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DISABLED PARKING

FRAUD

FREE-FOR-ALL see Frontlines, page 8

TINY KIDS

BIG ROCK see Arts&Culture, page 22

916 SACRAMENTO’S NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

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TROPICANACASINOS.COM

SEPTEMBER 27

Burn the map I just want to go home.

It was 1997 in Chicago and, as I sat alone in a West Side bar fending off advances from the drunk guy two stools over, one thought played in an endless loop inside my head: I just want to go home.

But home was more than 2,000 miles away. So, as the friend with whom I’d made the Midwestern trek snorted coke in the bar’s back room—since when did she snort coke?!—with her ex-boyfriend the bar owner, I knew I’d have to make the best of a bad situation. After seven states and two-and-half days on the road, after all, I still had miles (and at least eight more states) to traverse before sleeping in my Sacramento bed again.

I learned a lot about myself on that journey, most notably that the best road-trip moments aren’t found on a map. My most transcendental highway experience, in fact, occurred after a stray cigarette ember turned the trusty Rand McNally guide into a smoking pile of ash, forcing me to figure out the road ahead, unaided.

But that’s what makes such journeys so wonderful—so quintessentially American. For every how-thehell-did-I-get-here instance, there’s likely a near-perfect counterpoint: watching the countryside zip by like a moving piece of art, forgoing a cheap motel to camp out beneath the stars, or making real (non-cokesnorting) friends out of strangers.

In “Trip out!” (see page 16), five SN&R writers share their best, worst and most life-changing experiences on California’s highways, byways and back roads. Sure, there’s plenty of road-weary angst and drama (read: drugs, love lost and scary strangers), but thanks to some noisy peacocks, snowbound dogs and late-night key mix-ups, there are also countless moments of unexpected joy.

—Rachel Leibrock

rac hell@ n ews r ev i ew . com

July 19, 2012 | vol. 24, Issue 14

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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.

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51 Jack Clifford, Robert Cvach, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Wayne Hopkins, Brenda Hundley, Wendell Powell, Lloyd Rongley, Duane Secco, Lolu Sholotan, Jack Thorne President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resources Manager Tanja Poley 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

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COVER illustRatiOn BY haYlEY dOshaY

SH

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The Fountain of Youth.

This is a free alternative to junk drinks. But nearly half of California schools don’t offer free water to students at mealtimes. That’s wrong, and it’s against the law. Make health happen in schools.

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4 | SN&R | 07.19.12

STREETALK

“We got stuck in Hurricane Iniki.”

Asked in Old Sacramento:

Your worst road trip?

John Clinton

Renee Spurgeon

retired

Our motor home broke down in the town of Willits. It was on a Sunday, and we had no place to get it fixed. We had three elderly women with us, all over the age of 85. When the tow-truck driver came, he couldn’t fit everyone in his truck, so they dispatched a local sheriff to take the three women to the campsite.

#2 - Sacramento News & Review - 7/19/12

Timothy Tang

medical assistant

On our honeymoon, we went to Hawaii, and we got stuck in Hurricane Iniki.

We were there an extra day.

And we didn’t get to do any of the things we wanted to do. That was in September 1992. We were stuck in our hotel room. We got antsy and went down and helped the [hotel workers], which we weren’t supposed to do.

Jose Ramirez

John Fontana

freelance illustrator

I took a trip with a couple of friends to Yosemite [National Park] last summer, and we had no experience in lighting a fire. We were supposed to light a Duraflame log, which looks easy, based on the instructions, but it was pretty dumb, and it wouldn’t start. We tried to light this thing for a good two hours.

retired

Tina Rime

water/irrigation worker

We took the Amtrak from here in Sacramento to [Los Angeles]. ... Right before we hit Burbank, the train just stopped suddenly, and people fell forward. ... A man stepped out in front of the train and committed suicide. We were delayed five hours, and we weren’t allowed to get off the train, because the coroner and police had to come.

retail manager

I guess this is our first vacation. It’s been pretty good, but the worst thing is San Francisco and the traffic and parking there.

The one-way [streets], the congestion, the pedestrians that don’t wait when they’re supposed to ... and it’s hard to get used to.

We’re from Vista [in Southern California], where there are no one-ways.

I was leaving from Sacramento, driving to Bend, Ore., with three small kids in the car that were sick. Three sick kids for 11 hours fussing, whining and crying. Can’t really do anything when you’re the one driving. ...

It was a long trip with many stops to clean messes up. You have to have patience.

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7/16/12 4:30 PM

M t l Mayhem Metal M h Destruction D t Derby erby y 7/21 & 7/22 7pm-9pm at the Ford Horse Show and Rodeo Arena, $5 Come experience a smashing good time at the State Fair’s high-impact destruction derby including RV Destruction Madness! $5 reserved seating available at the box office or at BigFun.org.

Friends of the Fair Brewfest - 7/28 5pm-8pm at the Golden1 Stage, $15 Attention beer fans: The best brews in the state await you! A $15 wristband entitles you to (10) 5oz. samples of award-winning brews from the State Fair’s Craft Brew Competition. All Brewfest guests will receive a souvenir mug. $5 Designated Driver tickets available at the door.

The Sacramento Mile - 7/28 7pm at the Miller Lite Grandstand, $30-$95 Prepare for ground-shaking action as The Sacramento Mile motorcycle race returns to the State Fair! The event features day-long activities with the race at 7pm. Ticket prices vary and include Fair admission. Purchase tickets today at BigFun.org or sacramentomile.com.

Special event tickets are available at BigFun.org. State Fair admission is not included unless otherwise noted.

California State Fair | July 12-29 | BigFun.org 6 | SN&R | 07.19.12

LETTERS

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

Free yourself

FIRST SHOT SN&R reader photo of the week PHOTO BY DEVIN CYPHERS

Re “Unplugged!” by Aaron Lake Smith and Amy Kline (SN&R Feature Story, July 5): It was good to read SN&R’s thoughtful analysis of the addictive potential of technology.

As an old man who participated enthusiastically in the youth rebellion of the ’60s, I admire the facility of younger people to learn and adapt to the constant stream of technological innovation in our society. I also appreciate much LETTER OF of the innovation itself for the way it helps us conduct our busiTHE WEEK ness, gather and share information, and maintain our friendships.

However, where the primary thrust of the counterculture of my generation was to sharpen the intellectual skills, which would allow us to stay free in the face of the corporate state’s pressure toward conformity, I see too many young people who mistake technical prowess for understanding. These young people have surrendered uncritically to the control exerted by Big Brother—the manipulative corporate state—which is reducing us from citizens to consumers, tools of the master class, the “1 percent” who call the shots and want the masses to behave like robots.

In the Arab Spring, young people used technology to overthrow corrupt governments. Americans must free ourselves from technological and media manipulation.

Brian Hassett Auburn

‘Reusable’ bags are garbage

Bravo for monkey man love

Re “Bag ban” by Jonathan Mendick (SN&R Eco-Hit, July 12): What really needs to be banned is those cheap “reusable” bags that all the stores are selling for $1 nowadays. They fall apart after a couple of uses, if the corners of cardboard boxes don’t punch holes in them first. I tried to be responsible, but after spending many, many dollars on “reusable” bags that didn’t last (some didn’t even make it home from the first trip to the store), I went back to the free store-provided plastic bags.

At least the so-called “single-use” bags can be reused as trash bags, to contain used Kitty Litter, to bag up soda cans to be left out for the homeless to recycle, to carry things to a potluck or wet swimsuits home from the pool. I rarely throw away a “single-use” plastic bag after a single use, unless it’s too damaged to be used again.

And I bet the thin “single-use” bags decompose in a landfill faster than the heavier “reusable” ones, of which I’ve thrown away dozens.

Re “Monkey Man Love” by William S. Gainer (SN&R Poet’s Corner, July 5): I don’t pretend to understand much poetry I read these days—The New Yorker offerings included—but I understand “Monkey Man Love” big time.

Good show. Nothing like telling life like it is.

Karen M. Campbell Sacramento

Oh, the irony Re “Unplugged!” by Aaron Lake Smith and Amy Kline (SN&R Feature Story, July 5): I was so in agreement with this article, that I immediately posted it on my Facebook page. (You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?)

David Balla-Hawkins via email

Robert M. Stanley Sacramento

Devin Cyphers was hanging out in Rancho Cordova’s Federspiel Park, admiring the cloud cover and snapping iPhone pictures.

Sounds like an ideal summer afternoon.

Undead soil

built raised beds with imported soil on top of old pavement; concerned gardeners might want to build extra thick ones.

Some expressed a concern about water collection from asphalt-shingle roofs. While I’m not a toxicologist or a botanist, I do know that various plants are more resilient than other plants; some do preferentially bio-accumulate specific toxins. If you are really worried and financially secure, you can have soil testing done. If the news is bad, check out Paul Stamets’ amazing toxic remediation work with mushrooms.

But basically, it’s really about rejuvenating the dirt and bringing back the all the mini and micro life that makes plants happy. Fortunately, they all basically want to grow like weeds.

Bottom line: The biggest danger of asphalt is the motor vehicles that now infest it.

Re “Soil isn’t dead” by Auntie Ruth (SN&R An Inconvenient Ruth, July 5): It seems the dangers of post-asphalt farming may be overstated here. [On] the www.grist.org, [UC Berkeley professor] Garrison Sposito’s concerns pertain to general urban “trash, construction debris, weedkiller, and lead from automobile exhaust,” rather than asphalt, per se.

The wise gardener should find out everything possible about the history of the potential reclaimed garden site, such as what happened before asphalt was applied. However, asphalt concrete itself doesn’t seem to be particularly problematic. Asphalt paving apparently contains 95 percent rock and sand, and the 5 percent that is actually true asphalt is generally inert once the volatiles which are present (and toxic) when it is laid down have evaporated; I suspect in weeks to months. And old asphalt is eminently recyclable, as I was informed by several trade associations.

“Asphalt” as a word turns out to date from ancient use of “natural” petroleum tar, or bitumen, which has been found here and there on the surface for millennia. Some in-depth Googling suggests that, in many cases, people have simply

Muriel Strand Sacramento

POET’S CORNER Sonnet for Infinity What is more infinite than backseat love, twined limbs and promises twisted and turned, Naugahyde sticky hot, fogged glass above.

The innocence of lovers not yet burned.

Hunter’s moon illumines their faces.

A gold passion unmatched in sunlight shines— eyes blind in concentration— gods give grace, luck of fools and children granted divine intervention. Memories will give way when night turns to day, these fools awake and forget each vow, each word in this play.

The stage now dark, hearts begin to ache.

Thus disowns desire, love is not sublime.

More infinite than backseat love is time.

—Irene Lipshin

Have a great photo?

Email it to firstshot@ newsreview.com.

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Placerville

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FRONTLINES Consolation tacos A potentially lucrative but still super

unnerving proposal to pump and store 7 billion cubic feet of natural gas under the Avondale and Glen Elder neighborhoods has been nixed by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Good news for neighborhood activists and folks worried about unlikely but nonetheless notto-be-messed with possibilities, such as contaminated groundwater, flash fires and

by COSMO GARVIN

explosions.

Terrible news for the proponent, Sacramento Natural Gas Storage, who stood to make $17 million in the first year.

And probably frustrating for at least some homeowners, who agreed to lease their subterranean property rights for about $500 a year.

Not much money to you, maybe. But the royalties certainly wouldn’t hurt out in Sacramento’s vast plain of old left-behind suburbs, where the official tree is a mistletoe-infested Modesto ash—the developers planted them by the billions back in the Ozzie & Harriet days—and where suburban flight, disinvestment and decay have ruled for decades.

But a brand-new Chando’s Tacos opened just this month on Power Inn Road at Fruitridge Road kitty-corner from the SNGS office. Bites hopes that eases the pain of their loss somewhat. And while all the cash Bites plans to spend buying tacos there won’t quite match the economic impact of the gas company’s royalty checks, it will come close.

If Bites had to guess this early in the game, it seems likely that voters will reject formation of a charter commission this fall. It’s too esoteric.

It’s not clear to most just what problem it will solve. The only natural advocates for the idea are good“I don’t live in government groups and columnists at alt-weekly California, but I newspapers—not exactly big would ride the shit out power players in this town.

On the other side, you’ve got of some high-speed the editorial board of The rail over there.” Sacramento Bee, who, having decided that only a strong Superchunk mayor will suffice, are determined to muddy the waters and undermine the commission process at every step. By the time Team Scoopy is done with them, voters will be so confused, they’ll vote no just to try and make the whole mess go away.

Bites also noticed the mayor’s propagandist R.E. Graswich skulking around a recent charter-commission-candidate workshop, scoping out his potential competition—Bob is apparently considering a run. Graswich walked in with potential candidate and Greater Sacramento Urban League president David DeLuz. Bites is heartened by the entry of folks like Neil Pople, formerly of the Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento, and Derek Cressman from the pro-democracy group Common Cause.

But beware, would-be commissioners: If for some reason you can’t finish your two-year term, Mayor Kevin Johnson gets to appoint your replacement.

So, no quitters.

California has decided, for now, not to quit on its ambitious high-speed-rail project. HSR got a reprieve earlier this month, getting the narrowest possible approval from the state Senate to go ahead with issuing $2.6 billion in state bonds and start construction. Sac Bee columnist Dan Walters penned his 470th “you’ll be sorry” column against the project. His sourpussery was more than offset, however, by a cheerful endorsement from the North Carolina-based post-punk heroes Superchunk.

One band member posted on the Twitter: “I don’t live in CA but i would ride the shit out of some high speed rail over there.”

Some days, it doesn’t look so good, Superchunk. But Bites hopes that one day you will indeed get to ride the shit out of some high-speed rail over here.

Saving your ticket for then. Ω

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in bility placards Use of blue disa les as downtown ub Sacramento do free parking r scammers vie fo

by Christopher Arns

An undercover parking cop on the 500 block of O Street watches a middle-aged woman stroll toward a dusty black Honda Accord.

“That’s her,” the officer mutters.

“I know for sure that’s her.”

He rushes over to the Honda as the woman opens the car’s door. The vehicle is parked in a metered space, a blue disabledparking pass dangling inside from the windshield.

“Do you own that disabledparking permit?” the cop asks.

At first, the driver insists the permit is hers. But when the undercover cop proves it belongs to her husband, the driver quickly changes her tune. But it’s too late.

This scenario, which occurred last week, is more and more common in Sacramento. A recent survey by the city’s parking-services department found that a shocking number of drivers now use disabled permits. In some cases, especially along busy N Street near the state Capitol where parking is scarce, nearly 75 percent of spaces are filled with cars using the blue disabled passes on weekdays.

Vehicles displaying these placards can park all day for free in metered spaces. And, overall, the number of disabled placards in Sacramento County has increased 81 percent over the past 10 years, with 103,000 residents now using them.

The undercover officer who busted the Honda driver ended up seizing her disabled placard and writing a citation. He told SN&R the woman had used the placard for three straight days without her disabled husband in the car —a clear violation of state law.

“I’m kind of embarrassed,” said the driver, who works at the

Organic, locavore isn’t healthier?

See FRONTLINES

10

Weed update

11

See FRONTLINES

Your meat is gnarly See GREEN DAYS

13

Time for sports-aholics anonymous See EDITORIAL

15

On doggy poo bags …

15

See GUEST COMMENT

BEATS

As the lobbyist turns California Energy Commission but preferred to remain anonymous. “I didn’t know I’d get in trouble for it, because my husband has a terminal illness.” She claimed that she uses the placard only on days when her husband had neurology appointments.

“I feel sorry that she’s going through that with her husband,” the city officer said, “but at the same time, I’m pretty sure she knows she’s not allowed to use it if he’s not there.” He reminded that disabled-parking passes aren’t transferable. And drivers who forge the blue placard or use someone else’s permit can be charged with a misdemeanor, paying fines up to $3,500, and even landing in jail.

But some Sacto drivers still haven’t got the message. In fact, more residents than ever are using placards to avoid paying for on-street parking. And statewide, the numbers have skyrocketed to 2.5 million placards—an increase of 79 percent since 2001, leaving state and local officials scratching heads as to why.

“We think 15 percent, conservatively, of the downtown-urban-center drivers are using placards,” said Linda Tucker, spokesperson for the city’s Department of Transportation. With more placards, she said, comes more fraud.

The number of disabled placards in Sacramento County has increased 81 percent over the past 10 years, with 103,000 residents now using them.

So far this year, undercover officers from the Sacramento Task Force on Placard Abuse have written 59 citations for drivers caught using someone else’s disabled placard—slightly behind last year, when 124 citations were issued, and way behind 2010, when 183 drivers were cited for using the blue parking passes illegally.

So is placard abuse getting better or worse?

SN&R shadowed a task-force officer, who didn’t want his name revealed, earlier this month. He had several suspicious vehicles on his list, which he’d been observing for multiple days.

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One car, a dark-colored SUV, was registered to a middle-aged male but was displaying a placard owned by 93-yearold female. This is a common type of placard fraud, and it happens when drivers use disabled passes issued to a deceased relative, explained the undercover enforcement officer.

“If they’re not able to show that the registered owner of the placard is with them, I’m going to issue a citation, and I confiscate the placard,” he said.

Before busting the female owner of the black Honda on O Street, the officer did his homework. He checked both the car’s license plate and the placard number with the Department of Motor Vehicles and realized the owners didn’t match. Both people had the same last name, but the officer said he had watched the woman park for three days without anyone else in the car.

The rules are clear, he said. “They think that’s 100-percent legit, and it’s not,” said the officer. “Once you drop [disabled passengers] off, you’re no longer transporting the disabled person anymore. Now you’re transporting yourself to work.”

The city task force, which first started in 1996, still surprises people. Jackie Buttle works at the California Environmental Protection Agency on I Street and uses a red temporary placard that’s good for six months while she recovers from back surgery.

Buttle has already run into the city’s notso-secret parking squad since she started with the temporary pass. “I was just harassed the other day about it,” she said. “I didn’t actually realize how bad a problem [placard abuse] was until I needed one.”

Other drivers feel the city should back off. Darin Clark, an analyst at the EPA who avoids parking downtown, said fraud happens because Sacramento has “dinosauric” parking rules and won’t create enough parking spaces for commuters.

“I think [placard abuse] is just feedback for how badly the parking situation has been handled downtown,” Clark said. “I can understand why they do it.”

And, as easy as it might seem, observing placard abuse is a delicate process. An athletic guy who displays a placard while parking at the gym? He might have a heart condition or a vision problem, explained Howard Chan, manager for the city’s parking division.

To avoid profiling disabled people, he said enforcement officers will check anyone using the placard. “It’s a little silly to see our officers asking someone who’s obviously

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missing a limb to see their ID,” Chan said, “but we do it anyway, just for consistency.”

Disabled-rights advocates argue that this raises more issues: They believe cracking down on placards could spark a backlash against the blue parking passes.

“Sometimes people assume, because a vehicle is parked all day [with a placard], it’s fraud use,” said Deborah Doctor, a lobbyist with Disability Rights California.

“What they’re missing is that disabled people actually work and could legitimately be working all day.”

“I think [placard abuse] is just feedback for how badly the parking situation has been handled downtown.”

Darin Clark downtown worker But Chan says there’s no other way to enforce the law to keep spaces open for disabled residents and paying drivers. He pointed out that DMV officials have considered adding photographs to the placards to make them more like ID cards, but dropped the idea after protests from disability advocates.

“There are people who think that’s a great idea and other people who expressed privacy and safety concerns,” said Andrew Conway, DMV registration policy chief. “People get nervous about that kind of thing.”

It’s a frustrating cycle, Chan said. On one hand, the city knows placard fraud is most likely to happen downtown where there’s a higher concentration of workers.

But drivers continue scamming the system. And parking officials can only resort to using the undercover task force or leaving flyers on drivers’ windshields that warn about the penalties for using the placards illegally.

“We do what we can to reach out to the recipients of our products, but we’re not interested in micromanaging people,” said Conway from the DMV. “We try to play our role, and we try to reach out with the information we have.” Ω

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Revelations about the city’s garbage contracts gave rise to complaints about a “revolving door” for former city managers-turned-lobbyist at City Hall. But the issue is more complicated than local media reports let on.

As mentioned in these pages a couple of weeks back (see “Garbage in,” SN&R Bites, July 5) the Sacramento County grand jury blasted city leaders for a garbage contract with BLT Enterprises. The gist of the report is that the contract was a rip-off for taxpayers—in ways too numerous to name here.

But the grand jury also complained that “lobbying by immediate past city managers was problematic for some City staff.”

Those “immediate” past city managers—Bill Edgar and Bob Thomas—actually left their posts years ago. Edgar left city employment in 1999; Thomas in 2005.

Both men took money from BLT Enterprises to negotiate an agreement between the city, county and the company that would stop hauling the city’s garbage to Nevada and start dumping it at the county’s Kiefer Landfill. The What garbage. contract was negotiated in 2010.

