S 2013 08 08 by News & Review

SACTO’S

BREAKING

BAD see News, page 9

Beers for all! see Arts&Culture, page 24

Gender

equality

goes to the Capitol see Capitol Lowdown, page 14

CANCER’s army of one see 15 Minutes, page 59

Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly

Volume 25, iSSue 17

thurSday, auguSt 8, 2013

neeS

ge On pA

Ace of SpAdeS friday, august 9

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

All Ages Welcome!

sunday, august 11

thursday, august 15

friday, august 16

tuesday, august 20

wednesday, august 21

friday, august 23

PLAIN WHITE T’S FFg saturday, august 17

ANIMAlS AS leAderS

STEPCHILD Some Fear NoNe - For all I’ve DoNe FaIr Struggle - KryptIc memorIeS

saturday, august 24

wednesday, august 28

wednesday, september 11

prIma DoNNa

colD cave

COMING SOON 08/10 08/31 09/05 09/06 09/12 09/13 09/14 09/19 09/21 09/25 09/28 10/01 10/03 10/04 10/17 10/19 10/22 10/25 10/26 11/11 11/12 11/14 11/30 12/08 12/11

Incredible Me The Acacia Strain Launch Festival Kick-Off Party (hed)PE The Slackers Steel Panthers Dizzy Wright Iration Iamsu! Tech N9ne Frightened Rabbit Between The Buried and Me Twiztid Senses Fail Story Of The Year Gwar Streelight Manifesto Parmalee Jonny Craig Clutch Mayday Parade Misfits Great White Metalachi Blood On The Dance Floor

Tickets available at all Dimple Records Locations, The Beat Records, and Armadillo Records, or purchase by phone @ 916.443.9202 2 | SN&R | 08.08.13

August 8, 2013 | vol. 25, issue 17

Save Second Saturday I live in the heart of Midtown and have been attending the monthly Second Saturday event for more than a decade. In 2005, Second Saturday really started percolating: bands in the streets, thousands of attendees, and, of course, free wine and snacks. Shops and boutiques claimed it was their best sales day of the month. Community leaders called it an organic event; “Nobody is in charge of Second Saturday” was a popular statement. By 2010, however, people were complaining: drinking in public and tailgating, underage kids running amok after curfew, vandalism and noise in the neighborhoods. Then, that September, errant gang gunfire killed 24-year-old Victor Hugo Perez Zavala just after midnight during the event. This is when community leaders did the wrong thing. Instead of taking charge and producing events that give people more to do than drink in the alleyways, they brought in more cops, moved Second Saturday’s official hours to earlier in the day, and ended regular street closures. Sacramento squandered Second Saturday. What a shame: Second Saturday is the ideal platform to market and showcase Midtown and downtown to the greater region. There should be major events and festivals, bands on stages, beers, families, innovation and unexpectedness. The reason Second Saturday struggled initially was because Sacramento leaders just let people stroll around. The good news is, this can change. Leaders can take a cue from events like Saturday’s This Midtown block party on 20th Street, where indie band Yacht will perform. We need more big-time events like this one. Let’s celebrate Second Saturday. Not regulate.

05 07 09 17 19 24 29 33 35 39 40 42 44 59

STREETALK LETTERS NEWS + SCOREKEEPER OPINION FEATuRE STORy ARTS&CuLTuRE SECOND SATuRDAy NIgHT&DAy DISH ASK JOEy STAgE FILM MuSIC + SOund AdviCE 15 MINuTES COVER dEsign BY HAYLEY dOsHAY COVER pHOtOs BY niCHOLAs WRAY

42 Jonathan Kiefer, Jim Lane, Greg Lucas, Garrett McCord, Kel Munger, Kate Paloy, Patti Roberts, Ann Martin Rolke, Steph Rodriguez Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Design Brian Breneman, Vivian Liu, Marianne Mancina, Skyler Smith Contributing Photographers Lisa Baetz, Steven Chea, Wes Davis, Ryan Donahue, Taras Garcia, William Leung, Kayleigh McCollum, Shoka, Justin Short, Anne Stokes

