Start with anything Gainsbourg wrote; he did hits for both ladies. “Je T’Aime ... Moi Non Plus” is a pretty great Serge tune. Or there’s the Bacharach-inspired Serge tune sung by the enigmatic Françoise Hardy, “Comment Te Dire Adieu?” Gainsbourg wrote in all styles: jazz, Latin, pop, classical, rock and reggae. You’re sure to find something you like.

When I think of Gainsbourg, I think of that TV interview when he said he wanted to have sex with Whitney Houston. What’s your Gainsbourg memory? Personal memory? Visiting his grave in Montparnasse Cemetery. He died 20 years ago, and every day it is still covered with tributes, drawings, notes, plants, cigarettes and booze. He was a provocateur and troublemaker and general shit stirrer, but society needs that.

STORY

A RT S & C U LT U R E

Parlez-vous francais? I don’t, but it’s not from lack of trying. My comprehension is getting better, but what I really need is total immersion, like a year internship. Or a French lover. I’m open to suggestion.

Where does DJ Christophé deejay? I used to have a regular weekly gig at the now-defunct Celestin’s. That’s where folks from the Sacramento French Film Festival approached me for their events. I’ve done guest appearances on KDVS, local openings and parties. I even did a gig for the Sacramento Ballet.

Where do you go to find music? Ideally? France! Leave lots of room in your suitcase. Crocodisc, 40-42 Rue des Ecoles in Paris, is the best. They’re so cool, too. They let me go into their basement and dig through old boxes. I was in heaven. Other Music in New York is pretty phenomenal, too. Amoeba Music in San Francisco is a favorite haunt. If you must do it virtually—it’s not really record shopping if your fingers don’t get dirty—there’s a great site for Magic Records, a never-fails-toplease label with no U.S. distributor. FNAC Music and Dusty Groove have great websites, too.

One might argue that ’60s French cinema was the best era of moviemaking ever. |

AFTER

Would you argue the same about ’60s French music? I wouldn’t argue it’s the best; that’s quite subjective. I even take issue with a lot of the misogyny of the Nouvelle Vague. But I think, for what it is, it’s quite perfect. It’s not overblown or ponderous music that takes itself too seriously. It’s fun, silly, catchy stuff that gives you a sophisticated wink.

Favorite French dish in Sacramento? Well, since Daniel Pont is no longer at La Bonne Soupe [Café], I would have to say the duck confit at Magpie [Cafe]. It reminds me the most of France. My friend calls it “duck carnitas.”

What should American culture adopt from French culture? Where to start? Decent, affordable public transportation. National health care. Decent bread or dogs in restaurants. How about this: simply the ability to slow down to really savor everything about life.

The song is played at your funeral? As a cliché, “Comme d’Habitude.” It was given English lyrics later, and Sinatra had a hit with it as “My Way.” The original version was written in ’68 by Claude François. He wrote it about his breakup with France Gall. There’s a biopic about him playing in France right now, Cloclo. The previews look great. I really hope they can get it for the festival next year. Ω

03.29.12

SN&R

One Night Only!

April 5th • 7:30pm • The Crest Theatre The Sacramento Ballet will presents award-winning actor Frank Ferrante in his one-man show An Evening With Groucho, a fast-paced two-act comedy that includes some of the best Groucho one-liners, anecdotes and songs including “Hooray for Captain Spalding” and “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady.” The audience literally becomes part of the show as Ferrante ad-libs his way throughout the performance in grand Groucho style. Along the way, accompanied by his onstage pianist Jim Furmston, he portrays the young Groucho of stage and lm, and reacquaints the audience with the likes of brothers Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo, Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, Greta Garbo and his long-suffering “leading lady” Margaret Dumont. It’s a perfect show for all ages that has impressed audiences wherever it has gone. Tickets: $35/$30/$25

on sale through The Crest or The Sacramento Ballet

For tickets and more information: www.tickets.com • www.sacballet.org www.sacballet.org