It turned out to be a costly one for the city. And while it wasn’t the biggest or most obvious problem cited in its report, the grand jury hinted the influence of Edgar and Thomas was partly to blame.

“The City Council should consider a prohibition precluding former City employees from lobbying, consulting or advising on City contracts for a period of 1-5 years after separation from city employment,” the report reads.

The Sacramento Bee editorial page also complained about Edgar and Thomas’ “unique powers of persuasion,” and Councilwoman Angelique Ashby told online news site Sacramento Press that she wanted to end the practice of revolving door lobbying, noting that the state of California has policies against it.

“It’s imperative that we discuss the Grand Jury findings and modifications to policy to address any issues we have,” she told the Press.

But, in fact, the city of Sacramento already has a policy banning lobbying by city employees for one year. It’s the same policy as the state.

Like the state, the city’s policy prohibits employees from lobbying on any subject matter that had direct involvement in when they worked in government. For a former city manager, that means pretty much any subject.

Edgar was Sacramento’s city manager up until March 1999. He started working with BLT in May 2005, more than four years later. Thomas left the city at the end of 2005, also well before the 2010 contract was being hammered out.

In Edgar’s case, the issue is complicated, because he came back in 2011 for six months as interim city manager while the city looked for a permanent chief executive. Edgar had finished his lobbying work with BLT in December 2010.

Both Edgar and Thomas were well within the time limits set by city’s revolving-door lobbying rules. But the city could always consider tougher limits.

SN&R was not able to find a comprehensive list of revolving-door rules for local governments by press time.

But according to the watchdog group Public Citizen, only about half of the states in the United States prohibit staff from coming back as lobbyists within the first year. Of those, six states have a two-year ban. (Cosmo Garvin) |

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FRONTLINES THe old sugar mill presents

Another food fight Lobbyists snub Dickinson’s pro-organic, pro-locavore Assembly resolution

PHOTO BY NICK MILLER

•9 W I N E R I E S •A R T I SA N C H E E S E T A S T I NG •F R E S H B A K E D B R E A D S •H A N D S - O N C H E E S E M A K I NG C L A S S •C H E E S E T A S T I NG S E M I N A R S •G O U R M E T F O O D V E N D O R S •E XC LU S I V E C H E F D E M O N S T R AT I O N S •P I C N I C K I NG •L I V E M U S I C •C I G A R L O U NG E

In California, legislative resolutions tend to reflect universal sentiments: We embrace literacy. We disavow dating violence. But when Sacramento by Christina Jewett Assemblyman Roger Dickinson introduced a resolution to dub September Food Literacy Awareness Month, the details of the motion set off a virtual food fight.

Several lobbyists for growers and grocers stepped up to oppose the language in the resolution during a hearing earlier this month, confirming that in a state where half of the nation’s fruit, nuts and vegetables are grown, seemingly uncontroversial statements about food draw intense scrutiny.

Crowds grow each year at the region’s farmers markets.

Meanwhile, lobbyists argued that there’s no nutritional or sustainable advantage to eating local or organic foods.

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Christina Jewett is a writer for California Watch. Read more at www.california watch.org.

Amber Stott, director of the California Food Literacy Center, said her organization sponsored the resolution and sees eating fresh, local produce as a key to stemming the nation’s obesity crisis. To foster that goal, Stott said the group goes to schools and introduces kids to fresh produce to “inspire children to eat more fruits and vegetables.”

During the hearing, Dickinson said the resolution supports the state economy by encouraging the purchasing of California-grown produce.

Lobbyists, though, lined up to speak against the finer points of the resolution and sent an opposition letter with 20 signatures from egg, tomato, grain and warehouse supporters. They questioned the resolution’s claims about the nutritional value of organic food and the merits of local eating.

Louis Brown, a lobbyist representing an array of agriculture groups and the California Grocers Association, noted the irony of his opposition to the resolution during the hearing.

“This is really a measure that we in agriculture should be supporting and embracing, because this is exactly what we promote ...

California-grown food,” he said.

But he said he opposes it because it makes factually inaccurate claims about the nutritional value of organic vs. conventionally grown produce.

Noelle Cremers of the California Farm Bureau Federation also opposed the bill. She said the research on the health value of organic produce has not been conclusive.

“There have been a lot of small studies on the issue, and most of them come out that there’s no nutritional difference between the two,” she said in an interview.

A recent research review by a nutritional neuroscientist for Scientific American backs that statement, finding that research has shown that organic produce is slightly more nutrient rich, but on balance does not paint a clear picture.

Cremers also questioned the resolution’s emphasis on eating local food. The 660-word resolution uses the word “local” 10 times and says “expansion of local and regional food systems can reduce the environmental cost of United States agriculture.”

Cremers, though, said merits of the “locavore” movement are still being examined.

“I know there’s a general belief that if you eat locally, you’re reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. But the research hasn’t borne that out.”

Another part of the Assembly resolution, which saw little controversy at the recent hearing, has also been questioned by researchers. The resolution decries the problem of food deserts, or “low-income and underserved neighborhoods without access to fresh, healthy foods.”

Helen Lee, of the Public Policy Institute of California, is one researcher who recently found evidence that brings that concept into question.

She examined census data on income, a federal study of 8,000 children and data on the location of food establishments in California. She did not find that people in lower-income areas had less access to grocery stores.

Lobbyists questioned the nutritional value of organic food and the merits of local eating.

“They had equal or not differential access,” she said. “For some measures, they had better access.”

Lee said her study points to the need to broaden the conversation about why poverty and obesity tend to plague the same census tracts.

“Maybe we have to look at the relationship between food pricing, taste ... and other dynamics like comfort and cultural aspects of social class,” she said. “It sounds taboo to say, but social-class matters in our relationship to food.”

Dickinson said he’s willing to work with everyone to make sure the resolution takes a strong stand for healthy food and California’s bounty.

“I don’t think it’s going to be that difficult to work something out,” he said. Ω

FRONTLINES

Tour De France

SUMMER SALE

Weed pops back up

SALE EXTENDED

Officials schedule roundup to discuss federal crackdown, changes to city rules, pot-growing ban It’s been a while since the city council sat down, passed the gavel to the left and had a heady discussion about by marijuana. So, while this upcoming Nick Miller Tuesday’s powwow isn’t “420” or nickam@ a day of reckoning, it’s still kind of newsreview.com a significant one for pot in Sacramento.

Four council members, the city’s law-and-legislation committee, will meet on July 24, at 3 p.m., to look at the federal government’s 10-month-old crackdown on medical-marijuana in California.

Council member and committee chairman Jay Schenirer has requested this sit-down, which will also include an update on the city’s permitting process, which currently is frozen through November 2013, because of state court cases that might impact its legality.

Revenue manager Brad Wasson also told SN&R of a potential change to the city’s ordinance that could shut down most of its pot dispensaries.

Meanwhile, outgoing Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy wants to explore banning outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana in residential neighborhoods.

And revenue manager Brad Wasson also told SN&R of a potential change to the city’s ordinance that could shut down most of its pot dispensaries.

The plan is to consider “increasing the proximity requirement from a school or a park to 1,000 feet” for dispensaries, he said. Currently, the city ordinance says clubs must be only 600 feet.

This distance, however, is a sticking point with state officials. And, of course, the federal government. So, it appears likely that the rule will evolve and ultimately force several, if not a majority, of dispensaries to either move or shut down.

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Local activist Courtney Sheats, with medical-cannabis advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, says cities revisiting their ganja laws is a trend statewide. “With the recent [U.S. Department of Justice] crackdown, I think there are some cities and counties concerned about their medical-cannabis ordinances,” she said.

She added that Sacramento is “operating in good faith” when it comes to the heart of its ordinance, which was passed in 2010.

Certainly, the city enjoys the tax revenue from medical-cannabis dispensaries, of which there are an estimated 18 still standing in the city limits. At one point, though, there were upward of 40—and Wasson noted that the city raked in more than $1 million this past fiscal year from its 4 percent dispensary tax.

“But the money’s still coming in,” Wasson added, “so from that aspect, it’s good.” He estimates that the city currently generates about $100,000 a month from the tax.

Sheats would like to see city leaders to come out publicly and vocally to support medical cannabis while the DOJ continues its enforcement campaign. Given that it’s still taking clubs’ tax dollars.

Meanwhile, the city’s permitting program is still suspended, which means no new dispensaries can open, and no permits will be handed out to existing clubs (although they can still stay open).

Sacramento is waiting on a California Supreme Court’s ruling later this year in the case of Pack v. Long Beach, which could possibly render its marijuana ordinance illegal.

But even if they could, would new dispensaries even want to open up in Sacramento?

“I can’t answer that,” conceded Sheats, “being that the climate changes every day—and sometimes many times during the day.” Ω

FEATURE

STORY

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While I had heard of the Senior Gleaners, I really did not know much about them. So when Rosemary Babich, one of our advertising consultants, asked me to come with her to meet with them, I put on my publisher’s hat and off we went. I assumed that the Senior Gleaners would occupy a small backroom in a church or community center, but when we drove up to a gigantic warehouse complex on Bell Street, I was confused. When we needed to check in at the guard booth, I was even more surprised. Clearly, the Senior Gleaners were not what I had been expecting.

Senior Gleaners was founded in 1976 when 30 citizens at a local senior center realized that large amounts of wholesome and nutritious food were being wasted while many people were going hungry, so they decided to do something about it. They would glean this surplus food—picking it up at warehouses, harvesting it from home gardens, fields and orchards—and then they would They would give it to those in need.

Soon, there were hundreds glean this surplus of volunteers bringing in amounts of produce. food, and then massive Before long, this all-volunteer they would give it to organization was distributing millions of pounds of those in need. food. With donations and volunteer labor, they built an 80,000-square-foot warehouse, office and cafeteria complex on Bell Street. From this north Sacramento location, Senior Gleaners distributes food throughout the entire region to local food banks, Loaves & Fishes, the Salvation Army, and more than 100 local charities. With a nearly all-volunteer staff, Senior Gleaners has been able to keep its administrative costs very low, around 3 percent.

If you’d like to help Taking a tour with Gary J. McDonald, the first feed hungry people in nonvolunteer CEO at Senior Gleaners, it soon becomes our community, please call Senior Gleaners clear that when they say “senior,” they mean senior. The at (916) 925-3240 and average age of the volunteers is more than 70 years old. ask for the volunteer Gary told us about people who at age 90 were receiving manager. To donate, their 30-year service pins. ask for the treasurer Seniors, who need to be at least 50 years old to at extension 123. sign up for volunteer membership, agree to work for a certain number of hours each week. Membership benefits include a free lunch, and for low-income Gleaners, some free food. But after walking around the complex, I could see that the real benefit is to do great work and to do it with great people. As we walked through the Jeff vonKaenel huge warehouse, Gary pointed out a capable senior who is the president, CEO was driving a forklift and mentioned that she was on the and majority owner board of directors. I noticed not only her forklift skills of the News & Review newspapers in but also her smile.

Gary hopes to recruit more volunteers and more Sacramento, Chico and Reno. donations to keep the Senior Gleaners delivering muchneeded food. There are also volunteer opportunities for those who are not yet seniors (even teenagers). If you choose to volunteer, I believe that you will end up gleaning both food and smiles. Ω

GREEN DAYS

Reading for Spiritual Wisdom

Dead meat

Every Friday except 3rd Fridays 7:00 - 8:30 pm · Free admission

This country’s addiction to cheap, carnivorous eats is fatal America’s cheap-meat habit is costing more than the country bargained for. The factory farming of cows, pigs, poultry and fish sucks up 29 million by pounds—80 percent—of antibiotics sold in the Terry J. Allen United States, and because of this, the many illness-causing bacteria are now resistant to most or all of the antibiotics that once killed them.

While the overuse of antibiotics on humans has contributed to this public-health crisis, the most egregious factor in creating antibiotic resistance is the routine, widespread greed-driven dosing of livestock. About a quarter of U.S. meat and poultry samples contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, after more than three decades of dithering, has finally acknowledged a “mounting public health problem of global significance.” Yet, while even the industry acknowledges a serious problem, an April FDA report containing “non-binding recommendations” politely asked the food industry This story originally to only use antibiotics “judiciously”—and gave appeared in the industry some three years to figure out how In These Times. to circumvent the reforms.

In 1946, producers discovered that adding antibiotics to feed increased animal growth—and industry profits. This subtherapeutic dosing also allowed livestock to survive filthy, overcrowded conditions that would otherwise generate high and unprofitable rates of disease and death.

Antibiotics work by targeting specific bacteria, but they can also leave the field open for resistant strains. Concentrated animal feeding An Inconvenient Ruth is operations, or CAFOs, are nearly ideal for generon an (eco-friendly) ating resistant bacteria, and then spreading them vacation and will be back soon! through workers, flies, soil, air, water and, of course, food.

Strains of strep; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; tuberculosis; malaria; pneumonia; gonorrhea; various food poisons, including salmonella; along with other dangerous pathogens are increasingly impervious to common, inexpensive antibiotics.

New bacterial strains directly sourced to CAFOs are endemic in hospitals. An estimated 2 million Americans become sick and 99,000 die

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated that antibiotics in livestock feed is a public-health problem of “global significance.”

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FEATURE

Sacramento Yoga Center @ Sierra II Community Center 2791 24th Street, Sacramento Parking in back

annually from hospital-acquired infections, “the majority of which result from such resistant strains,” The New York Times reported. Treating resistant diseases costs $16 billion to $26 billion in annual medical expenses and $35 billion in lost work time, Tufts University researchers estimated.

The slurry of government agencies responsible for remedying this problem—FDA, Department of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and others—has failed.

Leaving loopholes wide enough for a cattle drive and enforcement mechanisms as toothless as a hen, the new FDA report calls for animal antibiotic labeling to drop weight gain from its recommended uses.

For more information please see www.maasamiti.org/reading.html

The whole world is your own.

— Sri Sarada Devi

The most egregious factor in creating antibiotic resistance is the routine, widespread, greed-driven dosing of livestock.

The report also calls for veterinary “involvement” in determining “judicious use,” including preventively treating animals that might become sick from “production practices and herd health history.” Without fundamental changes to how CAFOs raise their “product,” it is hard to imagine circumstances that would not call for preventative antibiotics.

The FDA’s weak-kneed step in the industryregulator dance perpetrates one of the oldest tricks in the book.

The book: Corporate greed creates or exacerbates a threat to public health or welfare.

Government avoids biting the corporate hand that feeds elected officials and the budget-starved or corrupted bureaucrats they hire.

The trick: Deny there is a problem; reject causal links; foot drag on action; promise technological fixes; fail to demand or gather data and statistics, thereby ensuring that costs and solutions remain speculative; appoint committees to look into the matter; write reports; and finally, announce voluntary guidelines and/or inadequate regulations that impose few if any penalties.

“Antibiotic-resistant diseases now kill more Americans than AIDS,” Congresswoman Louise Slaughter said this past spring, “and this issue needs to be treated with the seriousness it deserves.”

The FDA has failed to do that so far, but consumers can still refuse to buy factory-farmed meat. Sure, you may have to pay more or eat less, but think of the price as a donation to ethical farmers who treat animals decently and protect public health. Talk about a bargain. Ω STORY

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Bird in hand Assuming we do exist, we do so in the body of the universe

“For man, as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly, most perfectly alive.” —D.H. Lawrence by

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A few days ago, I was settling down on the an author, musician and regular contributor to living-room sofa for a much-anticipated afterthe SN&R noon nap, when a bird smacked into one of the

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seven big windows that make our living room feel so light and airy. Alas, this sickening thud usually presages a dead bird, or one so stunned that our cat, if he can get outside in time, makes short work of. And so it was with some trepidation that I got up to look out the various windows to see what I could see.

To my surprise and chagrin, the bird in question had not smacked the outside of a window, but had flown through our open sliding-glass door and struck the inside of a pane; and there she was, a little gray sparrow with pretty white markings, standing stock-still on a windowsill.

“Hello, beautiful,” I said to the bird, hoping to catch and release her without hurting her, and without causing so much commotion that our cat would come running to capture a highprotein snack.

But how could I catch the bird without scaring her into frantic flight? I picked up the big Todd Walton’s website is straw basket I use for shopping and thought I’d www.underthetable somehow put the basket over the bird and then books.com. … then what? Wouldn’t the bird just fly out from under the basket and zoom around the room and smack into another window and break her neck or bring our cat running or— Yet, even as I was entertaining such unpleasant scenarios, I got closer and closer to the bird, until I was right beside her, and she remained standing absolutely still. So I slowly reached out and gently encircled her body with N E W S & R E V I E W B U S I N E S S U S E O N LY my fingers, carefully gripped ACCT. her just tightly DESIGNER ISSUE DATE EXEC. enough couldn’t escape, and carried her AL so she 06.18.09 REM to the doorway where I openedREV. my DATE hand, and FILE NAME she sprang into the air and winged her way TRINITYCATHEDRAL061809R1 02.19.09 across the meadow to the forest.

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“I’m talking to you, human.”

newspaper that magically appears at the mouth of our driveway every Sunday morning, a bird who was the spitting image of the bird I saved, accompanied me along the drive, flitting from branch to branch and staying close to me for the entire hundred yards, fluttering her wings and chirping away, as if trying to communicate something to me, or so it seemed.

Was she the same bird I rescued? Was she thanking me? Or was she perhaps trying to repay me with information she thought I might find useful—truths about the universe we humans have overlooked or forgotten.

“Probably not,” says my logical mind, but “Maybe so,” says the part of me that believes nature is far more fantastic than we can possibly imagine, so that a bird wanting to thank a person is every bit as likely as the evolution of a gigantic tortoise or elephant or human from a single-celled predecessor scrabbling around in the primordial soup. After all, if whales saved by people from entangling fishnets frequently hang around after being rescued to express their gratitude, might not that little bird have been doing the same?

Was she the same bird I rescued? Was she thanking me? Or was she perhaps trying to repay me with information she thought I might find useful?

Indeed, I think animals and trees and insects must be hollering themselves hoarse trying to get through to us humans, hoping to set us straight about how to live on the Earth without wrecking everything. The indigenous people of North America certainly believed animals and insects and birds and clouds and rivers and trees and stones were talking to them, teaching them the laws of nature, and that if a person listened and observed carefully enough, the animals and insects and birds and clouds and rivers and trees and stones would reveal everything Great Spirit wanted us to know, Great Spirit being their name for God or nature or universe.

The funny thing to me about the idea of our existing within the body of a vastly intelligent universe—and by funny I mean both amusing and perplexing—is that so many people find the idea idiotic and even dangerous. Yet, assuming we do actually exist, we do so within the body of the universe. Right?

So, the perceived idiocy of the idea must be about whether or not the universe is intelligent; and before we can answer that question we would have to agree on a definition of intelligence, and since we will never be able to agree about that, the discussion ends here. Ω

OPINION

EDITORIAL

THIS MODERN WORLD

BY TOM TOMORROW

Doggy poo’s stinky, bagged or not A line must be drawn in the sand. I’m throwing down the dramatically degrades the appearance of the gauntlet and picking a fight. neighborhood. And, worse yet, they stink.

Sacramento abounds with dog owners— All is not lost; creative ideas abound. good folks who walk their pets almost every One Pocket Road resident boldly spray day. As responsible owners, most carry with painted the street in red, “NO DOG S--T.” them plastic bags to collect any poop the It worked! dog emits along the way. All is good—so Alas, the paint wore off. far. It’s what happens next that annoys me.

I suggest requiring the use of plastic bags Dog owners fling bags of dog poop—or perforated with three-eighths-of-an-inch poo bags—on the first pile of curbside green holes. Imagine picking up pet droppings that waste they locate. Poo squish out the openby bags adorn green-waste ings. Going further, we Robert N. Austin A green-waste pile piles as ornaments can show neighborhood a third-generation adorn Christmas trees. solidarity with “Ban can be of any size to Sacramentan and a I saw one pile with Poo Bags” lawn retired police attract poo bags. signs—all made from lieutenant who lives in nearly 30. A greenwaste pile can be of political-camthe PocketTwo twigs and a leaf recycled Greenhaven area any size to attract poo paign signage. It would bags. Two twigs and a be a far better use of are generally leaf are generally suffithe signs. cient, although, a single sufficient, although, I’m calling for a small pine cone can populist uprising against a single small pine qualify. poo bags. Not since This wouldn’t be so cone can qualify.

1776 has there been a bad, except the city of greater need for revoluHave a comment? Sacramento’s schedule tion. Let voices ring Express your views for pickup of curbside green waste is, at forth from every rooftop, from every pulpit, in 350 words on best, undependable. This stuff can languish and from every street corner calling for freea local topic of interest. in the street for weeks. Green waste in the dom from the tyranny of poo bags. Who will Send an e-mail to street is not attractive under any circumstep forward to join this noble cause? Ω editorial@ stances, but when decorated with poo bags, it newsreview.com.

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Sports-aholics Once again, Mayor Kevin Johnson’s tunnel vision is striking out.