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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7/26/13 4:26 PM

End arena merry-go-round Re “Sacramento should vote on the arena” (SN&R Editorial, August 1): We’ve all watched the soap opera that is the arena deal for several years now—and although I can certainly understand the concerns of Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork, or STOP, this is a merry-go-round that needs to end. Yes, the true cost of the project needs to be disclosed, yada, yada, yada. But let’s be honest here: Even if the issue is put to a vote, and the voters reject it under the guise that the funds are needed citywide elsewhere (police, firestations, etc.), we all know that’s not going to happen. The letter of recent school closings, the state of the Franklin Boulevard the week corridor, et al., clearly demonstrate this. Our neighborhoods are decaying at an alarming rate, but the city has made it clear with this particular item where their priorities lie. Vote after vote after vote isn’t going to change that. Just as I told the two signature-gathering folks that hit me up on the light rail: It’s time to let it go. Dia Toney

S a c ra m e nt o

City voters will reject arena unless region pays Re “Sacramento should vote on the arena” (SN&R Editorial, August 1): Expect a hard fight to deny the arena vote. The übersupporters of the downtown arena are fearful of what would happen if city residents are allowed to vote on the arena issue. One of the biggest reasons for this has, to date, been all but ignored: An arena is an asset to the entire region, whereas the current deal here is being financed by—and the risks of failure allocated only to—Sacramento city residents, as opposed to those in the rest of the county and beyond. If the city electorate learns about this during the campaign, the project will be in serious trouble when individual voters ask why they alone are on the hook. The census numbers on this are clear: Sacramento city residents consist of only about a third of the population of Sacramento County (if you want precision, it’s 33.6 percent, according to 2012 estimates of the [U.S.] Census Bureau). But under the current proposal, city residents alone must bear the economic risks of the project. Only they will sacrifice the other capital items, which the city government can no longer afford, due to their need to raid the local cash drawer to pay off the project over the next 20 years. The similar proposal in Seattle—although also located downtown—was approved for construction as a full King County project. One can only guess what percentage of the purple-clad minions who’ve lately been filling the city hearing room for arena votes actually live in the city. And Carmichael Dave’s Carmichael is an unincorporated part of the county—also with no role in contributing tax revenue to the quarter-billion-dollar share of building the facility. BEFORE

NEWS

I, too, would rather keep the basketball team, but this attitude of spending as much as possible on the arena while beggaring everything else on the city budget that isn’t nailed down needs to be reined in. Someone must step up to the plate to find a variant that we can finance, and to ensure that everyone in the county at least must contribute to the project. If our city parents can’t do this under their own sense of responsibility as elected officials—and so far, it appears that they won’t—then we, as city voters, should have the right to protect themselves from the mess. Bill Reany Sacramento

NorthstarCalifornia.com 1.800.GoNorth

Email your letters to sactoletters@ newsreview.com.

Don’t be an online troll Re “Digital integrity vs. the zombies” by Joey Garcia (SN&R Arts&Culture, July 25): This article was refreshing. In this “me” generation, a large majority of people constantly live through and/or on their socialmedia websites and technology, leading to a lack in real intimate connection. This article both shows one how to recognize an addiction to technology (as well as it’s consequences) and then how to take steps to relieve oneself from the dehumanizing problem. I especially appreciate step one, “Kill your inner troll.” In today’s society, so much depends upon one’s social-media profile, whether it be a teenage student or a middle-aged business person. We hear too often in the papers of suicides of youth due to these infamous trolls eating at his or her self-esteem, or the loss of a job because of convincing lies spread through out the Web. Lorelei Neft Sacramento |