Less than a week after dropping the proposed new Sacramento Kings arena, the mayor’s Think Big Sacramento task force now wants to explore the possibility of a major-league baseball team and stadium as the downtown rail yards’ flagship destination.

Really? Sports? Again?

If the mayor’s only suggestions for economic development and downtown revitalization are going to be professional-sports venues, then stick a fork in it: We’re done.

Johnson’s Think Big task force publicized on July 9 that it was eyeing the Oakland Athletics and a stadium for the rail yards. West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon and others were caught off guard by the announcement; Cabaldon called Johnson’s rogue move “reckless.”

It was quickly obvious that there will be no MLB in Sacto.

And, like the person with only a hammer in his toolbox that thinks every problem looks like a nail, Johnson and his supporters are focused too narrowly. There’s a lot of development—intermodal transit, etc.—in the pipe for the rail yards. And while we’re not opposed to the mayor having a signature project, it should be doable— and without unnecessarily large taxpayer investment or harm to other regional interests.

Still, like a good many taxpayers and voters, we’re really tired of visions for Sacramento that are increasingly single-minded and Sports Illustrated.

Get moving on a project that’s truly achievable, one that possibly focuses on something other than major-league sports. We need the mayor to work for the city, not ESPN. Ω

Let them Occupy And while we’re on the subject of disappointment with city leadership, here’s another action item: The city’s plan to impose new rules and permit requirements on protests in the Sa’Cumn’e Plaza.

Yeah, we didn’t know the space between the old and new city halls had a name, either, until Cosmo Garvin reported on it in these pages last week (see “Shush!” by Cosmo Garvin, SN&R Bites, July 12).

We can understand that city workers housed in these buildings would like to get work done without the disturbance of protests. But those pesky little rights we all enjoy—freedom of speech, freedom of assembly—trump officials’ desire to work unhindered by public outrage.

If, as we suspect, the proposed ordinance is aimed at the nearly yearlong Occupy Sacramento protests, it’s misplaced. Enforcing the existing laws—and replacing landscaping while posting it off-limits to sitting, standing or walking—would take care of the problem.

Limiting available venues to protest government actions crosses the line, and the city council needs to put the kibosh on this plan immediately.

As for banning balloons—well, we’re good with that.

They’re messy, frightening when they pop, not good for the environment and make weird squeaky sounds.

But keep your hands off our right to peacefully protest at a public forum such as City Hall. Ω |

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regula

r

TRIP OUT!

THE OPEN HIGHWAY, miles clicking away on the odometer, the stereo cranking tunes to 11 and a spot circled on the map—or not. The road trip is classic Americana, immortalized in literature (Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, for starters), film (Easy Rider, of course) and song (the Rolling Stones’ take on “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66” is a must) represents a timeless pursuit of destiny and new experiences. Whether you’re on a recreational mission, moving to a new city or simply putting pedal to

THE CODEPENDENT OLYMPICS t was 1996, the summer we Iyears, graduated. Kurt Cobain, dead two still ruled the airwaves. Pulp Fiction was everyone’s favorite movie. The idea of heroin was everywhere, but no one was actually doing it.

Until, suddenly, everyone was.

Nobody told me, or maybe I hadn’t noticed. Growing up with a father addicted to the stuff made me immune to the concept of “heroin chic.” It also meant I had trouble spotting the obvious. I didn’t consciously accept my dad’s addiction until he entered recovery when I was 14, though I’d seen the frightening evidence my whole life. In the Codependent Olympics, “refusing to notice when people are using drugs” is my gold-medal event.

After graduation, my best friend drove me to Los Angeles. We planned to spend a week with some former college dorm mates who’d moved to Hollywood to write screenplays.

Our first night there, we ate chili-spiced fruit at the Olvera Street market, saw Trainspotting (of course) and returned to the screenwriters’ apartment for dessert.

I was hoping for cupcakes, but dessert turned out to be heroin, served flambé style on a sheet of tinfoil. Shocked, I shot my best friend a look that said, “These L.A. people have lost their minds!”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t make eye contact with him, since he was eagerly huddled around the drugs with everyone else.

Having no desire to watch my friends smoke their way down the rabbit hole, I started walking home.

16

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To Santa Cruz.

From Los Angeles.

I soon realized, however, I had no idea where I was (it was the ’90s; no Google Maps); and my best friend eventually found me sitting on a stranger’s front lawn, sobbing. I told him I couldn’t go back to that apartment.

So, naturally, we decided, spontaneously, to drive to the Grand Canyon. Neither of us had been before. My friend said it would be a fresh start, which made me wonder what he’d been doing lately. Why was I the only one surprised by the heroin?

For the next week, we drove where ever we felt like, pulling over to sleep in the car when we were tired. We walked across desert vistas with wild winds pushing us forward. We stood at the

by SN&R staff illustrations by Hayley Doshay

the metal with no agenda, destination or rules to follow, road trips represent freedom and oportunity, the chance to learn something new, escape the old, or figure out everything in between.

Here, five SN&R writers share stories of miles logged, loves lost and gained and discoveries made.

Oh, and there are also heroin addicts and serial killers, peacocks and puppies, snowstorms and motel break-ins—all adventures experienced along California’s great highways, byways and back roads.

edge of the Grand Canyon and felt our relative smallness. We drove to Zion National Park and hiked up the Virgin River in our clothes, splashing and sputtering, and emerged clean and new.

As we journeyed past cactus forests and riverbeds, I imagined the ancient landscapes strengthening us. I prayed my friend would stay healthy, and we’d return many times.

Back home, however, the drugs continued for my friend and many in our circle, interspersed with stints in jail and rehab.

Brokenhearted, I took a job in New York and drove across the country, revisiting the same desert vistas. I still return to the Southwest when my spirit needs replenishing. I don’t know if my old friend emerged from his troubles to do the same, but I like to think of him there now, hiking, clean and strong.

Just as I like to think of us on that trip, when we drove past the unmanned gates of Zion after midnight. The mountains blotted half the sky overhead, but we could still see thousands of stars. My friend cranked up the Smashing Pumpkins on the stereo, and we danced in the empty road.

It was the ’90s. It was drugged out, dark and confusing. But in the desert, for the length of a song, it felt luminous.

—Becca Costello

TAKE THE TRIP Route: Sacramento to Los Angeles, Interstate 5 south; Los Angeles to Flagstaff, Ariz.: Interstate 40 east; Flagstaff to Grand Canyon National Park: Highway 64 north; to Zion National Park. Follow Highway 64 east along the Grand Canyon’s rim, and turn left on Highway 89 north to hit Zion National Park.

Going the distance: 740 miles.

Soundtrack: Sea Change by Beck for long desert drives, “Moonshadow” by Cat Stevens for nighttime hikes (best sung a cappella) and Siamese Dream by the Smashing Pumpkins for nostalgia.

Reading material: Desert Solitaire

by Edward Abbey.

Where to stay: Sleep in your car and “bathe” in the rivers.

What to eat: Get Navajo fry bread with chili and cheese from any roadside diner. For dessert, spend your pocket change on pecan logs and Chick-o-Sticks from the Native American-themed gift shops that pop up every 75 miles.

Places to go: Throw a stone off of the rim of the Grand Canyon.

—B.C.

SN&R WRITERS HIT THE ROAD IN SEARCH OF LOVE, SERIAL KILLERS AND MIXTAPE ADVENTURES

916 TAKE IT EASY t’s late on a cold February afternoon, and Itruck, I’m sitting behind the wheel of a U-Haul watching Sacramento disappear in the rearview mirror—its skyline shrinking down to a dot as I press the accelerator. The truck is packed to capacity: I’m moving to New York City for a new job, a new life.

A new life suddenly mired in complication. Sitting next to me, across the truck’s bench seat, is my boyfriend. I’ve only known him for two weeks, actually, but he’s helpfully offered to join me on the cross-country trek.

As we drive, I’m trying not to focus on the outcome. It’s difficult not to though, as I glance sidelong at this near-stranger playing deejay with a handful of mixtapes made for us by friends.

Know this: It’s almost impossible to hold back tears when you hear Tom Petty’s “California” played through crappy, tinny boom-box speakers as you leave everything behind while seated next to a guy you barely know. A guy, who as fate would have it, possesses the rare ability to make you laugh at just about anything, including yourself.

But there’s not much laughing on this particular day; rather, I spend most of it mired in an ever-deepening state of misery, watching as California zips by, a gorgeous blur of farmland, rugged mountains and kitschy roadside stops.

We reach Bakersfield after midnight, pulling the U-Haul into a desolate Motel 6 parking lot.

It’s not exactly our dream destination—we’re

both classic-country fans, and Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace beckons nearby, but there’s no time for sightseeing. This is strictly a sleep, shower, eat and gas-up kind of layover, so we check in at the front desk where a dull-eyed man of indeterminate age hands me a room key card. Our room is around the corner and up the stairs, he says, clearly bored.

and emotional to the point of breaking down.

Not into the pool of tears I’ve been fighting off all day, however, but into a giggly morass of exhaustion, giddiness and, I realize, looking over at the guy laughing next to me, relief.

I’m sad to leave California but thankful he’s by my side.

I have no idea what the future holds—certainly there’s no way of knowing at that moment in a cheap Bakersfield motel that the rest of the trip will be fraught with more highs and lows: Gazing at the midnight sky in Arizona, getting lost in Arkansas, a frightening trip to the emergency room in Chicago.

There’s no way of predicting, either, that just two very short months later we’ll be engaged, and in less than a year, I’ll hit the road again—this time bound west, back to California and a new life. Again. For good.

We leave Bakersfield at dawn, nursing truck-stop coffees and cold bagels. The boom box is tuned into a local radio station and, as we head south on Highway 99, the Eagles’ “Take it Easy” starts playing.

Neither of us particularly likes the Eagles, but as we sit there in the cab of a U-Haul on a cold winter’s morning, listening to the epitome of laid-back California rock—“Take it easy / Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy / Lighten up while you still can / Don’t even try to understand”—nothing could be better.

WE REALIZE THAT NOT ONLY IS THE DOOR’S INSIDE CHAIN LOCKED, BUT THERE’S ANOTHER COUPLE INSIDE OUR ROOM, ASLEEP IN OUR BED. Exhausted, we trudge up to our room where my boyfriend sticks the key card into the slot and opens the door.

Or tries to, at least: The door swings in a few inches and then stops.

He tries again, this time more forcefully— until we realize that not only is the door’s inside chain locked, but there’s another couple inside our room, asleep in our bed.

Well, they were asleep, anyway. As we stand there, frozen in surprise, someone in the bed bolts up, mumbling a confused and sleepy, “Hey!” The boyfriend pulls the key out of the lock and slams the door shut, shouting out an apology as we both beat a hasty retreat back down to the check-in office.

By the time we make it to our new, thankfully unoccupied, room, I’m a mess, punchy

TAKE THE TRIP Route: Sacramento to Bakersfield: Highway 99 South to Highway 204.

Going the distance: 278 miles.

Soundtrack: Mixtapes playing “California” by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers; “Two Boats” covered

by Mary Lou Lord; and radio stations tuned into “Take it Easy” by the Eagles.

Reading material: Joan Didion’s “Staking Out California” essay; the Country Music Hall of fame anthology, The Bakersfield Sound.

Where to stay: Any cheap roadside hideaway staffed by bored night owls.

What to eat: Truck stops, gas stations and greasy diners.

Places to go: Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace.

—Rachel Leibrock

—R.L.

“TRIP OUT!”

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POTENTIAL FOR MURDER don’t want to leave the house, but I’m taking Ispiritual this little trip to Lake Berryessa as a sort of Zen journey. Ha! Just kidding. I’m going because it’s the site where, in 1969, the Zodiac Killer stabbed Cecelia Shepard to death with a foot-long blade while her boyfriend Bryan Hartnell looked on in misery—and it’s brimming with evil.

Yeah, I admit, I’m depressed.

You see, ever since grade school, people had big plans for me. In the sixth grade, Mr. Lofche (who we called “Dicknose” because his nose looked like a giant, flaccid penis) shook me violently by the shoulders and yelled, “You’re wasting your po-tential!” in this top-heavy Boston accent that still rings in my head to this day: Po-tential. Po-tential. Po-tential—like an alarm clock of guilt, screaming 24-hours-a-day between my ears.

It’s no different today—emails, phone calls, letters to the editor—unsolicited critique: Do better! You have so much po-tential!

So I peel myself from the couch, get in my car and drive west on Interstate 80, toward Lake Berryessa’s Zodiac Island.

For a soundtrack, I pop in Venom’s Welcome to Hell, which I used to love for its crunchy odes to Lucifer, but now all I hear is a bunch of idiots who can’t play their instruments, rambling in clichés about evil.

Luckily, the trip only takes a couple of hours, and when I pull up to the side of Knoxville Road, I’m excited to find what I think is the secluded Zodiac Island. But, weirdly enough, there are cars everywhere, trucks and SUVs packed fender-to-bumper on the sandy shoulder of the road.

“Fuck this,” I think, turning around, pointing my car back toward Sacramento.

On the freeway, I’m engrossed by thoughts of homicide. My evil trip was, of course, ruined by people. I reach in my glove box and find two CDs, both by Queen Latifah. I pop one in and let my mind wander.

“You need a job,” my wife says.

“You need Jesus,” say the dozens of reader emails I get every week.

“Me-owwww!” says my cat, Kato.

I picture Mr. Lofche sitting in my passenger seat—“You’re wasting your po-tential!” he yells.

Po-tential! Po-tential!—and skid deliriously onto the side of the freeway, clutching my stomach, gagging on my delusional panic. Queen Latifah blares in the background like a soundtrack to my own haunted visions—my wife, family, friends and complete strangers, my fucking cat, and that disgusting teacher with his dick-like nose wiggling perversely while he shakes me until my head flails like a beached tuna: You’re wasting your po-tential! You’re wasting your po-tential!

My brain closes in on itself while freeway traffic whizzes past.

“Mama Zula stands for positivity, knowledge and grace,” raps the good Queen. “I never run my piece, damn, I’ll take it to your face!”

I double over right there on that disgusting stretch of freeway in between Dixon and Davis, clutching my belly, snorting so goddamned hard, that I’m pretty sure I’ll choke to death on my own laughter, bile and vomit.

How’s that for po-tential?

—Josh Fernandez

TAKE THE TRIP Route: Sacramento to Zodiac Island at Lake Berryessa: Interstate 80 west; follow signs to Highway 121 south to Highway 128 west.

I’M PRETTY SURE I’LL CHOKE TO DEATH ON MY OWN LAUGHTER, BILE AND VOMIT.

Going the distance: 74.4 miles.

Soundtrack: Welcome to Hell by Venom; Black Reign and Nature of a Sista by Queen Latifah.

Where to stay: Inside your car.

What to eat: Kountry Kitchen, 11 Grant Avenue in Winters.

Hardly the evil scenario I expected.

But then I make my way down a tree-lined path toward the lake and hear voices. And splashes. I peek my head through the clearing to see about 40 young Mexican-Americans lying around the sand, drinking heavily.

“Mari, do you have the Malibu?” one says.

“No, bitch.” Mari says. “But I have tequiiilaaaa!”

A muscular teen in a wifebeater runs toward the water and trips headfirst, making a giant, clumsy splash into the artificial lake. His friends hoot and holler in approval.

Places to go: Walk down the scary path, and watch bros guzzle Keystone Light.

—J.F.

“TRIP OUT!”

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It lasted until the wee hours of the morning.

Come checkout time, one of the peacocks was perched on the roof of our car, his brilliant tail spread out gloriously over the back window and trunk.

Fortunately, Casa de Fruta’s Chevron station had a car wash. A good breakfast at Casa de Restaurant helped a great deal as well.

Then we were off, down to Highway 1 and to Big Sur. The big surprise: Driving down Highway 1 will relax you, but only if you stop frequently on the winding and surprisingly narrow road to look at a coastline that is even more beautiful— and winding—than it looks in photographs. We pulled off at every turnout to just stop and look for a while, tasting the salt on the back of our tongues and marveling at the view. I grew up on the Oregon coast, so for me, the drive brought back memories of childhood; my Iowaborn-and-bred spouse was simply awestruck.

We stopped so often, we didn’t reach Big Sur until it was almost dark. We spent three days there at the Big Sur River Inn, and did almost nothing that was on our list. Instead, we stumbled into things we hadn’t expected: the sound of birds in the morning—other than peacocks—the way that highway noise disappears just a little way into the forest; how quickly one’s feet get cold, even on a hot day, when they’re immersed in a rocky stream.

We saw a sea otter in a kelp forest, floating on his back. We saw deer. We got sand in our shoes—and in the car. And in the room, a cozy little knotty-pine paneled, rough-hewn place with no television and no telephone, but a comfortable bed covered with a thick quilt—necessary, even in summer.

continued from page 19

A WAKE-UP CALL e’d planned to get a head start on relaxW ation by making an early night of it on the first day of our vacation, so we stopped at the motel in the Casa de Fruta complex about three-quarters of the way to our destination in Big Sur. My wife and I had both been working extra hours through the summer and had gone deep into that ugly place where conversation is reduced to itineraries and shopping lists. We were desperate for some serious R & R. Our hopes got a shrill howl of “fuggedaboudit,” however, when the peacock at Casa de Fruta motel—technically called the Peacock Inn—began his evening serenade on the roof right outside our room. In case you’ve never heard one, imaging the combined noise of an industrial-strength alarm and an irritated donkey’s braying in a twotone long meow, repeated with the persistence of an unattended car alarm.

THE WINTER OF MY DOG’S DISCONTENT

foothills. Half an hour later, thick snow. The heater in the car strains to keep snow off windows, and the windshield fogs over.

Wilderness has taken over. Goal No. 3 already met.

Nevertheless, since the car sports allweather tires and four-wheel drive, we arrive safely at our first destination in Soda Springs, Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort called.

My brother jumps out of the car. He’ll be skiing here alone for the next few hours. Because dogs aren’t allowed at this ski resort on weekends, the rest of us drive a few miles down the road to our next destination: the Sierra Club’s dogfriendly Clair Tappaan Lodge.

W

inter seems like such a long time ago.

But it was only March when I took my dog Appa for his first hike in the snow. Our goals for this short trip were threefold: 1. to provide the dog a bit of exercise, 2. to burn a few calories myself on a snowy high-altitude hike, and 3. to slough off our city-dwelling malaise by retreating into the (relative) wilderness. So, early on a Sunday morning, we embarked on a spur-of-the-moment trip to the snowy Sierra Nevada Mountains.

AN HOUR AFTER LEAVING SACRAMENTO, WE ENCOUNTER RAIN. HALF AN HOUR LATER, THICK SNOW. THE HEATER IN THE CAR STRAINS TO KEEP SNOW OFF WINDOWS, AND THE WINDSHIELD FOGS OVER. WILDERNESS HAS TAKEN OVER. We left around 9 a.m., the four of us (my fiancée, brother, mother and I) with Appa, loaded into my relatively new SUV—also on its first trip into snow. An hour after leaving town, we encounter rain somewhere in the

BEFORE

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As soon as we park, Appa leaps out of the car into the snow and starts wagging his tail.

I wonder if he’s happy because of his breed; he’s half Lhasa apso, a dog species native to cold-and-snowy Tibet. (His other half is toy |

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We talked and walked and read. Then we sat in Adirondack-style chairs down by the stream and talked and read some more.

And then we started laughing, because any place with live peacocks should be saved for the trip home when you’re well-rested.

—Kel Munger

TAKE THE TRIP Route: Sacramento to Pacheco Pass: Interstate 5 south to Highway 33 south, to Highway 152 west; Pacheco Pass to Big Sur: Highway 152 west to Highway 156 west to Highway 101 south to Highway 156 west to Highway 1 south.

Going the distance: 218 miles.

Soundtrack: Graceland by Paul Simon, a wee bit o’ Johnny Cash, some 10000 Maniacs and a little Beatles.

Reading material: Selected Poems by Robinson Jeffers; Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymous Bosch by Henry Miller; The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore; Cannery Row

by John Steinbeck.

Where to stay: Peacock Inn at Casa de Fruta, 10031 Pacheco Pass Highway in Hollister; Big Sur River Inn & Restaurant, 46840 Highway 1 in Big Sur.

What to eat: Casa de Fruta: The secret is to stock up on fruit (both fresh and dried), nuts and chocolate. There’s also plenty of garlic and garlic-related items (including garlic-stuffed olives).

Places to go: Pfeiffer Beach is about 5 miles south, open for day use.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is 14 miles south, also full of hiking options.

Australian shepherd). Regardless, he’s eager to be out of the car and ready for our walk.

We grab our gear—jackets, backpacks full of sack lunches and snowshoes—and head on down the trail.