F E AT U R E

STORY

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A RT S & C U LT U R E

AFTER

08.08.13

SN&r

building a

HealtHy S a c r a m e n t o

Reaping the Benefits of local Food

Farmer and advocate launches bid for regional food aggregation hub by S h a n n o n S p r i n g m e y e r

new proposal submitted to the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) could help increase the flow of locally grown fresh produce to schools, hospitals and underserved communities in our region. Shawn Harrison of Soil Born Farms received a grant from The California Endowment and the USDA to develop a feasibility study for “a locally-serving food hub which facilitates the aggregation of product from small and mid-size farmers and gets that into local hospitals, food banks, stores, retail, etc.,” Harrison says. He is working in conjunction with SACOG to build the food aggregation hub infrastructure, which is lacking in the Sacramento Valley region.

“urBan pOpulaTIOnS HavE BECOmE muCH mOrE dISCOnnECTEd frOm THEIr fOOd ... WE’rE InTErESTEd In HavIng fOOd BE a mOrE CEnTral COmpOnEnT Of Our daIly lIvES.” Shawn Harrison, founder and co-director of Soil Born farms Soil Born Farms has been working with The California Endowment for six years, and is involved in promoting food access efforts in the South Sacramento area through the endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative. Soil Born Farms has been working

with residents, businesses and experts to increase the capacity in our region to grow more food to be consumed locally. “Urban populations have become much more disconnected from their food,” Harrison says. “As a result of that our health has declined, our commitment to producing food sustainably and ecologically has declined, and I think our community, in terms of its identity and its integration has declined. We’re interested in having food be a more central component of our daily lives.” Harrison says a food aggregation hub is an important piece of the puzzle because small and mid-size growers in the region simply don’t have a way to connect to many potential local markets. The hub would allow farmers to pool their products and would offer services to aid in marketing and distributing produce to gain entry to previously untapped markets.

on school menus, for example, offers farreaching implications. “If we can improve the diets of those kids that are typically in underserved situations, we’re saving them a lot of health problems, and our community a lot of disease management over time,” Harrison says. “I want to see those kids having better foods in their bodies, and right now they’re eating a largely processed-food diet.” The cost of investing in infrastructure like the food hub is dwarfed by the costs of caring for chronic disease caused by poor nutrition, according to Harrison. “The cost to our community of not doing this is so astronomical that an investment like this could literally change the economic health ... of our community in a lifetime,” Harrison says.

BuIldIng HEalTHy COmmunITIES In 2010, The California Endowment launched a 10-year, $1 billion plan to improve the health of 14 challenged communities across the state. Over the 10 years, residents, community-based organizations and public institutions will work together to address the socioeconomic and environmental challenges contributing to the poor health of their communities.

Shawn Harrison wants to help connect small to mid-size farmers in the region with new markets to increase access to locally grown food. photo by anne Stokes

Many groups stand to gain from keeping locally produced food local, including traditional distributors who would tap into local food sources if the infrastructure existed, Harrison says. Hospitals and schools would also benefit, as large institutional food markets such as these don’t currently have an effective way of sourcing locally grown food. The plan also offers a tremendous potential for economic benefits. “It’s a huge opportunity for our region that other regions simply do not have,” Harrison adds. But perhaps the most compelling outcome is that of improving the health of people in our communities. Getting more fresh local produce

your Zip code shouldn’t predict how long you’ll live – but it does. Staying healthy requires much more than doctors and diets. Every day, our surroundings and activities affect how long – and how well – we’ll live. Health Happens in neighborhoods. Health Happens in Schools. Health Happens with prevention.