It’s snowing hard, a beautiful white covering atop ever-present pine trees. The easiest destination seems to be a mile up a flat trail; a lodge employee tells us there’s short hike to a lake. But it’s a difficult trek. The trail hasn’t been plowed today due to stormy conditions, and a few feet of fresh powdery snow seems to cover the ground for miles. As a result, we sink deep into the snow with every step— even with our snowshoes on.

At this point in the journey, we notice that Appa’s hairy legs and paws are encrusted with tiny ice balls. To ease the discomfort, he stops to lick them and bite them off. It’s not working, and his tail slowly lowers to reflect his mood midway to the lake. Here, he stops and doesn’t want to go any further. His paws must be hurting. We pick him up, take turns carrying him back to the lodge, and remove as many snowballs as we can from his poor legs. It’s tiresome.

Goals No. 1 and 2 met. Sack lunches are in order.

The day is done already. And although we accomplished our goals, we still learn a valuable lesson: even dogs need snowshoes.

A RT S & C U LT U R E

—Jonathan Mendick

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AFTER

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—K.M.

TAKE THE TRIP Route: Sacramento to Truckee, Interstate 80 east.

Going the distance: 100 miles.

Soundtrack: Into the Wild soundtrack by Eddie Vedder.

Reading material: In Our Time, Ernest Hemingway’s first collection of short stories, or If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, Italo Calvino’s famously adventurous but confusing novel.

Where to stay: Clair Tappaan Lodge (19940 Donner Pass Road in Norden), where access to the trails is free to guests.

What to eat: If you’re on a day trip, bring a sack lunch. Bring your own food if you’re staying overnight. Guests have access to full kitchens in the lodge.

Places to go: Trails at Clair Tappan are great for beginners. But if you’re up for a serious workout, Royal Gorge—which bills itself as the largest cross-country ski resort in North America—is only 2 miles away.

—J.M.

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ARTS&CULTURE

At first glance,

it’s just another typical elementary-school classroom with an alphabet-lined whiteboard and boxes of Legos stacked next to a bin of tangled Mr. Potato Head parts.

There’s definitely something unusual going on here, however. This classroom has a merch table, for example, stocked with guitar picks and flutes for sale. Then there’s the electric-drum set, presently unoccupied near the back, and the single guitar that stands in a far right corner—all indications of a decidedly different curriculum.

On this quiet Tuesday morning, the smell of stale Elmer’s glue and recycled air linger as students arrive. “Hi, Mr. Alex,” a freckled young boy says, tossing his lunch pail into a cubby before finding a spot on the carpet next to his classmates.

Mr. Alex, a tall 32-year-old man with a strong build and buzzed haircut, stands near the front of the classroom, wearing a black compression sleeve under his T-shirt to cover the tattoos that run down one arm.

It’s an appropriate solution, it seems, given the spongelike minds of children.

This is Alex Dorame’s domain, a summer program that kicked off in early June and now sends him, daily, more than 70-miles roundtrip to his first class in Lincoln. Today, Dorame starts his second session at Maidu Elementary School in Roseville, where he’ll school a small group of kids—first through seventh graders—on the history of rock ’n’ roll, as well as the challenges of channeling their inner rock star, via their own band, the Flaming Nachos. The goal: to perform a song

Alex Dorame teaches young charges the fundamentals of rock ’n’ roll.

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in front of the school and their parents.

When he’s not teaching, Dorame keeps busy with his own music, splitting free time between three projects, all with a sound that verges on punk.

Whether performing with a full band in Killdevil or Support the Rabid, or alone accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, music remains a central theme in Dorame’s world. He remembers saving his allowance to buy his first guitar at a pawn shop one summer while visiting his father in Los Angeles. At 14, he started his first band and has never stopped writing new material.

“I ALSO HAVE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THAT THEIR HANDS ARE TINY, AND SOME OF THEM HAVE NEVER TOUCHED A GUITAR BEFORE.” Alex Dorame music teacher These days, given that his current occupation isn’t, perhaps, typical for a longtime punk musician, Dorame says he wanted a new challenge, something he wasn’t finding managing a Roseville sandwich shop.

So, up late on Facebook one night, Dorame says he read a friend’s post about the open teaching position and applied on a

The C-word

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tambourine, a much lighter instrument.

After the band finally conquers the song’s beginning, the students’ faces light up.

“Yeah, I did it!” screams Austin from behind the guitar before high fiving with Dorame.

“You have to let them create,” Dorame says. “I also have to take into consideration that their hands are tiny, and some of them have never touched a guitar before.”

After the band runs through the tune a couple more times, it’s time for lunch, followed by a lecture on rhythm and blues.

Everything about the genre is discussed, including racism and what role it played in R&B, as well as watching video clips of Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

“IT’D BE COOL TO INFLUENCE AT LEAST ONE OF THESE KIDS INTO PLAYING MUSIC. I PICKED UP THE PICCOLO AND NEVER PLAYED [AGAIN], BUT LATER DOWN THE LINE, I DISCOVERED HOW MUCH I LOVE MUSIC.” Alex Dorame Dorame remembers his own early introduction to music and his instrument of choice—the piccolo.

“I remember one of my first music teachers, Mr. Tulga; he was so patient,” Dorame says. “I want to be like him. It’d be cool to influence at least one of these kids into playing music. I picked up the piccolo and never played [again], but later

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down the line, I discovered how much I love music.”

Dorame wishes more schools offered more creative outlets for students but, given the state’s current budget crisis, he worries what children will actually be left with.

“I don’t know what they’re doing to express themselves. Not everybody plays football or basketball,” says Dorame. “All I hear in the news is [about] cutting out arts, cutting out music, cutting out all those types of education. [The kids] get to choose soccer, football, cheer, science— and good for all of them—but its music that brought these kids here.”

It’s the day before the Fourth of July, and many members of the Flaming Nachos have already been picked up early by their parents. Dorame sits on the bass as his remaining student, a dark-haired girl with glasses, hops on the drums. He teaches her a simple beat and asks her to continue as they begin to play the outline of Megadeth’s “Dawn Patrol,” a song with heavy bass and percussion. A couple of days ago, Dorame says with a smile, the girl had no sense of rhythm, but now she’s skilled in drums, bass and guitar.

In the fall, Dorame plans to continue along his new career path, teaching various music classes in the Eureka Unified School District. For now, however, he’s focused on helping the Flaming Nachos prep for their July 20, school performance.

“I want to see how surprised they’re going to be,” he says. “That even [if] it doesn’t sound perfectly like the song … [they] worked hard and performed a whole song together. No matter what they sound like, I’m proud of them that they had the courage enough to get up there.” Ω

The Flaming Nachos’ lessons with Dorame will culminate with a live school performance.

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Slanted and enchanted This is the story of a single step in the ’60s that changed everything. No, not Neil Armstrong’s; rather it’s a worn-looking step, covered in green linoleum with a triangular tear in the middle. Long story short: In the mid-’60s, famed artist and UC Davis professor William T. Wiley found this step in a thrift store and gave it to another artist and UCD student, Bruce Nauman. The slope of the object rendered it useless as a step, and, over time, it took on an absurd, Duchamp-esque significance for a whole generation of Northern California artists. The object—now known as the Slant Step—became a muse, celebrated in painting, film, sculpture, verse and even books, including the appropriately titled Slant Step Book.

And now, the step is back in Davis, gifted to the Richard L. Nelson Gallery by Art Schade and Frank Owen, inspiring a whole new generation of artists in the group show Flatlanders on the Slant. Curated by Nelson director Renny Pritikin, it’s the fourth annual Flatlanders survey of established and emerging area artists—and the first organized around a theme.

On a recent stiflingly hot afternoon, more Not a step stool than 100 people gathered but, rather, the for the show’s opening, exalted Slant Step. including many of the exhibition’s 50 artists, each of whom riffed on the Slant Step.

Jose Di Gregorio created one of his characteristic spacey, geometric paintings, with the addition of a Slant Step-shaped wooden protrusion—on which, incidentally, a kid gave himself a terrific knock on the head with while running by. Chris Daubert crafted a luminous, tiny Slant Step suspended in air, constructed of green beads and fishing wire—a task so complex, that he described its creation as “17-day battle within 1-square foot.”

Gale Hart constructed a step that could be used as a skate ramp; it was accompanied by a video installation with filmed scenes of skaters grinding on it. Artist Gioia Fonda, whose works are also on display at Bows & Arrows in Midtown this month, created a back story for the Slant Step and used it as her inspiration for a Victorian-style portrait of the object called “She Has Seen Better Days.” Fonda says she views the step as a feminine muse because “she has curves and inspired mostly male artists.”

At the opening, a man using a cane approached me while I was scribbling in my notebook in a corner and asked me what class I was taking notes for. He turned out to be Phil Weidman, the author, of the original Slant Step Book, published in 1968. He said that he had heard rumors that someone once offered to buy the Slant Step for $240,000, but that the object is “not about money; it’s about fun and invention.”

PH OT O CO UR RI CH AR D L. TE SY OF TH E NE LS ON GA LL ERY

whim, thinking, “Why not?”

“This is different,” he explains. “This is changing my life in my heart, and I feel pretty accomplished.”

At band practice, Dorame teaches four girls and one boy the beginning notes to Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ’N Roll”. In the program, which is taught by various instructors within the Eureka Unified School District, the kids pick a band name, make fliers to promote their first show around campus, and today, the Flaming Nachos are eager to practice.

In room B-1 where all the instruments are present, it’s easy to spot—and hear— the band’s vocalist. Arianna Binon, a friendly, outgoing girl, immediately grabs the microphone, turns on a mini Orange amplifier and starts telling jokes, singing and dancing.

“What do you call a witch in the sand?

A sandwich.”

A ruckus erupts from behind the drum kit—courtesy of Austin, the freckled child from earlier. The remaining three girls take their cue and hop on bass, guitar and keys.

“Mr. Alex, did you know I’m magical?” says Austin, tapping the high hat with his tiny foot, his hands in the air, hiding the fact his foot is making all the noise.

A petite girl sits with the bass on her lap—its fret board towering above her. The weight of the instrument seems unimaginable in relation to her small frame.

Throughout the class, Dorame lets each child explore their instruments. All five jump at the opportunity to make a noise not unlike the banging of pots and pans, sprinkled with bits of comedy provided by Arianna, whose father arrives early to take her to a dentist appointment.

“She’s got a little performer in her,” says Arianna’s father, Greg Binon. “We want to bring that out of her, because it is her.”

The room is filled with high decibels of laughter and noise, but Dorame finds time for each musician. Once the first three chords on bass and guitar are taught, he moves on to show a quiet blond girl the correct notes on keys. He later relieves the petite bassist, showing her the ways of the

The Olsen twins?!

—Becky Grunewald

Catch Flatlanders on the Slant on display through Friday, August 17, at the Richard L. Nelson Gallery at UC Davis, 1 Shields Avenue in Davis; http://nelsongallery.ucdavis.edu. |

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DON’T MISS! BOOK LAUNCH PARTY:

Eleanore MacDonald—half of the local but internationally known modern folk music duo, Paul Kamm and Eleanore MacDonald—is celebrating the release of her first novel, All The Little Graces. It is a fictional story that revolves around the complicated beauty of the human-animal relationship. Th, 7/19, 7:30pm.

Free. The Stonehouse Old Brewery, 107 Sacramento St. in Nevada City; (530) 265-5050; www.facebook.com/ StonehouseOldBrewery.

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.

Special Events FAMILY FUN NIGHT: Family Fun Third Thursdays at the California Automobile Museum are an excellent way for parents and their children to bond over crafts, sweets and cars.

Families are invited to shape, make and craft cars. The night would not be complete without live music and old fashion root beer floats with Vic’s Ice Cream. Th, 7/19, 5-9pm. Half off admission. California Automobile Museum, 2200 Front St.; (916) 442-6802; www.calautomuseum.org.

TRUE TALES OF HONOR AND INFAMY: When the Civil War broke out, President Lincoln feared California would side with the South. Find out why Abe was worried in California and the Civil War, a multimedia presentation for the Nevada County Historical Society’s Speaker Series by Grass Valley authors Richard Hurley and TJ Meekins.

Th, 7/19, 7pm. Free. Madelyn Helling Library, 980 Helling Way in Nevada City; (530) 477-8056; http://nevadacountyhistory.org.

Film GOLDFINGER: Starring Sean Connery as James Bond, 007 agent, this film is listed four times on American Film Institute’s Top 100: Best Quote (“A martini: Shaken, not stirred.”), Best Song, Best Villain and Most Thrilling Film.

Th, 7/19, 7pm. $8. The State Theatre, 985 Lincoln Way in Auburn; (530) 885-0156; www.livefromauburn.com.

Volunteer MULCH MADNESS: Grab your wheelbarrow and join the after-work mulching party at McKinley Park. Volunteers are needed to help care for the park by applying mulch rings around the park trees. The event is supported by the City of Sacramento Parks and Recreation Department and the Sacramento Tree Foundation. Th, 7/19, 6-8pm.

Free. Shepard Garden & Art Center, 3330 McKinley Blvd.; (916) 924-8733; www.sactree.com.

Concerts TWILIGHT THURSDAYS: Enjoy warm summer nights at the Sacramento Zoo with extended hours on Twilight Thursdays, through 7/26. Dinner specials,

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live music, car show and activities start at 5 pm Visit www.saczoo.org for each evening’s theme. Th, 5-8pm through 7/26. Free with admission. Sacramento Zoo, 3930 W. Land Park Dr.; (916) 808-5888; www.saczoo.org.

20FRI

DON’T MISS! NAVY DAY AT THE AEROSPACE MUSEUM: This is your

chance to catch demonstrations by the Navy’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal team, view Navy Tour displays with Immersa-Domes that give 180-degree simulations of an aircraft carrier, and experience Blue Angel F/A18 Flight Simulators. F, 7/20, 9am-5pm. Call for pricing.

Aerospace Museum of California, 3200 Freedom Park Dr. in McClellan Air Force Base; (916) 492-5321; www.navyweek.org.

Special Events BARK FOR LIFE: Bark For Life is a fundraising event honoring the caregiving qualities of our canine furry friends. They participate to celebrate cancer survivorship, to honor people lost to cancer, and to fundraise in support of the American Cancer Society. F, 7/20, 10am-1pm. Call for pricing.

Johnson-Springview Park, 5480 Fifth St. in Rocklin; (916) 532-4615; www.relayforlife.org/rocklinca.

Film AMELIE: The Nevada City Film Festival and the Miners Foundry Cultural Center will present Amelie, the 2001 romantic film starring Audrey Tatou, and directed by JeanPierre Jeunet, about what happens when one woman decides to change the world by changing the lives of the people she knows. F, 7/20, 5pm. $16-$20.

Miners Foundry Cultural Center, 325 Spring St. in Nevada City; (530) 265-5040; www.minersfoundry.org.

Kids’ Stuff CAMPOUT AT FAIRYTALE TOWN: From 5:30 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday, spend the night at Humpty’s house. This overnight adventure includes a theater performance, arts and crafts activities, a scavenger hunt, bedtime stories and a sing-along. Wake up the next morning under Fairytale Town’s canopy of trees to a light continental breakfast. F, 7/20, 5:30pm. $35-$45. Fairytale Town, 3901 Land Park Dr.; (916) 808-7462; www.fairytaletown.org.

Concerts DIVERTIMENTO STRING QUARTET: Enjoy an outdoor concert with violinist Ljubomir Velickovi, who will perform everything from Baroque, classical and modern pop to rock and tangos. F, 7/20, 7:30pm. $8-$13. Hutchins Street Square, 125 S. Hutchins St. in Lodi; (209) 333-5550; www.hutchinsstreet square.com.

KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD: Watch a performance by blues-rock guitar virtuoso Kenny Wayne Shepherd, supported by local opener Johnny “guitar” Knox.

F, 7/20, 7:30pm. $35-$50.

Woodlake Hotel, 500 Leisure Ln.; (916) 922-2020.

21SAT

DON’T MISS! SCREEN ON THE GREEN MOVIE SERIES: Councilman

Steve Cohn and Pops in the Park present the 2012 Screen on the Green movie series, featuring a special midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Sutter’s Landing Park.

Bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating and snacks. Sa, 7/21, 11:59p.m.

Free. Sutter’s Landing Regional Park, 28th and B Streets; (916) 808-5240; www.sacscreenonthe green.com.

Special Events BUNCO FUNDRAISER: Join this event for some food and raffle prizes, all while raising money for the American Cancer Society. Entry fee includes games, drinks and food. Raffle prizes include tools, rounds of golf and restaurant gift certificates. Sa, 7/21, 5:30pm. $20.

Sierra College, 5000 Rocklin Rd. in Rocklin; (916) 532-4615; www.relayforlife.org/rocklinca.

BEER, BBQ, BALLS, BANDS: Hear a performance from the Island Of Black and White, eat tasty grub and drink ice-cold microbrews. Beer, BBQ And Balls happens every Friday and Saturday night at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex driving range. Whack some range balls, enjoy beverages, eat barbecue and listen to some live music.

Sa, 7/21, 8pm. Free. Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, 3645 Fulton Ave.; (916) 481-6531; www.haggin oaks.com.

BEFORE THE GOLD RUSH: Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park and the State Indian Museum are teaming up to present Hands on History: They Came From All Over the World Before the Gold Rush. Even before gold was discovered in 1848, the community of Sutter’s Fort and the visitors to New Helvetia were already an incredibly diverse mixture of people and cultures.

Sa, 7/21, 10am-5pm. $5-$7.

California State Indian Museum, 2618 K St.; (916) 324-0971; www.parks. ca.gov/indianmuseum.

WEST COAST SWING LESSON & SOCIAL DANCING: This monthly event is sponsored by the Capital Swing Dancers organization. West Coast Swing is the state dance and famous for its freedom of interpretation and variety of music genres that you can dance to. Sa, 7/21, 10am-10:30pm. $20-$35. Fair Oaks Village Clubhouse, 7997 California Ave. in Fair Oaks; (530) 518-1598; www.CapitalSwingDancers.org.

Art Galleries ACAI STUDIOS & GALLERY: Gallery Openig, ACAI Gallery will be holding a third Saturday reception for Susan Giannini

and Jackie La Fleur. La Fleur’s ceramics capture moments in time that bring awareness and appreciation of nature.

Giannini’s water colors possesses a carefree quality that focus on simple everyday subjects. Sa, 7/21, 6-9pm. Free.

7425 Winding Way in Fair Oaks, (916) 966-2453.

LITTLE RELICS BOUTIQUE & GALLERIA: Oooey Gooey Kids Crafting Day, Experience arts and crafts with your kids. Third

Sa of every month, noon-2pm through 11/17. Free. 908 21st St.,

(916) 716-2319.

Classes REPURPOSED LIBRARY WITH ARTWORKS: This event introduces variety of DIY projects that utilize every part of a book, from hardcover to individual pages. Orphaned books become art objects or home accessories, such as wreathes, vases, boxes and more. Sa, 7/21, 11am. Free. Elk Grove Library, 8900 Elk Grove Blvd. in Elk Grove; (916) 264-2920; www.saclibrary.org.

Meetings & Groups EFFORT AND GRACE STUDY GROUP: Effort and Grace: Open Secrets in Meher Baba’s Discourses by Darwin C. Shaw is a small book about the elements of the inner life, and provides practical and assessible insight into Baba’s teachings on the spiritual path.

This event is an on-going study group of this book. Sa, 7/21, 2-3:30pm. Free. Arden-Dimick Library, 891 Watt Ave.; (916) 812-9496; http:// radiantlight.org/meherbaba.

Now Playing PSYCHE: Meghan Brown’s Psyche, directed by Steven Schmidt and Maddy Ryen, is a darkly humorous retelling of the Eros and Psyche story from Greek mythology. Peter (Anthony Pinto) is a poet locked in an attic coaxing poetry from his muse, the immortal Psyche (Madeline Stone). Sa, 7/21, 8:30pm. $10-$15. Barnyard Theatre, 35125 County Road 31 in Davis; (530) 574-1318; www.barnyardtheatre.org.

Concerts AMERICAN IDOL LIVE: American Idol Live gives fans the opportunity to hear Idol finalists Colton Dixon, DeAndre Brackensick, Elise Testone, Erika Van Pelt, Heejun Han, Hollie Cavanagh, Jessica Sanchez and more. Sa, 7/21, 7pm. $33-$66. Power Balance Pavilion, 1 Sports Pkwy.; (916) 649-8497; www.arcoarena.com.

ZOE BOEKBINDER RETURNS TO NEVADA CITY: Local favorite Zoe Boekbinder returns to her beloved stomping grounds of the Yuba River and the San Juan Ridge in an outdoor performance. Boekbinder has been touring for more than two years as her solo act and the previous three years with her band Vermillion Lies. Sa, 7/21, 7-10pm. $12-$15. North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center, 179894 Tyler Foote Rd. in Nevada City; (530) 265-2826; www.northcolumbiaschool house.org.

22SUN

DON’T MISS! TRES KAHUNAS CLASSIC R/C AIR RACE: Enjoy radio-

controlled airplane racing in the spirit of the Reno Air Races. There will be three divisions: Bronze, with planes at speeds of approximately 115 mph; Silver, speeds near 140 mph; and Gold, with some planes topping 180 mph. Su, 7/22, 9am-4pm. Free. Gene W Andal Park, 11000 Florin Rd.; (209) 217-4691; www.sacramentorcflyers.org/home.html.

Special Events BRIDAL OPEN HOUSE: Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa invites brides, couples and event planners to a bridal open house, where they will enjoy appetizers and refreshments while touring the site. Su, 7/22, 10am-1pm. Free. Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa, 1220 Arden Hills Ln.; (916) 482-6111; www.ardenhills.net.

Film DERBY BABY: For the first time ever, the story of women’s roller derby is covered from both a national and international perspective, as Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Robin Bond and Dave Wruck take you with them on their international quest to learn why women’s flat track roller derby is the fastest-growing sport in the world. Su, 7/22, 2pm. $10. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.; (916) 442-7378; www.sacredcityderbygirls.com.

Sports & Recreation PADDLE AT COSUMNES RIVER PRESERVE: Join for a leisurely paddle along the Cosumnes River. The Cosumnes River Preserve’s Volunteer Naturalists will be awaiting your arrival at the Visitor Center. Once you have your canoe or kayak unloaded, life jackets on, and boats in the water, be prepared for a breathtaking experience along the Cosumnes River. Su, 7/22, 8:30am-12:30pm. Free. Cosumnes River Preserve Visitor Center, 13501 Franklin Blvd. in Galt; (916) 870-4317; www.cosumnes.org.

Concerts EVENING OF GREEK REBETIKA WITH PASATEMPO: Pasatempo is a band that performs rebetika and other folk music of Greece and the Balkans. The band is Christos Govetas on bouzouki, baglama, and vocals; Ruth Hunter on accordion and vocals; and Nick Maroussis on guitar. Guest musicians include Hank Bradley on bouzouki; Steve Ramsey on baglama and tzoura; and Bill Lanphier on double bass. Su, 7/22, 7-9pm. $13-$15. Village Homes Community Center, 2661 Portage Bay East in Davis; (530) 867-1032; www.timnatalmusic.com.

LEDISI AND ERIC BENET: Catch a concert with acclaimed, Grammy-nominated R&B singer Ledisi—known for

powerful vocals and as insightful lyricist— and opener Eric Benet. Su, 7/22, 7pm. $35-$55. Woodlake Hotel, 500 Leisure Ln.; (916) 922-2020.

SUNDAY SURF PARTY: The Sunday Surf Party returns to Capitol Bowl with an afternoon of instrumental surf- and retrorock featuring the Lava Pups and the Sneaky Tikis. The music will range from energetic, fastpaced instrumental surf rock to traditional retro-rock instrumentals. Su, 7/22, 1-4pm.

Free. Capitol Bowl, 900 West Capitol Ave. in West Sacramento; (916) 371-4200; www.lavapups.com.

23MON Sports & Recreation

FAIRWAY TO THE FUTURE: Grant Napear, the announcer for the Sacramento Kings, is putting on a charity golf tournament at Catta Verdera Country Club. The funds raised from this event will go directly to the Future Foundation, which provides mentors with backgrounds in business to underprivileged high school students, as well as scholarships for college. M, 7/23, 8am.

Call for pricing. Catta Verdera, 1111 Catta Verdera in Lincoln; (916) 241-9876; www.grantnapeargolf.com.

Concerts FRANC DAMBROSIO: Best known for his portrayal of the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony Award-winning Phantom of the Opera, D’Ambrosio studied with Pavarotti in Italy, made his Broadway debut in Sweeney Todd and played the role of Anthony Vito Corleone in The Godfather III. He will be performing numbers from Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. M, 7/23, 7pm. $30-$33.

Hutchins Street Square, 125 S. Hutchins St. in Lodi; (209) 333-5550; www.hutchins streetsquare.com.

24TUES

DON’T MISS! THE CHRISTIAN RIGHTS STEALTH ASSAULT:

Come hear Katherine Stewart speak about the well-funded, highly coordinated effort by Christian Nationalists to use public schools to advance a fundamentalist agenda. A book signing will follow for Stewart’s book, The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children. Tu, 7/24, 7pm. Free. Sierra 2 Center, 2791 24th St.; (916) 452-3005; http://au-sac.org.

Special Events QUESTIONABLE TRIVIA AT THE BLIND PIG: Join Questionable Trivia at the Blind Pig every Tuesday for three rounds of questions, where the winner is given a $25 gift certificate to the bar. Grab a beer and a bite to eat, take a quiz and have some fun. Teams

must be between two and six players. Tu, 8pm through 12/18.

Free. The Blind Pig, 4720 El Camino Ave.; (916) 482-2671; http://questionabletrivia.com/ where-and-when.

Literary Events LOCAL AUTHOR BOOK SIGNING: Carolyne Swayze releases her new book, Of Noble Character.

Join this event to meet the author and toast with a glass of champagne. Tu, 7/24, 5:30-8pm.

Free. Grapes and Ivy, 929 Sutter St. Downtown Folsom in Folsom (916) 294-9746; www.ofnoblecharacter.com.

25WED

ONGOING

www.bankofamerica.com/ homeownerevent.

SUMMER CAMP FOR DOGS:

DON’T MISS! GEORGE NAOPE HULA FESTIVAL: This is a hula competition honoring George Na’ope, who was a hula master known all around the world.

The event features hula groups from Hawaii and all around the United States. It will have live Hawaiian music and chants throuhout each day, as well as vendors selling Hawaiian art, handmade crafts, Hawaiian-style food and more. Sa, 7/21, 10am-

6pm; Su, 7/22, 10am-6pm.

$5-$12. Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza in Sacramento; 300 J St.; (209) 918-4010; www.kanehulafestival.com.

Special Events

Concerts THE MINISTRY OF DOUCHEBAGGERY PRESENTS: For three straight Wednesdays in July, the magnanimous men and women of the Ministry of Douchebaggery will be taking over the Stonehouse and turning it into a Burning Manesque gala of festival tomfoolery.

The parking lot will feature Burning Man art car, the Purgatory Cruiser, while inside will be vendors, artists and a slew of deejays playing house and breaks. W, 5pm-2am through 7/25. $10. The Stonehouse, 107 Sacramento St. in Nevada City; (530) 265-5050; www.facebook.com/ events/380422598679833.

DOS

7am-7pm through 8/17.

Call for pricing. WAG Hotel, 1759 Enterprise Blvd. in West Sacramento; (916) 373-0300; www.waghotels.com.

WINE CHEESE & BREAD FAIRE:

SUMMER NIGHTS CELEBRATION: During Summer Nights, Nevada City’s landmark historic district is closed to motorized traffic and filled with arts, crafts, classic cars, food, drink and music.

Leading Sierra foothills musicians perform on outdoor stages throughout the downtown area. W, 6-9:30pm through 7/25. Free. Broad St. in Nevada City, (530) 265-2692, www.nevadacitychamber.com.

This month, Wag Hotels, a pet hotel in West Sacramento is hosting its annual summer camp for dogs. Each week of the camp has a different summer theme with each day having unique activities designed to be fun and engaging. M-F,

DON’T MISS! CA STATE FAIR: The eighteen-

day California State Fair is a robust celebration of the State of California, its industries, agriculture and diversity of its people. For many the State Fair is the culmination of hard work throughout the year. For others, the State Fair is a family summer tradition of enjoyment with plenty of entertainment, fascinating exhibits, popular livestock venues and mouthwatering food. Through 8/29, 11am-11pm. $6-$10. Cal Expo, 1600 Exposition Blvd.; (916) 263-3000; www.bigfun.org.

Special Events B OF A HOMEOWNER ASSISTANCE EVENT: Bank of America is hosting a three-day homeowner assistance event as part of its commitment to assisting customers who are experiencing financial hardship. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet with Bank of America specialists face-to-face to review their full financial situation and alternatives to foreclosure, such as a loan modification or short sale, with the goal of walking away with a decision about their mortgage. 7/19-7/21, 8am-8pm.

Free. Sacramento Convention Center, 1400 J St.; (855) 201-7426;

The Old Sugar Mill is hosting the Wine Cheese & Bread Faire.

Cheesemakers from the California Cheese Guild and local bakers will showcase the region’s best pairings with Delta wines. Specialty chocolates, olive oils, nuts, coffee, teas, spices and other locally made products will also be featured for tasting and available for purchase.

Sa, 7/21, 11am-5pm; Su, 7/22,

11am-5pm. $25-$30. Old Sugar Mill, 35265 Willow Ave. in Clarksburg; (916) 744-1615 ext.

222; www.oldsugarmill.com.

Call for Artists 3 MINUTES IN 30 DAYS: You are invited to participate in the second annual Open Reel film competition, presented by CCAS in conjunction with the Capital Artists’ Studio Tour. Participants must submit work that is three minutes or less in duration and must have been completed in 30 days or less. Through 8/4; Th, 9/13, 7pm. $15 entry fee per submission. Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento; 1519 19th St.; (916) 498-9811; www.ccasac.org.

Concerts CHAMBER MUSIC AT SAC STATE: Sac State will host chamber music concerts by some of the finest musicians in the region, from 7/22 to 8/3 as part of the CalCap Chamber Music Workshop.

Participants receive instruction and take part in workshops during the day, performing concerts in the afternoon and evening in Capistrano Hall Room 151. 7/22-8/3. Free. Sacramento State Capistrano Hall, 6000 J St.; (916) 278-5155; www.csus.edu/music.

&

SURE,

it takes a lot of time, energy and willpower to train for and participate in a triathlon. Even harder is figuring out how to make watching one of these boring races into a fun spectacle. For ideas, you can look at telecasts of the Tour de France—which ends this Sunday—where spectators dress up as doctors, devils and mimes. You can also learn what not to do by looking at the Tour’s onlookers who go too far, injuring themselves and riders, and even getting into physical altercations.

I’ve run in a few local races before, including last year’s Eppie’s Great Race, and I’ll be running again this weekend. During race day, I always appreciate the enthusiasm of spectators. Sometimes, I even feel like they’re supporting me, even if they’re just cheering specifically for their family members. With two different triathlons taking place along the river this weekend (Eppie’s Great Race happens Saturday, July 21, and the Sacramento International Triathlon happens Sunday, July 22), here’s my—admittedly personal—take on how spectators should act, from an athlete’s perspective.

DO:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> DON’T:

Hold out a cup of cold water or sports drink for me to grab. It’s always helpful to properly hydrate the racers.

DO:

Give a racer a high five. It’s a bit awkward to do in the middle of a race, but running, swimming and biking are such solitary and boring sports, a simple high five makes you feel like you’re not alone out there.

DO:

Cheer loudly and support racers with words and phrases of encouragement. This always feels nice.

DO:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Run next to a racer during the race to show encouragement.

Note: Both races accept race-day registration for participants. For more information about Eppie’s Great Race, visit www.eppiesgreatrace.org. For more information about the Sacramento International Triathlon, visit www.tbfracing.com/events/sacintl.html.

FRONTLINES

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STORY

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Run next to a racer while shirtless or wearing a stupid costume. Save it for Bay to Breakers.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> DON’T:

Spray a water gun if it’s a hot afternoon.

This helps runners and bikers cool off more effectively.

|

Hold out a cup of hot coffee. The perils of this were once highlighted in a Seinfeld episode.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> DON’T:

DO:

BEFORE

DON TS DON’TS

Wait, there’s more!

Blow a vuvuzela or whistle or shake a cowbell. This is really annoying and best saved for a professional sports game.

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!

DON’T: Spray a water gun if it’s a cold morning. Sometimes long-distance runners get cold, and this leads to extremely uncomfortable nipple chaffing. Enough said.

DON’T Get in the way of the race course.

You could hurt someone, or even get hurt yourself.

—Jonathan Mendick

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Michoacán pride Tacos & Beer 5701 Franklin Boulevard, (916) 428-7844 Last summer, I took a trip to the beautiful colonial city of Morelia, the largest city in the state of by Michoacán in Mexico. When I stepped off the Becky plane, it was immediately clear that the surGrunewald roundings were very different from anywhere else I’d visited in the country. The airport was a long car ride into the city, and everywhere I looked, I saw deep-green foliage. The weather was also unexpected: cool and overcast most of the time. Michoacán is a diverse state; it’s the home of the pre-Hispanic P’urhépecha indigenous people (and the awe-inspiring pyramids they built) and extends west to more than 100 miles of unspoiled coastline.

Rating: As such, Michoacanos take a lot of pride in ★ ★ ★ 1/2 their origin (if you haven’t noticed this, just start counting the Michoacán stickers you see Dinner for one: on truck windows), and Sacramento is home to $8 - $15 quite a few restaurants specializing in the state’s cuisine. Tacos & Beer is one of the area’s best, specializing in “comido al estilo Apatzingán”—a city of 90,000 in Michoacán.

Of the regional dishes, the restaurant’s enchiladas Apatzingán are very unusual, filled with only a smattering of sharp cheese and diced onion soaked in a vinegary sauce and smothered in very lightly pickled, shredded cabbage with raw hunks of radish, and avocado ★ POOR slices.

A selection of meats is available to be ★★ FAIR ordered on the side, including guilota—quail— but you know what? Sometimes I get sick of ★★★ GOOD being the one ordering the most obscure meat, especially since the restaurant is invariably out ★★★★ EXCELLENT of it. So, instead I ask for the specialty of the house: cecina, which the server recommends ★★★★★ EXTRAORDINARY ordering with chicken. Cecina is dried beef, but that description doesn’t do justice to this deeply weird dish made up of slices as stiff as a board and permeated with the flavors of smoke and gamey meat.

Another regional specialty here is the morisqueta—pretty much the ultimate comfort dish due to the unique texture of the white rice, which is as soft as an angel’s buttock (and this is a description coming from an atheist). The steaming rice is covered with a thin layer of Still hungry?

Search SN&R’s refried beans nestled next to short segments of “Dining Directory” to pork ribs swimming in tomato sauce. I once find local restaurants had this dish at an open-air market in Uruapan, by name or by type of and this version is even better. food. Sushi, Mexican, Things falter a bit, however, when it comes Indian, Italian— discover it all in the to the common taco, of which Tacos & Beer “Dining” section at offers the usual selection of chorizo, asada, www.newsreview.com. lengua, pollo and pastor. The meats are all a bit bland and don’t come with any salsa. In fact, there’s only one kind of salsa on offer, and it’s uncomfortably close to Pace Picante sauce.

The ceviche is also boring, tasting mostly of cucumber and onion. However, it’s important that I mention that Tacos & Beer does give the option to order hand-shaped, griddled-to-order BEFORE

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tortillas. They are warm, soft and taste like corn—these babies barely resemble those cardboard things you get at the store.

I’m in a kicky kind of mood, so I decide to get the queso fundido, a.k.a. “Mexican fondue.” This is an appetizer made up of sizzling cheese and chorizo, so I can’t fault it for tasting exactly like hot cheese and chorizo.

seasonal. sustainable. delicious “Exciting & dazzling” –Sac Mag

The morisqueta is the ultimate comfort dish, with the unique texture of its white rice as soft as an angel’s buttock.

Speaking of sizzling, my molcajete arrives bubbling like a witch’s cauldron. The tortillasouplike broth is roiling with chicken, shrimp, steak, panela cheese strips, avocado and, best of all, droopy slabs of tart nopal. I make a taco out of it all, using a fresh tortilla and a spoonful of broth.

On the weekends, Tacos & Beer is lively, filled with dudes watching soccer, eating molcajetes and drinking enormous micheladas.

Sometimes the blaring banda music makes things a little too lively; the songs have lots of earsplitting plaintive wailing about being homesick for Apatzingán. And no wonder. Ω

1015 9th Street | Sac 916.498.9224 blackbird-kitchen.com

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THE V WORD The C-word It was dirty, dirty work, but someone had to taste copious amounts of chocolate to recommend to chocoholics for this column. This particular search focused on lighter rice-milk chocolate instead of the semisweet dark stuff. Go Max Go Foods has already proved its competence with recreating classic candy bars, so it was no surprise that its Snap! with crisped rice (like a Nestlé Crunch) is excellent. Just as enjoyable is Enjoy Life’s Boom Choco Boom Ricemilk (both available at Whole Foods Market). Also sampled: Eli’s Earth Bars (available at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op), which are certainly tasty and aren’t trying to be knockoffs like Go Max Go’s, although they aren’t quite as impressively executed.

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DISH Where to eat?

Here are a few recent reviews and regional recommendations by Becky Grunewald and Greg Lucas, updated regularly. Check out www.newsreview.com for more dining advice.

Downtown

Estelle’s Patisserie With its marble tables and light wooden chairs, there’s an airy atmosphere, casual and cozy. Estelle’s offers an espresso bar and a wide assortment of teas and muffins and rolls for the breakfast crowd as well as sweets, including DayGlo macarons.

For the lunch-inclined there are soups, salads, sandwiches and meat or meatless quiche. One of the authentic touches is the spare use of condiments. The smoked salmon is enlivened by dill and the flavor of its croissant. Its tomato bisque is thick and richly flavored, and, in a nice touch, a puff pastry floats in the tureen as accompaniment.

Everything is surprisingly reasonable. Half a sandwich and soup is $7.25. A caprese baguette is $5.25.

Ham and cheese is $5.75. There’s a lot to like about Estelle’s—except dinner. Doors close at 6pm. French.

901 K St., (916) 551-1500. Meal for one: $5-$10. ★★★1⁄2 G.L.

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. ★★★ G.L.

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. ★★★ G.L.

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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 G.L. The Red Rabbit Kitchen & Bar Resistance is futile when it comes to Red Rabbit’s desserts. The berryinfused ice-cream sandwich is bright and refreshing with a chewy shell that dovetails neatly with the smooth fruity interior. But there’s less effusiveness for the entrees.

The Bastard Banh Mi doesn’t improve on the original. A number of items from the “Farm to Plate,” “Tasty Snacks” and “Buns” sections of the menu land high in the plus column, however. Any place that offers chimichurri rocks hard. Here it enlivens the Farm Animal Lollipops snack—particularly the lamb—and the mayor-of-Munchkin-City-sized lamb bocadillas. American. 2718 J St., (916) 706-2275. Dinner for one: $20-$40. ★★1⁄2 G.L.

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 G.L.

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. ★★★★ G.L.

Thir13en From the start—and, lo,

Juno’s Kitchen & Delicatessen

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 foundation 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. ★★★★1⁄2 G.L.

To quote Gov. Jerry Brown from his first iteration as California’s chief executive more than 30 years ago: “Small is beautiful.” Juno’s proves this axiom in spades. The menu is fairly compact and slanted more toward lunch than dinner. Juno’s macaroni and cheese, which comes with rock shrimp on rigatoni, a Grana Padano, Gruyère and cheddar trio and a dusting of paprika, is a creative take on a comfort-food classic. In the traditional-sandwich realm, all start out with the advantage of Juno’s homemade sour— but not sourdough—bread with its crunchy crust and soft interior. In the soppressata salami sandwich, the bread amplifies the tartness of the pepperoncini while the turkey sandwich with provolone, tomato, arugula and pesto requires several napkins as the oil in the pesto seeps inexorably through the airy bread slices. American. 3675 J St., (916) 456-4522. Dinner for one: $5-$10. ★★★★ G.L.

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 Street Cafe) to Formoli’s old warren and brought Formoli’s into its current high-ceilinged, spare, dark

Mamma Susanna’s

Ristorante Italiano There’s something endearing, almost Norman Rockwell-esque about a neighborhood restaurant that is

most commonly referred to by its patrons as the neighborhood restaurant. There is no shortage of options on the menu with nearly a dozen or so pastas, even more types of pizzas, a smattering of salads and various entrees, including the piccata chicken or veal dish that Mamma Susanna’s counts as one of her specialties. Of the pastas and pizzas, the norcina tastes like and looks like an orangey vodka sauce with roasted red-pepper slices and sausage rounds tossed in a bed of penne. While the menu claims spicy, some red chili flakes do the trick. Italian. 5487 Carlson Dr., (916) 452-7465. Dinner for one: $12-$20. ★★★ G.L.

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 G.L. The Wienery The Wienery is wondrous, 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 “sur-

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North Sac

Asian Café Asian Café serves both Thai and Lao food, but go for the Lao specialties, which rely on flavoring staples such as fish sauce, lime juice, galangal and lemongrass, lots of herbs, and chilies. One of the most common dishes in Lao cuisine is larb, a dish of chopped meat laced with herbs, chilies and lime. At Asian Café, it adds optional offal addons—various organ meats, entrails, et al.—to three versions of the dish: beef with tripe, chicken with gizzards, or pork with pork skin. The beef salad offers a gentle respite from aggressive flavors, consisting of medium-thick chewy slices of eye of round with red bell pepper, chopped iceberg and hot raw jalapeño. The single best dish here is the nam kao tod, a crispy entree with ground pork that’s baked on the bottom of the pan with rice, then stirred and fried up fresh the next day with dried Thai chilies and scallions. Thai and Lao. 2827 Norwood Ave., (916) 641-5890.

Dinner for one: $10-$15. ★★★★ B.G.

Arden/ Carmichael

Bowl & Ramen Randomness yields wonderful rewards at Bowl & Ramen, a ramen eatery under the same ownership as Mana Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar. This venture may explain the miso soup, not a common occurrence in other Korean joints, which is proffered here, along with the eight banchan dishes. It also explains the initially incongruous ramen and California Roll combo. For the less intrepid and the spice-averse, there’s the second half of Bowl & Ramen’s name with nine ramen options, including ones that feature dumplings, cold buckwheat noodles and potato noodles. If not a believer in the miracle of sundubu, Bowl & Ramen offers conversion. This unique tofu stew has mushrooms, veggies, onions and an egg on top but simply reciting the ingredients doesn’t do the combination justice. Here, the bibimbap is presented in an artful way; among the dish’s vegetables are small cubes of zucchini that appear out of place but skillfully augment the other flavors. Korean.

2560 Alta Arden Expy., (916) 487-2694 Dinner for one: $9-$15. ★★★1⁄2 G.L.

Phaya Thai Thai places seem to define heat differently. At some, requesting “medium hot” still leaves lips tingling for many minutes afterward, while “hot” causes eyes to bleed and steam to gush from ears. Phaya is more circumspect in its application of heat.

Medium is barely so and hot is closer to medium. Here, the tom kha gai coconut soup is a bit sug-

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 G.L.

ary but, in its vegetarian iteration, brimming with plenty of tofu, dried red peppers with seeds, mushrooms, tomato wedges, galanga and cilantro. Thai fried—as with Thai sweet and sour—is far less heavy than entrees of the same name offered by the region’s northern neighbor, China.

Pleasantly provocative is the avocado curry—a panang curry featuring myriad slices of avocado.

Portions are large here: The beef salad is enough for two and does have some heated heft. Another salad worth consideration is one featuring a sweet, chewy sausage with plenty of cucumbers, red onion and mint. Refreshing, particularly on a hot Sacramento day.

Thai. 4310 Marconi Ave., (916) 482-5019. Dinner for one: $10-$15. ★★★1⁄2 G.L.

Natomas

Pork Belly Grub Shack Pork Belly Grub Shack encourages customers to pig out with menu items that include a catfish po’boy, steak options and several burgers. For vegetarians there’s the Porkless Bella Burger, a portobello mushroom and jack cheese sandwich with tomato and mixed greens. But who the hell wants steak and chicken and big-headed mushrooms at a place that so proudly promotes pork belly? Go whole hog with the Big Piggin. The first bite is salty and sweet with a rich beef patty, barbecue sauce, cheddar, a strong splash of garlic aioli and sliced pork belly. The Hot Mess is similar, sans pork belly burger and served on sourdough with a fried egg. The Stinkin’ Pig features cheddar, pepper jack, barbecue sauce and cured, smoked pork belly with caramelized onions and a sweetish hot chili sauce. This kind of hogwild legerdemain, mixing and matching items found elsewhere on the menu, is what elevates this grub shack to well beyond a simple sandwich place. American. 4261 Truxel Rd., (916) 285-6100. Dinner for one: $8-$12. ★★★★ G.L.

Land Park/ Curtis Park

Pangaea 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 a Save Mart Supermarket or even Nugget. They are nuanced. Brewed with artisanship. In some cases, for hundreds of years. There’s the usual panoply of French dip, hot pastrami, Reuben and so on. Among the signature offerings is The Gobbler. Turkey, natch. Cranberry

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Introduction to automobile accidents Automobile damage claims Automobile injury claims Motorcycle accidents Bicycle accidents Uninsured & underinsured motorist coverage Slip and fall accidents Bus and train accidents Airline accidents Boating accidents Amusement ride accidents Life insurance claims Product liability accidents Disability insurance claims Social Security disability claims

BEFORE

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FRONTLINES

For trucks’ sake Despite having about one-tenth the number of food trucks as cities like Portland, Ore.; San Francisco; or Los Angeles; Sacramento’s food-truck scene keeps getting better. With local restaurants such as Squeeze Inn and Willie’s Burgers recently acquiring food trucks, and with food trucks such as La Mex Taqueria, Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen and Coast to Coast Sandwiches now operating from brick-and-mortar kitchens, food trucks seem to have assimilated as a part of mainstream Sacramento culture. It helps that local organizations such as SactoMoFo, NorCal Food Trucks and Sacfoodtrucks.net have helped support the tasty fourwheeled businesses. This Saturday, July 21, from noon to 7 p.m. at the site of the Central Farmers Market (under the freeway at Sixth and X streets), you can sample eats from some of the area’s mobile food vendors during SactoMoFo 5, which features more than 30 local and Bay Area vendors.

Visit www.sactomofo.com for more details.

—Jonathan Mendick

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prisingly 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. ★★★★ G.L.

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COOLHUNTING

NOW PLAYING

Too cruel for cool?

Hipster Hitler What happens when a couple of creative friends (James Carr and Archana Kumar, who depict themselves as drunk, stoned gerbils on the website) are exchanging the worst insults they can imagine?

WEBSITE Sooner or later, someone calls someone else the worst thing imaginable: a “hipster Hitler.” And the next thing you know, there are comics. Watch as Hitler opts to invade Azerbaijan, because, you know, invading Poland has been done: “Sweden … 1626 … obviously.” Or how about Pac-Man as a military strategy? “See that blue ghost I just ate? That was England.” Start at the beginning. If you wait for the book, due out in September from Feral House, you won’t stay ahead of the curve. www.hipsterhitler.com.

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This Russian literary sci-fi novel by brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, initially published in 1972 and now in a new translation by Olena Bormashenko, reminds us of how well science fiction explores humanity. In Roadside Picnic (Chicago Review Press, $15.95) Red Schuhart was only a boy when the aliens stopped by—and then departed, leaving a dangerous wasteland full of odd debris and weird spatial effects behind them. Now, he’s a “stalker,” making BOOK his living by venturing into the forbidden alien sites in search of technology—or industrial waste—to sell on the black market.

And what does it mean that humanity’s best minds are the equivalent of insects at a barbecue to the visiting aliens?

—Kel Munger

12-07-13 2:10 PM

Grill jockey Fuego Element Portable Gas Grill For those of us without ample backyard space, summertime grilling feels more like an unattainable dream than an easy seasonal dinner method. Not anymore. The Fuego Element Portable FOOD Gas Grill is a sturdy yet compact grill designed to fit in the tiniest of personal recreation spaces—be it that apartment balcony, a sliver of patio concrete, a beach picnic table or, even, your truck’s tailgate flap. Weighing in at just 14 pounds, the grill’s sleek design boasts plenty of usable cooking space with folding, locking legs, an enamel-coated cast iron surface and a quick-start igniter. It retails for about $200, but Amazon.com usually offers this little baby for just $149.99. www.elementbyfuego.com.

—Rachel Leibrock

Twin-powered to a tee StyleMint While it feels weird to endorse anything related to Full House, that iconic relic of bad ’90s-era sitcoms, its former stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen seem to have hit upon something genius with their StyleMint shopping website. Although the shop (which operates under the BeachMint umbrella and is also home to the ShoeMint, JewelMint and BeautyMint sites) sells leggings, sunglasses and dresses, it’s better known for its focus on the simple T-shirt. The collection, curated by the sisters Olsen, highlights three types of design—edgy, modern and classic—with an overall emphasis on quality (made in the USA, thank you very much), with styles that are chic but FASHION not runway crazy. Think wearable Parisian-inspired striped tees, chiffon flutter-sleeve jerseys and back-to-basic scoop-neck tops. Each shirt is $29.99 and comes with free shipping. Sure, that’s more expensive than the average Target or thrift-store find, but totally worth the occasional splurge.

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—Rachel Leibrock

ASK JOEY Make love, not war

by JOEY GARCIA

Joey

is reading Jaguar

by Alan Rabinowitz.

Got a problem?

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.

You missed the boat in your response to the guy who complained that women prefer gangsters over nice guys. He’s right.

Online profiles by 20-year-old women list tattoos and motorcycles as top requirements. And the government is the “baby daddy,” so girls can afford to slut it up with sexy gangsters, get pregnant and have taxpayers foot the bill.

I’m a 33-year-old man who knows girls want a challenge, someone who creates a wide range of emotions, not just positive ones. Bad boys are good at that, because they say the right things. Anyway, I say self-interest over niceness, but I had to have my heart broken bad to learn how to do that confidently and without apology.

Here’s Tolle again: “A genuine relationship is one that is not dominated by the ego with its imagemaking and self-seeking. In a genuine relationship, there is an outward flow of open, alert attention toward the other person in which there is no wanting whatsoever.”

You cannot become conscious by choosing—let me quote you here—“self-interest over niceness,” but it does successfully feed your unhealthy ego. When you tire of that path, try living in the present moment, treating each person and their situation uniquely. Even yourself. And, remember, a broken heart is an open heart.

Building defenses around it prepares you for war, not love.

Oh, darlin’, it’s time you stopped reading online profiles and pledging yourself to campaign rhetoric about the government. Allow me to assign a summer reading list for you: The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. Oh, you might have read these books, perhaps even joined a meet-up group to discuss them. Books offer knowledge. To gain the self-awareness necessary to actually free your ego from cleaving to unconsciousness, however, you must study yourself and practice disciplining your mind. Like this: “Anything you resent and react strongly to in another is also in you,” wrote Tolle.

My friends say I’m single because I’m too picky. I read online-dating profiles carefully and can tell after a phone conversation whether it’s worthwhile meeting face to face. But a friend met her husband at a charity event.

That night, she found his online profile and said she never would have given him a chance based on what he wrote. They’ve been together five happy years. Am I doing this dating thing wrong?

At some level, you are engaged in the same behavior as the 20-something women and gangstas you attack.

Yes, that means at some level you are engaged in the same behavior as the 20-something women and gangstas you attack. Here’s one possibility: You slut it up (promiscuously putting down women who are not attracted to you).

Tame your ego. If you were more attracted to yourself, women moving like moths to a flame riding a motorcycle would not be on your radar. Your social calendar would be focused on removing your inner obstacles to loving others. That’s right, if you are living your life fully, other people’s life choices are not a bother.

BEFORE

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FRONTLINES

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Not necessarily. You tackle dating the way a human-resource department searches for new employees: perusing applications, prescreening by phone and inviting a few lucky candidates for interviews. This process works sometimes for some people. It may work for you. But interviews are stressful. If you fire difficult questions at your date, you might appear judgmental or controlling.

Most of us possess one of those qualities, but it usually surfaces far enough into the relationship so that our finer selves have already made us desirable. Try being open, accepting and present with potential dates. Noticing how you feel (emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally) in his presence will tell you as much or more than his answers. Ω

Meditation of the week: “The ego’s … tendency to emphasize the ‘otherness’ of others by focusing on their perceived faults and make those faults into their identity ... taken a little further … makes others into inhuman monsters,” wrote Eckhart Tolle. Who is your scapegoat?

FEATURE

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oran oranGevaLe’s e’s tattoo parLor parLor parL

Indoor Surfing

STAGE Not quite at sea The Tempest

OURS

SUMMER H

3

PHOTO BY BARRY WISDOM

th ptember 6 Now thru Se m am–11p Tues–Sun 10 day Closed Mon

Three years ago, David Garrison started The Alternative Arts Collective, producing bold, fascinating by productions such as Angels in America, Equus Patti Roberts and a gender-bending Hamlet. What made these shows even quirkier was that these edgy adult plays were performed at a children’s art center in Roseville’s Royer Park—a space Garrison would convert for his productions, but he was hampered by the building’s limitations and the distance from downtown.

SACRAMENTO’S FIRST

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ESPAÑOL | РУССКИЙ | УКРАЇНСЬКОЮ | 한국어 | 中文

Caliban learns to curse—but in an art-deco parlor.

See more reviews of current shows now playing online at www.newsreview.com.

1 FOUL

2 FAIR

3 GOOD

4 2377 Gold Meadow Way, Ste 220 Gold River, CA 95670 www.attorneysofsacramento.com

916.241.3336

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07. 19.12

The Tempest, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday; $15.

The Alternative Arts Collective Blue Box Theatre, 1700 Del Paso Boulevard at Oxford Street and Lea Way; (916) 572-5831; www.taactheatre.com. Through July 28.

4 Mermaids on parade

Disney’s The Little Mermaid

IMMIGRATION, NATURALIZATION, & DEPORTATION ATTORNEYS

32

inventive; and there are some strong performances that anchor the play.

However, other aspects seem to be still gelling, and, at times, it feels like the restylized story and production take precedence over the performances. This results in some awkward transitions and inconsistent Shakespearean deliveries. Still, there is much to applaud about this creative production: Garrison’s passion and willingness to explore is much admired and commended. Ω

WELL-DONE

5 SUBLIME-DON’T MISS

Garrison has since acquired and renovated a space behind Del Paso Boulevard in an area he describes as a “burgeoning art scene.” He and his team have transformed an old grocerystore warehouse into the impressive, handsome 35-seat Blue Box Theatre, with a beautiful courtyard outside and state-of-the-art renovations inside—so new that the fresh-cutwood smell still permeates.

The debut performance in the new space is The Tempest, Shakespeare’s story of island exiles, and in typical Garrison style, he’s not content to present the classic in classic fashion.

With the help of co-writer Christopher DeVore, Garrison reimagines The Tempest as a dying old man’s dream sequence, and begins the story in a 1940s film-noir style in an art-deco setting.

The scene opens with Cadence (Richard Spierto), a theater legend, in a coma, and family and acquaintances descending into his bedroom suite, all with different intentions—though they all seem to have an interest in Cadence’s missing last script. The action eventually moves into Cadence’s mind, where he has become Prospero, and Shakespeare’s The Tempest begins.

It’s an intriguing and imaginative new take on an old play, with island scenes being acted out in an intricately constructed parlor background. The set and costumes are beautiful and clever; the idea of placing the play in the wandering mind of a diminishing man is

Music Circus’ theater-in-the-round is perfect for Disney’s The Little Mermaid. It helps put visually stunning costumes, makeup, set design, lighting and choreography right up front. Upon entering, the audience is generously treated to an air-conditioning system on full blast and a sea-foam green kelp forest.

Once underway, the sea seems to engulf the entire audience, as colorful dancing fish circle and float between aisles. Though much of the action happens center stage, the cast also runs around to every corner of the theater, bringing the production all the way to the back row.

The stage version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid borrows much of the plot and songs from the 1989 animated film, which was— loosely, given the singing crustaceans—based on the Hans Christian Andersen children’s story.

It debuted on Broadway in 2008, closed in 2009, and subsequently toured the United States and internationally. The score features music by Oscar-winning film composer Alan Menken, with original lyrics from the film by Howard Ashman and new lyrics by Glenn Slater.

Vocally, Eric Kunze (Prince Eric)—who visited this stage last year as Chris in Miss Saigon—steals the show. Given his strong voice and broad vocal range, it’s not surprising that Kunze regularly plays lead roles in Broadway productions. Jessica Grove, as the mermaid Ariel, is also an outstanding singer, and the two seem fitting as lead Disney characters. Merwin Foard (King Triton) and Vicki Lewis (Ursula) bring their voice-acting flair to the stage. Lewis in particular adds comic relief while exuding the patented Disney over-the-top evilness.

—Jonathan Mendick

Disney’s The Little Mermaid, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 2 and 8 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m.

Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday; $30-$70. Music Circus at Wells Fargo Pavilion, 1419 H Street; (916) 557-1999; www.californiamusicaltheatre.com. Through July 22.

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B E F O R E | F R O N T L I N E S | F E A T U R E S T O R Y | A R T S & C U L T U R E | A F T E R |

07.19.12 | SN&R | 33

It’s not a movie for everyone ’ but if it s for you, ’ YOU LL NEVER FORGET IT.” “

FILM

—ANDREW O’HEHIR, SALON

A WONDERFUL MOVIE.”

“

—A.O. SCOTT, THE NEW YORK TIMES

Bane of Existence The Dark Knight Rises

MICHELLE WILLIAMS

SETH ROGEN

LUKE KIRBY

AND SARAH

SILVERMAN

www.takethiswaltzfilm.com

EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT

STARTS FRIDAY, JULY 20

REEL REVIEWS.

EVERY THURSDAY.

SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW

D I S C O V ETHU: R07/19 THE MOST

MAGICAL 2 COL. (3.9") X 3.5" ALL.TTW.0719.SNR

No wonder Bruce Wayne retired from being Batman.

Everybody wants to psychoanalyze the guy: his butler, his burglar, his nemesis, his police comby Jonathan Kiefer missioner, even the members of his company’s board. Among other things, he is accused of pretense and, perhaps worse, of “practiced apathy.”

Well, it was a double identity, and a dubious one, after all.

Anyway, it’s only a temporary retirement (at least until it becomes permanent), and at the outset of The Dark Knight Rises, it’s more or less mandatory; the hero’s city, historically rather preoccupied with mask-wearers and turncoats, no longer trusts him. But that’s just all the more grist for director Christopher Nolan’s mill: Two films in the rebooted Batman franchise already behind him and still with so much more headshrinking to do.

3

AM

FI L M OF T H E Y EAR “A BLAST OF

SHEER S HEER H EER IIMPROBAB IMPROBABLE MPROBABLE JJOY. OY ” A.O. SCOTT

Batman beating up on Bane. Obama beating up on Bain. What a week!

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FAIR

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start friday, july 20 34

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07. 19.12

SACRAMENTO Tower Theatre (800) FANDANGO #2721

5 EXCELLENT

In Nolan’s estimation, The Dark Knight Rises, this grand trilogy capper, requires two hours and 44 more minutes of duking and talking things out. And it takes so long because screenplay co-writers Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan like to get into some back story, and then revise it while we wait.

Fortunately, they understand that sometimes it’s fun being inside a movie for so long. Even one so tense, huge, noisy, dark and unswervingly glum as this.

For the casual viewer, familiarity with the ins and outs of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight is not required; Nolan, scripting again with his brother Jonathan, seems glad to summarize: It’s about power, justice, virtue and philosophical challenges thereto, not to mention the aesthetics of the summer-blockbuster set piece.

Many helpful signposts abound, some of them in human form: the butler played by Michael Caine, the burglar played by Anne Hathaway, the commissioner played by Gary Oldman. The nemesis in this case is a respirator-faced hulk called Bane, and played by Tom

Hardy, who here resembles Darth Vader without his helmet, or an uppity BDSM man-slave with vengefully revolutionary ambitions.

Backed up by a squad of glowering thugs, he’s the tea party multiplied by Occupy.

That mouth cover is meant to be menacing, but mostly just makes it hard to see his face or hear what the hell he’s saying. “Thashah dobetayu bekosth abe longeume,” for example, is his rendering of “The shadows betray you because they belong to me.” (Thank you, Internet, for that translation.)

Bane and Batman have a personal trainer in common, and it shows when they get to fighting.

The fighting is like the dialogue: labored, with most natural movement restricted by so much preliminary suiting up, and a lot of people— extras, the audience—waiting around for the blows to land. They do land, at least, sounding like bombs.

Speaking of stuff blowing up, Bane’s agenda includes a lot of that, not least a 4-megaton time bomb. Also there are hostages at the stock exchange, a few ransacked mansions, and most of Gotham’s police force trapped underground.

Heavy stuff. Not just any old immersive experience, The Dark Knight Rises comes with a promise to its audience: As a graphic novel enlarges the scope and seriousness of a mere comic book, so a Christopher Nolan film should exalt the summer superhero movie. And with the likes of The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man getting so cheeky, so loopy, Batman must once and for all reassert his solemnity. The pleasure, however preposterous, is in Nolan’s dedication—creating, maintaining, and to an extent defending a uni-

Bane and Batman have a personal trainer in common, and it shows when they get to fighting. verse in which people still take this stuff very seriously.

In addition to some familiar figures from the other two thirds of the trilogy, Nolan also seems to have brought in half the cast of his other selfanalyzing action flick, Inception. The most promising of these is an eager beat cop played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, looking good and growing into the movie as it grooms him—but for what?

Well, now let us reflect on how everything that rises must converge, and how, over the last few films, Christian Bale has grown into those dubious double-identity heroics of Bruce Wayne.

When he finally does retire for real, who’ll take over for him? Ω

by JONATHAN KIEFER & JIM LANE

2

•

The Amazing Spider-Man

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

Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios reboot the Spider-Man franchise, hoping to compensate for the loss of director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire. Retelling the whole story from square one was a mistake; the clunky script by James Vanderbilt, Steve Kloves and Alvin Sargent only reminds us of how clear and economical David Koepp’s script was back in 2002. It still might have worked if they’d been able to replace the irreplaceable Maguire, but Andrew Garfield can’t come close; he turns Peter Parker into an unlikeable, twitchy, sullen mumbler—the kind of character you avoid making eye contact with on public transportation. Director Marc Webb does what he can, but the movie needs a star at the center of Spider-Man’s web, not the black hole Garfield plays. As the love interest, Emma Stone is wasted. J.L.

3

1

Ice Age: Continental Drift

The worst animated-feature franchise in movie history—OK, maybe it’s tied with the Madagascar pictures—returns for the fourth time, and it’s lousier than ever. What we shall laughingly call “the story” expands on a cartoon short that played with Jack Black’s 2010 stinker Gulliver’s Travels, in which Scrat the squirrel’s endless pursuit of that acorn causes Earth’s prehistoric landmass to break up into the continents. Then the main characters take over, as Manny the mammoth (voice

by Ray Romano) and his pals (John Leguizamo, Denis Leary) are cast adrift, separated from Manny’s wife (Queen Latifah) and daughter (Keke Palmer), and thrown into the clutches of pirates. The first three movies stank and made billions. This one will no doubt do the same, but it’s still 94 minutes you’ll never get back. J.L.

Katy Perry: Part of Me

Directors Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz follow pop diva Katy Perry on her 2011 California Dreams Tour, with side trips into biography and interviews with Perry and her family, friends and support staff. We get glimpses of Perry’s Pentecostal Christian roots, her early flings at faith-based music, the inexplicable failure of her first record label to develop her career (was there ever a more perfect example of middle-of-the-road bubblegum pop?), and most startling and touching, the collapse of her 16-month marriage to Russell Brand. It’s a sympathetic, even adoring portrait, and Perry herself comes across as likeable and unaffected. The movie also documents the undeniable fact that the star’s flashy concerts and her coquettish candy-box eroticism certainly give her wide-eyed fans their money’s worth. J.L.

3

Magic Mike

An experienced male stripper (Channing Tatum) takes a feckless young slacker (Alex Pettyfer) under his wing, teaching him the ropes of exotic dancing while developing a cautious flirtation with the kid’s skeptical older sister (Cody Horn). Reid Carolin’s script is a fountain of unlikely clichés (the unlikeliest being that the diffident, underfed Pettyfer would be such a sensation his first time on the runway), but the director, the unpredictable Steven Soderbergh, gives the clichés a surface gloss of credibility. Better yet, Tatum seems to have found his signature role; his dance moves are great, and in a few short years he’s progressed from an inert lump to an actor of some promise. Horn, too, is a find; it’s almost worth the price of admission just to watch her face the first time she sees Tatum dance. J.L.

BEFORE

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WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY WOODY ALLEN

RomeWithLove

BEASTS SOUTHERN WILD To OF THE

STARTS FRI., 7/20 FRI-TUES: 11:05AM, 1:20, 3:30, 5:45, 8:00, 10:15PM

WED-TUES: 11:10AM, 1:45, 4:20, 7:00, 10:00PM

“BEGUILING AND ENDEARING.”

“LIFE-AFFIRMING & FUNNY.”

WED-TUES: 11:15AM, 1:30, 3:45, 6:00, 8:15, 10:25PM

ENDS THUR., 7/19 WED/THUR: 11:30AM, 2:00, 4:30, 7:15, 9:50PM

MoonriseKingdom The Intouchables - Marshall Fine, HOLLYWOOD & FINE

- Joe Morgenstern, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

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

Brave

In ancient times, a Celtic princess (voice

by Kelly Macdonald) rebels when her parents (queen Emma Thompson and king Billy Connolly) decide to betroth her without asking her thoughts on the subject. In a snit, she makes an impulsive bargain with a witch to “change” her mother, and the witch does—she changes the queen into a bear. Written by directors Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell and Brenda Chapman, with an assist from Irene Mecchi (story by Chapman), this latest Pixar feature has the customary supple Pixar animation, and it’s never less than gorgeous to behold. But it may be a case of too many cooks; the story lacks punch and never even comes near the mythic resonance it tries for. Indeed, it seems patched together from remnants of The Little Mermaid, mixed with a heaping dollop of “I hate you, Mom!” J.L.

3

“DON’T MISS THIS ONE.”- Rex Reed, NY OBSERVER

3

Polisse

A great find from the 2012 Sacramento French Film Festival, this extraordinary ensemble drama plays out very much like a grand, Gallic episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. But instead of tautly topical formula best suited to a half-watched TV, it sprawls with unruly big-screen dynamism and doesn’t dare let go of your attention. As seen by a shy photographer, played by director/cowriter/force of nature Maïwenn Le Besco—or, as the credits call her, just “Maïwenn”—it’s ostensibly a group portrait of short-fused cops at the child-protection unit. “We don’t judge; we don’t care,” one officer says, coaxing a confession, and it is the movie’s great privilege to investigate that claim. What’s miraculous is the degree of lyricism it derives from unquenchable and innately compassionate psychological curiosity. J.K.

3

Rock of Ages

4

Safety Not Guaranteed

An Oklahoma girl (Julianne Hough) in 1987 Hollywood hopes to make it as a singer but ends up working in a club on the Sunset Strip and falling for an aspiring rocker (Diego Boneta). The movie version of the hit Broadway jukebox musical surrounds these appealing youngsters with stars (Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Russell Brand, Catherine ZetaJones, Tom Cruise, Mary J. Blige) and flashy retro-rock musical numbers, staged with electric glitz by director Adam Shankman and choreographer Mia Michaels. The story is stretched too thin for too long, and an added subplot with Zeta-Jones as the mayor’s wife out to clean up the Strip does little more than let her in on the fun. Cruise (as an Axl Rose-ish rock star) and Blige (as a strip-club owner) give the best performances, and the driving beat keeps toes tapping. J.L.

A Seattle magazine writer (Jake M. Johnson) and his two interns (Aubrey Plaza, Karan Soni) investigate a mysterious loner (Mark Duplass) who has placed a want ad seeking a partner in a time-travel experiment (“Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed.”). In the process, one of the interns (Plaza) finds herself drawn to the man, and begins to think he may not be such a crackpot after all.

Written by Derek Connolly and directed with deadpan wryness by Colin Trevorrow, the movie has a kind of standard Sundance Channel roughness in its look and style, but otherwise it’s hard to pin down: Rom-com? Sci-fi? Satire? Ultimately, it seems hardly to matter, because the movie fairly bulges with quirky hangdog charm—virtually a four-character movie, with Plaza and Duplass meshing particularly well. J.L.

FRONTLINES

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FEATURE

polisse

opening Friday, july 20

Beasts of the Southern Wild

The debut from writer-director Benh Zeitlin, working with playwright Lucy Alibar and a New Orleans collective, rides in on a murky flood of festival hype. And what caused that, anyway? The inevitable confluence of poverty porn and indie quaintness? Newcomer Quvenzhané Wallis steals the show as a brave 6-year-old who yearns for her missing mother, copes with her ailing father (Dwight Henry), and navigates the archly magical-realist realms that lurk amid the muck and grit of her doomed Louisiana bayou. It’s a flamboyant indomitable-spirit demonstration, with undeniable vitality but also a sort of heavy, beastly dullness. Zeitlin has talent and guts, yes. Ultimately, though, he inspires not wonder or awe so much as our awareness of the pride he takes in his own presentation. J.K.

4

opening Fri, july 20

Show timeS valid July 20 – 26, 2012

Beasts of the Southern Wild: Magical realism and magical fireworks.

3

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

As an asteroid approaches to destroy the world, a man named Dodge (Steve Carell) and Penny, a neighbor he barely knows (Keira Knightley) set off on a quest to find Dodge’s long-lost sweetheart—and other things they never expected. Writer-director Lorene Scafaria sets up and end-of-days romantic dramedy as Dodge and Penny trek cross-country meeting an odd lot of characters. But the movie runs into trouble because a crucial, intangible ingredient is missing: chemistry between Dodge and Penny—or more to the point, between Carell and Knightley. Nobody’s really to blame; it’s chemistry, and sometimes the magic just doesn’t work. J.L.

3

Take This Waltz

4

Ted

take this waltz Rated R Fri-Sun 11:20 2:20 5:20 8:20 Mon-Thu 5:20 8:20

now playing

headhunters Rated R Fri & Sun 8:45 only Mon-Thu 8:45 nightly Not playing Saturday

Co-Presented by the Sacramento French Film Festival. Not Rated Fri-Sun 11:00 2:00 5:00 8:00 Mon-Thu 5:00 8:00

now playing

bernie

Rated PG-13 Fri & Sun 5:35 only Mon-Thu 5:35 nightly, not playing Saturday

1013 K Street - 916.442.7378 join the list - www.thecrest.com

This second feature from the promising Canadian writer-director Sarah Polley is set in a sunny, vibrantly cozy Toronto, where the complacent marriage between a freelance writer (Michelle Williams) and a cookbook author (Seth Rogen) gets upended by the perfectly available fantasy man (Luke Kirby) who happens to be their neighbor. Making up for strenuously lyrical dialogue and some pat indie quirk, Williams is terrific as usual; it’s a pleasure to see why so many emotionally alert directors find her so inspiring. But Polley can’t quite manage the mature temperament of her previous feature, Away From Her, possibly because that film derived from a supremely disciplined Alice Munro short story, and this one’s an unruly original. It’s too gingerly done, with Rogen’s gift for raunchy realness gone all but unused, and even Sarah Silverman, as a disruptive alcoholic, seeming nearly inert. Not at all a loss; just not enough: the limply dramatized equivalent of an advice-column platitude about choosing self-fulfillment over relationship chaos. J.K.

In 1985, a friendless boy wishes that his Christmas teddy bear could come to life and be his friend, and his wish comes true. But by 2012, nothing has changed except their voices; the boy (now played by Mark Wahlberg) and the bear (voice by director and co-writer Seth MacFarlane) haven’t grown up; they just sit around smoking pot and talking trash, and the boy/man’s girlfriend (Mila Kunis) is getting tired of it. MacFarlane’s first feature (he’s the brains behind TV’s Family Guy) just misses being a real classic. The script (co-written by Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild) is raunchy and irreverent, riddled with pop-culture jokes and nonstop laughs; the visual effects are seamless; and there’s a good message about friendship and growing up. Come to think of it, it may turn out to be a classic after all. J.L.

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Although still a young man, Kyle Thomas, a.k.a. King Tuff, has already lived nine lives as a musician. In the mid-aughts, he did time in Feathers, a cult (and by Becky Grunewald slightly cultlike) folk collective from his hometown, Brattleboro, Vermont. As a teenager, he recorded an album, 2008’s Was Dead, alone in his bedroom under the King Tuff persona. Over the next few years, even as Thomas played in other groups, including the metal band Witch (with Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis) and the bubblegum group Hunx & His Punx, word of his punk-glam-pop masterpiece spread, making it a bona fide underground hit. Thomas, who just released an eponoymous King Tuff album on Sub Pop Records, talked to SN&R about life in Vermont, AM radio and the art of songwriting.

The production of your new band Happy Birthday and this new King Tuff album have this spacey AM-radio type of feel.

I’ve heard people say that AM-radio thing before. What does that mean?

You’re probably too young to remember. It’s a kind of distance to the sound. It always gave AM radio this eerie feel of its own.

That sounds really cool! … I just record things, and the sound makes itself. Every time I try to make something sound a certain way, it always comes out a different way; you can’t really control it.

PHOTO by Jeffrey Sauger

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Hmm, this seems like You just got back from Vermont? n eplace w s for & r eYeah, v i e w I bwas u s ihanging n e s s u out s e with o n l ymy a good hermit songwriting.

family for

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Ad size (CoLUMn X inChes) Summer in New England is incredible, because speLLing everyone is so bummed out all winter, and nUMbers & dATes then they get psyched, so the energy is crazy.

ConTACT inFo (phone, Address, eTC) Ad AppeArs As reqUesTed Brattleboro is a pretty artistic town, right?

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Yeah, it’s a little freak town. It’s really nice.

Catch King Tuff live on Wednesday, July 25, at 8:30 p.m. as part of the Launch festival, with Jaill and the Coathangers; $6 in advance; 21 and over. Harlow’s, 2708 J Street; www.launch sacramento.com.

36 | SN&R | 07.19.12

waves of songwriting. My surroundings really do have a lot to do with if I’m able to write or not. I need to be secluded. … I think I’m going to have to go on some kind of hermit writing experience. I would really like to spend some time in the redwoods or something.

Why did you move to Los Angeles?

I lived in Vermont my whole life; I never really felt the pull to move anywhere else. [Then] I started coming out here [to Los Angeles] a couple of times and just getting a really amazing family of friends. … It really drew me to it.

Is the L.A. vibe going to influence the songs you write?

It’s hard to tell. I haven’t really written any songs this year. I go through really intense

As the popularity of Was Dead grew, did you feel pressure to go back to King Tuff? It seemed like you had moved on to Happy Birthday.

I didn’t necessarily feel pressure; it just seemed like the right thing to do, because people would talk to me about it all the time. I made that album years and years ago … when I was 17 or 18. I recorded it in 2006, and then I kind of didn’t do anything with it, and then someone put it on record, and it started spreading by word of mouth. … It’s just the thing that’s always come back over the years, so I eventually gave in to it.

“ I just record things, and the sound makes itself. … You can’t really control it.”

King Tuff

When you’ve played in Sacramento and Davis with Happy Birthday and King Tuff, the shows have been off the chain. Do you have good shows everywhere?

I definitely notice the Davis and Sac shows always are awesome, and I love playing up there, because people are super psyched. …

You guys are just wild up there! Ω

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Councilman Frank-N-Furter, mmkay Craziest night of music in history of Sacramento?: I didn’t believe it when I read it: Near-legendary underground-movie connoisseurs Movies on a Big Screen teaming up with none other than Councilman Steve Cohn for a free midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with burlesque troupe the Sizzling Sirens at the old city dump.

In fact, I actually had to call Cohn’s office to verify this was in fact taking place on planet Earth; it’s confirmed, this is really happening on Sunday night, July 22.

The party starts at 9 p.m. at Sutter’s Landing (20 28th Street) with an opening musical, Cory “The American Astronaut” McAbee’s most recent full-length Stingray Sam. In between, there will be beer (Hoppy Brewing Company) and some burlesque.

Your typical dump fare, eh?

And then, at midnight, some Rocky Horror. Will Cohn actually play Dr. Frank-N-Furter? Or will he be Brad—with Robert McKeown from MOBS donning the Tim Curry spandex? No time warping—you’ll have to grab a blanket, a lawn chair and find out for yourself.

New club alert: Club 21 is out, Midtown BarFly is in at 1119 21st Street.

Susan Homdurst of The Press Club spilled the beans recently that MBF will be taking over the old club spot.

And Midtown BarFly’s kicking things off by bringing back a familiar face: Risqué, the popular, going-onfive-years-after-a-nine-month-hiatus, 18-and-over dance night. Deejays Mike Diamond, My Cousin Vinny and Daims&Chrisupreme will man the dance floor. Buff $lut is yearbook editor, a.k.a. the dude with the camera taking your party pics. And the doors open early, at 9 p.m., and there’s no cover before 10 p.m. for drinkers, but $5 all night for 18-and-over kids.

Welcome to the scene, BarFly. People always ask me if there are any good shows coming up: And this Sunday, July 22, at TownHouse Lounge is one of them.

Yes, it’s a four-band night. Sigh.

But it’s no filler, all killer. Starting with the headliner, the Intelligence, the crunchy and poppy indie outfit from Seattle led by Lars Finberg.

Intelligence brings an energy that cannot be contained; I once saw them gig at a pizza parlor, finish, drive five blocks, set up in a living room, then keep on gigging well into dawn. One

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of my favorite West Coast bands of all time.

Locals round out the rest of the four-band (sigh) bill: Darlingchemicalia’s gloom, doom and boom rock; the metal-inspired meandering of ESS; and the jangly jive pop of Fine Steps.

KDVS is putting on this party, a rarity these days, it seems, so be sure to show that college-radio love (1517 21st Street, 8:30 p.m., $5).

Another new club alert: Last show I saw at the original KBAR was Tycho, the 2004 album release for Sunrise Projector. Fast-forward eight years: Tycho’s still making the same music (zing!) and KBAR is back on K Street—only this time, a couple blocks to the east, at the corner of 10th and K streets).

At KBAR’s big grand opening this Saturday, July 21, out are the wandering and bumping synths of Tycho and in are the tunes of DJ Billy Lane and the pounding and ostensibly Travis Barker-esque beats of local InkDup. Should be a dope party on its own, yes—yet there are incentives: $3 cocktails all night and possible winning of free tickets to next week’s Launch festival with Chromeo, DJ Shadow and Chk Chk Chk. Mmkay.

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The triple-digit heat moved on, and Another Damn Disappointment did not anticlimax at Friday Night Concerts in the Park on July 13. Check out Autumn Sky this Friday night, starting at 5 p.m.

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EIGHT GIGS

19 THURS 20 FRI 20 FRI 20 FRI Rick Springfield Cal Expo, 8 p.m., $8-$19

On the one hand, Australian singer Rick Springfield seems like just another tired ’80s pop relic reliving his glory days on the fair circuit. On the other hand, however, his 1981 hit “Jessie’s Girl,” remains POP one of the best songs ever about a guy with the hots for his best friend’s girlfriend. It’s bitter, brutally honest and charged with sexual tension—all enough to make me want to belt it out repeatedly on SingStar and, you know, maybe even hear it sung live by the real deal. Tickets are free with state-fair admission, or pony up extra for reserved “Gold Circle” seats. 1600 Exposition Boulevard, www.rickspringfield.com.

—Rachel Leibrock

Attitude Adjustment

Anchors Away!

Endfest Power Balance Pavilion, 6:30 p.m., $25.50-$75.50

Luigi’s Fun Garden, 8 p.m., $7

The Cave, 6 p.m., no cover

Yes, you should shrug at the suggestion of attending Endfest, the annual 107.9 KDND-FM The End celebration of pop music. It will, guaranteed, feature screaming teenage girls and echo-chamber acoustics. But, I’d argue that it’s worth the money to see headliner Demi Lovato (pictured) with Adam Lambert, Karmin and Owl City. Why? Although she’s a 19-year-old Disney star who’s publicly battled an eating disorder and FESTIVAL sings infectious radio pop, Lovato also has an amazing voice. Besides: Her bassist Kevin McPherson (of Ghost of the Robot fame) is from Sacramento and (full disclosure) is a former high-school buddy.

1 Sports Parkway, http://kdnd.radiotown.com/endfest2012.

There’s a new venue in Midtown. Or, at least, close enough. The Cave offers all-ages shows with affordable covers POP ROCK ranging from $3 to $5. Club manager Mike Flanagan continues to use his social-networking persona to encourage showgoers away from the central-city grid and into The Cave. This Friday is Flanagan’s birthday celebration featuring a circus theme, free barbecue, water-balloon fights and six bands. One—pop-rock three-piece, Anchors Away! (pictured), from San Diego— will also perform earlier in the afternoon at the Zuhg Life Store in the Westfield Downtown Plaza at 2 p.m. Feliz cumpleaños, Flanagan. 3512 Stockton Boulevard, www.facebook.com/Anchorsawayofficial.

—Jonathan Mendick

—Steph Rodriguez

Back in the ’80s, there was metal and punk, and they didn’t cross-pollinate. Thrash came along, but it was still metal, despite punk influences. A couple brave bands came along and dove in PUNK/METAL head-first to these dissonant scenes, embracing the look, feel and sound of both styles. This included Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion of Conformity, Nuclear Assault, the Exploited and, of course, the East Bay’s Attitude Adjustment. It ran its course from 1984 to 1992, and then reformed in 2007, playing as loud and crazy as ever. A.A. has been touring all over the world and even released a new album last year on Taang! Records. 1050 20th Street, www.myspace.com/attitudea.

—Aaron Carnes

CELEBRATING OUR 20TH ANNIVERSARY ALL YEAR LONG!

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Aug 15 fri july 27 $15 Aug 16 Aug 17 fri july 20 9pm Aug 18 Aug 22 Aug 24 Aug 24 “i Melt with yoU!” sat july 28 10pm Aug 25 Aug 28 sat july 21 9:30pm $12 Aug 31 sept 1 sept 5 sept 5 after party sept 13 WitH souls of MisCHief, PeP love & Casual sun july 29 7pm $10 sept 16 wed july 25 9pm $8 sept 21 sept 22 oct 10 oct 17 oct 29 Dress CoDe enforCeD (Jeans are oK) • Call to reserve Dinner & Club tables

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THURSDAY 7/19 - SATURDAY 7/21 FROM CURB YOUR ENTHUSIAM, ‘TIL DEATH AND HALL PASS!

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908 K Street // 916.446.4361

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20 FRI 21 SAT 24TUES 24TUES Souls of Mischief

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw is in his 40s and still rapping about playin’, mackin’ and pimpin’.

Oh, sure, the game has changed since Too Short came on the scene: When he first hit the mainstream, his collaborative efforts were with 2Pac and Biggie Smalls; a classic appearance was on the Notorious B.I.G. album Life After Death. Nowadays, his collaborations are with characters such as Lil Jon and Wiz Khalifa, who are no Biggie and ’Pac. But of all his collaboraHIP-HOP tions, it was one he did recently with local favorite Wallpaper that had my jaw on the floor. It’s amazing. He certainly knows how to adapt. 1417 R Street, www.twitter.com/tooshort.

—John Phillips

Jimmy Tamborello

Crystal Stilts

Harlow’s, 9:30 p.m., $12

Ace of Spades, 7 p.m., $29-$35

Dive Bar, 9 p.m., no cover

Luigi’s Fun Garden, 8 p.m., $8

Some prefer DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “Summertime” to celebrate the heat of the season. The real summer banger for this writer will always be Souls of Mischief’s “93 ’Til Infinity.”

HIP-HOP The group’s debut record of the same name was chosen as one of the 100 best rap albums by The Source magazine and still remains the group’s highest-charting album. Since forming in the early ’90s, the Oakland-based hip-hop group toured with notable performers A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. Now, the guys are touring with Casual and Pep Love; all are part of the Del the Funky Homosapien-founded Hieroglyphics crew.

2708 J Street, www.hieroglyphics.com.

—Steph Rodriguez

—John Phillips

—Chris Parker

ACE OF SPADES THURSDAY, JULY 19

When you hear the Postal Service play on the radio, your iPod or at Forever 21, do you first notice its enigmatic vocals by Ben Gibbard, lead singer for Death Cab for Cutie? Not likely. Without a doubt, most can distinguish Gibbard’s ELECTRONIC main project, Death Cab, from the Postal Service because of Jimmy Tamborello’s distinct electronic beeps and tones. That sound is a platform for both of his projects, the aforementioned with Gibbard and Dntel, which recently released Aimlessness. Tamborello’s first album of new material not on Sub Pop Records since 2001 is still a master of the beeps and boops. 1016 K Street, www.facebook.com/jimmytamborello.

Crystal Stilts emerged in 2008 with a pair of releases that placed it among a cadre of tuneful, distortion-drenched bands from Brooklyn, New York. While many tended toward the sweet innocence of twee, singer Brad Hargett was quite the opposite, channeling the deadpan delivery of Bauhaus’ Peter Murphy. Tracks twist through hypnotic noise-pop thrum against a ROCK backdrop of organ fills and melodies reminiscent of ’60s psych-pop acts like Moby Grape and Love. Their sound is much closer to the simplicity of early Velvet Underground than similarly inspired neo-psych acts drowning the audience in feedback. This is more of a light mist.

1050 20th Street, www.crystalstilts.com.

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

ALL AGES WELCOME!

COMING

WEDNESDAY, JULY 25

PACIFIC DUB & KATASTRO EAZY DUB - ISLAND OF BLACK & WHITE

TALIB KWELI PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS FRIDAY, JULY 20

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SATURDAY, JULY 21

FRIDAY, JULY 27

MOONSHINE BANDITS

DEMON HUNTER BLEEDING THROUGH - CANCER BATS

DRY COUNTY DRINKERS BRODI NICHOLAS

THE PLOT IN YOU - WILLOWS

MONDAY, JULY 23

SUNDAY, JULY 29

PEPPER

ATTACK ATTACK! WE CAME AS ROMANS - WOE, IS ME - ABANDON ALL

ARDEN PARK ROOTS OFFICIAL RESPONSE

TUESDAY, JULY 31

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8/3 8/4 8/6

Y&T Super Diamond The Word Alive

8/7

Lostprophets

8/17 8/18 8/19 8/21 8/24 8/25

Great White Stepchild

8/26 9/2 9/3 9/4 9/5

Saving Abel The Melvins Against Me David Allen Coe

9/6 9/8 9/11

Strung Out Chiddy Bang Gift of Gab Full Blown Stone

Powerman 5000 Buckethead Rehab The Fresh & Onlys

9/14 Anthrax/Testament 9/20 Tomorrows Bad Seeds 9/24 Kreator 9/27 Hatebreed

SHIPS - TEXAS IN JULY - IN FEAR AND FAITH - SECRETS GLASS CLOUD - AT THE SKYLINES

TUESDAY, JULY 24

SOON

10/10 Steve Vai 10/11 D.R.I 10/13 Morbid Angel 10/23 Motion City Soundtrack 10/24 Alesana 11/14 Minus The Bear

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

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NIGHTBEAT

THURSDAY 7/19

FRIDAY 7/20

BLUE LAMP

1400 Alhambra, (916) 455-3400

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.

CONDUCTING FROM THE GRAVE, ELIPSIS, HOLY GHOST REVIVAL; 6:30pm, $14

KEVY KEV, MAYHEM MUZIK, KING TAY,

MASYAH, RIG VEDA, VICIOUS KENITS, BARREL FEVER, OSTRICH THEORY; 8pm

BEFORE YOU FALL, SUN SETS HERE, TRULY TERRIFYING; 8pm, call for cover

BOWS AND ARROWS

Pompsicle: live figure drawing event, 6pm, call for cover

SOUTERRAIN, SHANNON HARNEY; 8pm, $5

BLT Week kickoff party, 6:30pm, no cover

SYSTEM AND STATION, 3D FRIENDS, DELENDA, MUSICAL CHARIS; 6pm, $5

ARKHAM, FUCKTROTS, MURRAY LEVY, AVENUE SAINTS; 8pm, $5

9426 Greenback Ln., Orangevale; (916) 988-9247 CITY OF TREES; 8pm, call for cover 1815 19 St., (916) 822-5668

THE CAVE

3512 Stockton Blvd., (916) 317-9999

CENTER FOR THE ARTS THE COZMIC CAFÉ

Open-mic, 7:30pm, no cover

JANG, 8pm, $8

BRIAN OBERLIN, HICKORY WIND; 8pm, $7

DISTRICT 30

EC TWINS, DJ Nate Davit,9pm, call for cover

DJ Billy Lane, 9pm, call for cover

DJ Fashen, 9pm, call for cover

594 Main St., Placerville; (530) 642-8481 1016 K St., (916) 737-5770

ELKHORN SALOON

1001 R St., (916) 443-8825

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 7/23-7/25

MARS, MASTERMIND, WICKED WAYZ, 420 DARKSIDE BOYZ; 7pm Tu, $12-$14 GENTLEMAN SURFER, DD WALKER; 8pm Tu, $8-$10

A THOUSAND YEARS AT SEA, LAURA CORTESE; 8pm, $10-$15

314 W. Main St., Grass Valley; (530) 274-8384

FOX & GOOSE

FOREVER GOLDRUSH, 8pm, no cover THE MIKE JUSTIS BAND, 8-11pm, no cover

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 7/22 Songwriter’s showcase and barbecue, 3pm, call for cover

THE BOARDWALK

18398 Old River Rd., West Sacramento; (916) 371-2277

Hey local bands!

SATURDAY 7/21 SOFT WHITE SIXTIES, 8pm, $10

THE FAMILY CREST, RICH DRIVER; 9pmmidnight, $5

NORTHBOUND TRAIN, FORGOTTEN PASSAGE, FULL MELT, IAN MCGLONE; 8pm

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

MIDNIGHT RAID, 10pm-1:15am, no cover

DJ Crook One, 10pm, call for cover

DJ Whores, 10pm, no cover

Open-mic, M; REGGIE GINN, BREAKING YARD; 9pm Tu; STEVE MCLANE, 8pm W

THE GOLDEN BEAR

DJ Shaun Slaughter, 10pm, call for cover

HARLOW’S

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL, 6:30pm, $37; MODERN ENGLISH, 9pm, call for cover Sirens Gone Wild, 8:30pm, call for cover

SOULS OF MISCHIEF, PEP LOVE, CASUAL; 9:30pm, $12

JAVALOUNGE

GRENADE JUMPER, HOTEL BOOKS; 8pm, $5

COONDOGGIN’ OUTLAWS, 8pm, $6

FALLING AWAKE, THE MORNING AMOUR; 8:30pm, $5

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

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Business Manager SN&R is now hiring a Business Manager. You will be responsible for ensuring the accurate and timely operation of all financial functions of the News & Review’s three papers, including general ledger, payroll, accounts payable and receivable, credit and collections, budgets and financial reporting, business filings, and insurance.

this position is responsible for creating ongoing improvements and enhancements to the overall operation and effectiveness of the accounting function. you will interact with the bank, accounting firm, vendors, management team and our awesome staff. requires 2+ years supervision/management experience and Ba/BS degree, preferably in accounting or Business.

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The largest medical-marijuana dispensary in Northern California will stay open and fight federal forfeiture claims against its leased property, said operator Stephen DeAngelo. by Last week, the 100,000-patient dispensary alerted its David Downs customers and the media that the federal government had filed forfeiture claims against Harborside Health Center’s building in Oakland and its location in San Jose. The federal government can seize property under current drug laws if the property is used in the distribution of a drug—in this case, federally illegal cannabis.

Before a crowd of about 50 journalists and activists, DeAngelo made clear that the patients most in need of medical marijuana are the ones who suffer the most when dispensaries close, and Harborside is not closing.

“Harborside has nothing to hide, we have nothing to be ashamed of and we have no intention of closing our doors. We shall continue to provide our patients with medicine. We will contest the [U.S. Department of Justice] openly, in public and through all means at our disposal. We look forward to our day in court,” DeAngelo said. “We will never abandon our patients.”

Harborside attorney Henry Wykowski could not set a time line for forfeiture proceedings against the buildings.

Patients can continue to access marijuana at the dispensary.

Still, Harborside’s potential loss would cost the city about $1 million per year in tax revenue, about 150 jobs, and it would be a huge blow to the medical-marijuana movement in California.

In October 2011, the U.S. attorney’s office in California declared a broad crackdown on marijuana businesses. U.S. Attorney for the Northern District Melinda Haag said she would focus her scarce resources on closing down clubs close to Betty Yee said lawful schools or parks.

The forfeiture dispensaries in California case against contribute $100 million in Harborside marks a departure for sales taxes each year. Haag, who said in a statement Tuesday that she wants to close Harborside not due to promixity, but due to its size.

“The larger the operations, the greater the likelihood that there will be abuse of the state’s medical marijuana laws,” she wrote.

Haag offered no evidence Harborside was breaking state laws.

At the press conference, Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker testified to Harborside’s compliance with state and local law. Parker—a former assistant U.S. attorney—called the crackdown a “tragic waste of the federal government’s time.”

Rep. Barbara Lee said in a statement Monday that closing Harborisde would be “nothing short of a tragedy.”

California State Board of Equalization member Betty Yee said lawful dispensaries under attack in California contribute $100 million in sales taxes each year, and the federal crackdown on law-abiding businesses undermines public safety.

“It’s time for federal government at the highest levels to put a stop to harassing legitimate business such as Harborside Health Center,” she wrote. Ω

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Online ads are free. Print ads start at $6/wk. www.newsreview.com or (916) 498-1234 ext. 5 Print ads start at $6/wk. www.newsreview.com or (916) 498-1234 ext. 5 Phone hours: M-F 8am-5pm.

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by ROB BREZSNY

FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 19, 2012

ARIES (March 21-April 19): AcroYoga is a

relatively new physical discipline. According to a description I read on a flyer in Santa Cruz, it “blends the spiritual wisdom of yoga, the loving kindness of massage, and the dynamic power of acrobatics.” I’d love to see you work on creating a comparable hybrid in the coming months, Aries—some practice or system or approach that would allow you to weave together your various specialties into a synergetic whole. Start brainstorming about that impossible dream now, and soon it won’t seem so impossible.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Unless you

grow your own or buy the heirloom variety at farmers markets, you probably eat a lot of tasteless tomatoes. Blame it on industrial-scale farming and supermarket chains. They’ve bred tomatoes to be homogenous and bland—easy to ship and pretty to look at. But there’s a sign of hope: A team of scientists at the University of Florida is researching what makes tomatoes taste delicious and is working to bring those types back into mainstream availability. I think the task you have ahead of you in the coming weeks is metaphorically similar, Taurus. You should see what you can to do restore lost flavor, color and soulfulness. Opt for earthy idiosyncrasies over fake and boring perfection.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): It’ll be a

humming, murmuring, whispering kind of week—a time when the clues you need will most likely arrive via ripplings and rustlings and whirrings. Here’s the complication: Some of the people around you may be more attracted to clangs and bangs and jangles. They may imagine that the only information worth paying attention to is the stuff that’s loudest and strongest. But I hope you won’t be seduced by their attitudes. I trust you’ll resist the appeals of the showy noise. Be a subtlety specialist who loves nuance and undertones. Listen mysteriously.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Most change

is slow and incremental. The shifts happen so gradually, that they are barely noticeable while you’re living in the midst of them from day to day. Then there are those rare times when the way everything fits together mutates pretty quickly.

Relationships that have been evolving in slow motion begin to speed up. Long-standing fixations melt away. Mystifying questions get clear answers. I think you’re at one of these junctures now, Cancerian.

It’s not likely you’ll be too surprised by anything that happens, though. That’s because you’ve been tracking the energetic buildup for a while, and it will feel right and natural when the rapid ripening kicks in.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Lately, you’ve been

spending time in both the off-kilter parts of paradise and the enchanting areas of limbo.

On one notable occasion, you even managed to be in both places simultaneously. How’d you do that? The results have been colorful but often paradoxical. What you don’t want and what you do want have gotten a bit mixed up. You have had to paw your way out of a dead-end confusion but have also been granted a sublime breakthrough. You explored a tunnel to nowhere but also visited a thrilling vista that provided you with some medicinal excitement. What will you do for an encore? Hopefully, nothing that complicated. I suggest you spend the next few days chilling out and taking inventory of all that’s changed.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The painter

Philip Guston loved to express himself creatively. He said it helped him to get rid of his certainty, to divest himself of what he knew. By washing away the backlog of old ideas and familiar perspectives, he freed himself to see the world as brand-new. In light of your current astrological omens, Virgo, Guston’s approach sounds like a good strategy for you to borrow. The next couple of weeks will be an excellent time to explore the pleasures of unlearning and deprogramming. You will thrive by discarding stale preconceptions, loosening the past’s hold on you, and clearing out room in your brain for fresh imaginings.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Nineteenth-

century author Charles Dickens wrote extensively about harsh social conditions. He specialized in depicting ugly realities about

BEFORE

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15 MINUTES

by SARAH

VORN PHOTO BY WES DAVIS

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY poverty, crime and classism. Yet, one critic described him as a “genial and loving humorist” who showed that “even in dealing with the darkest scenes and the most degraded characters, genius could still be clean and mirth could be innocent.” I’m thinking that Dickens might be an inspirational role model for you in the coming weeks, Libra. It will be prime time for you to expose difficult truths and agitate for justice and speak up in behalf of those less fortunate than you. You’ll get best results by maintaining your equanimity and good cheer.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): For many

years, ambergris was used as a prime ingredient in perfumes. And where does ambergris come from? It’s basically whale vomit. Sperm whales produce it in their gastrointestinal tracts to protect them from the sharp beaks of giant squid they’ve eaten, then spew it out of their mouths.

With that as your model, Scorpio, I challenge you to convert an inelegant aspect of your life into a fine asset, even a beautiful blessing. I don’t expect you to accomplish this task overnight. But I do hope you will finish by May 2013.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

“Interruption” will be a word of power for you in the coming days. No, really: I’m not being ironic, sarcastic or satirical. It is possible that the interruptions will initially seem inconvenient or undesirable, but I bet you will eventually feel grateful for their intervention. They will knock you out of grooves you need to be knocked out of.

They will compel you to pay attention to clues you’ve been neglecting. Don’t think of them as random acts of cosmic whimsy, but rather as divine strokes of luck that are meant to redirect your energy to where it should be.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

You don’t have to stand in a provocative pose to be sexy. You don’t have to lick your lips or radiate a smoldering gaze or wear clothes that dramatically reveal your body’s most appealing qualities. You already know all that stuff, of course; in light of this week’s assignment, I just wanted to remind you. And what is that assignment? To be profoundly attractive and alluring without being obvious about it.

With that as your strategy, you’ll draw to you the exact blessings and benefits you need. So do you have any brilliant notions about how to proceed? Here’s one idea: Be utterly at peace with who you really are.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I brazenly

predict, my dear Aquarius, that in the next 10 months, you will fall in love with love more deeply than you have in more than a decade. You will figure out a way to exorcise the demons that have haunted your relationship with romance, and you will enjoy some highly entertaining amorous interludes. The mysteries of intimacy will reveal new secrets to you, and you will have good reasons to redefine the meaning of fun. Is there any way these prophecies of mine could possibly fail to materialize? Yes, but only if you take yourself too seriously and insist on remaining attached to the old days and old ways.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Be alert for

fake magic, and make yourself immune to its seductive appeal. Do not, under any circumstances, allow yourself to get snookered by sexy delusions, enticing hoaxes or clever mirages. There will, in fact, be some real magic materializing in your vicinity, and if you hope to recognize it, you must not be distracted by the counterfeit stuff. This is a demanding assignment, Pisces. You will have to be both skeptical and curious, both tough-minded and innocently receptive. Fortunately, the astrological omens suggest you now have an enhanced capacity to live on that edge.

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

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FEATURE

Gotta dance Standing 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighing in at 250 pounds, Leroy Martinez’s story inspired many after he auditioned for Fox’s TV dance competition, So You Think You Can Dance, in February. Martinez, who comes from a family troubled by alcohol and drug abuse, credits dance as his savior from a hardknock life on the streets. And, although he didn’t make the show’s top 20 cut, Martinez says he’s still invested in giving the kids in his hometown of Lincoln the same fighting chance by way of free classes through his church-run Amplified Dance program.

What kind of responses have you received?

Are you still performing with the Peacemakers?

I had a father call me on Father’s Day and [say], “Just keep doing what you’re doing.

You’re a beautiful person. It made me cry.

You are an inspiration.” I’ve had Facebook messages from Dubai [United Arab Emirates], the Philippines, China, Africa, Japan and Bangladesh. One girl from Africa wrote and said she stopped dancing because people were … critical of her weight. She said, “I watched the show. As of yesterday, I started dancing again because of you.”

I haven’t really done anything but the shows [recently] just because with work and moving here and there and getting married, I’ve been busy. My family is the most important thing.

Why did you try out for So You Think You Can Dance?

When I was 12, my mom moved us out to Lincoln to get us away from [an abusive situation]. My mom didn’t want us to grow up around that. We didn’t have a lot of money, and I was looking for free programs to join.

When I was 16, I got involved in dance, and it’s [been] pretty much uphill ever since.

In October, my wife Tami said that they’re doing auditions in Salt Lake [City]. [I’d] been trying to get there for the three years, [but] stuff kept coming up, and she said, “I’m raising the money to go, so you’re going. All you gotta do is practice.” I thought, why the heck not? It was a good, positive message.

How was the experience?

The crazy thing is, I was shocked and dumbfounded on how much airtime they [gave] me. I didn’t go for fame, I didn’t go for ‘Hey look at me, I’m a good dancer!’ Or ‘Hey, look, I was on TV; here’s my autograph’—that was never my goal. When I went to this audition, I said that no matter what exposure I get, I want to [give] that back to this dance program.

STORY

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When and why did you start dancing?

How did you get involved with the Peacemakers dance crew?

One day in Sacramento, I was setting up chairs for an outreach show [I was involved with as a youth] and saw a dad and son, and they were dancing. I was like, I gotta meet this guy, but in the midst of being busy, I missed him. A few months later, the same thing happened. [Then], one day during a youth meeting, the leader announced they were going to start a dance class in the gym, and when I was walked in, I saw the dad and son I was trying to find. His name is Chris Smith. He taught me about dance, and then he even had me teaching after a while.

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What are you doing with dance now?

The pastor at the church we go to, New Song Community Church in Lincoln, was looking to start an after-school program here in our town to give kids something to do to stay out of trouble. He wanted to offer a positive place for kids of any age. After my audition, I was like, “I could teach a dance class here!” About a month-and-a-half ago, we got flyers and started Amplified Dance.

How is the program funded?

We do basic fundraisers: car washes, bake sales, we go around and ask. But ever since SYTYCD, we’ve had [people from across] America and [people from] other countries wanting to help. I’ve had numerous people calling me. None of the money goes to me; it all goes back into those programs, such as providing food and drinks and shirts for kids in the program for performances. We’re getting donations after donations to help these kids.

Will you try out for SYTYCD again?

On my Facebook page, about 90 percent of the comments are, “You’re so inspirational,” [and] 30 percent are very upset I didn’t go [on to compete on the show in] Las Vegas. I have to go back. If I don’t, I’m going to have a mob in front of my house.

I’m excited, just because of the exposure for these kids, and the opportunity I get to help them. Ω

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