paid with a grant from the california endowment 8

SN&R | 08.08.13

www.SacBHC.org

Identity theft sucks See NEWS

Sacto elections fail See BITES

916

Sac ramento ain’t eaking no Br eaking Ba d 35

Sacramento’s meth scene stars more addicts than kingpins

Time is running out for the man called “Scarface.” But because this is real life, the vividly monikered target of a federal Raheem F. Hosseini methamphetamine probe will go down in a hail of warrants and indictments, not ra h e emh@ bullets and blow. newsr evie w.c om It’s the afternoon of April 13, and, unbeknownst to Joshua “Scarface” Avila, an undercover detective is parked outside the 36-year-old’s Rio Linda home watching one-half of a suspected drug buy go down. Earlier that day, federal agents listened in on a phone conversation between two Sacramento-based men with alleged cartel ties as they discussed just how much weight “El Cara Parchada”—or “the patched face”—wanted to obtain. According to a warrant affidavit filed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, it was decided that Avila likely wanted another “manuela,” which authorities believe to mean 5 pounds, since the term is Spanish slang for hand, which has five fingers. During the course of their nine-month undercover investigation, federal and local authorities chased many hands around Sacramento, from a suspected stash house in the southwestern part of the city to multiple residences throughout the county, where midlevel buyers are accused of purchasing serious amounts of crystal. In May, federal prosecutors in both Sacramento and Hawaii indicted seven men—including three locals and one Mexican national who was living here. Three are currently incarcerated at the county jail downtown. If convicted, they face the possibility of life in prison. BEFORE

NEWS

F E AT U R E

The wide-ranging operation represented a rare sweep of meth-traffickers in Sacramento, which is more notorious for its devoted, growing customer base than kingpins with catchy nicknames like “Heisenberg,” the alias adopted by fictional chemistry teacher-turned meth chef Walter White on Breaking Bad, whose final season begins Sunday night. In the Sacramento region this year, the U.S. attorney’s office tallied a total of four methamphetamine-related actions. That compares with 13 marijuana-related actions in the region over the same span. While three times as many weedmakers and movers are getting indicted or sentenced to serious federal penitentiary time, Sacramento’s law-enforcement agencies continue to rack up tweaker arrests. Between August 3 and 4, for instance, the city police department cuffed seven people for possessing the ubiquitous, off-white narcotic, which has proven difficult to eradicate, despite multistate prohibitions against pseudoephedrine, a crucial ingredient that has been outlawed in Mexico and heavily restricted in California and Canada. “[The availability of methamphetamine] is as high as it’s been in years,” said William Ruzzamenti, executive director of Central Valley High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, a task force created in 1999 to deal with the skyrocketing meth epidemic. Ruzzamenti would know. He’s been working the drug-enforcement beat for 45 years, including a stint cracking down on psychedelics in Haight-Ashbury during the early 1970s. STORY

Over the past decade, a crop of new drug laws got most of the meth-manufacturing outsourced to Mexico, where cartels wage a violent drug war, but that hasn’t made it any harder to score crank in the 916. “Probably just the opposite,” Ruzzamenti said.

“Sacramento is virtually surrounded by counties that have major [methamphetamine] manufacturing.” William Ruzzamenti executive director, Central Valley High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas According to the agent, cartel-fronted manufacturers liquify their product and stash it in tequila bottles and detergent jugs, slap on factory seals, and truck it up the interstate. Liquid-meth-conversion labs in small rural counties like Fresno, Kern, Tulare, Stanislaus and San Joaquin turn this guck into primo ice. Distributors do the rest. “Sacramento is virtually surrounded by counties that have major manufacturing,” Ruzzamenti told SN&R. And, every once in a while, someone attempts a massive home delivery. This past April, customs and border agents at the Sacramento International Airport arrested a man who had more than 15 pounds of meth stashed in a

| A R T S & C U L T U R E

AFTER

On Strong Mayor 4.0 See EDITORIAL

pair of decorative wooden carts. The alleged smuggler arrived on a flight from Guadalajara, Mexico. While the supply rarely originates here, this county, with its 1.45 million residents, is where the demand is. According to the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, 43 percent of Sacramento arrestees tested positive for methamphetamine in 2011, “significantly higher than any year since 2003,” when about 46 percent tested positive. The report also found a growing number of users scored the drug through “noncash” transactions. Of those local users who said they weren’t able to purchase meth, only 15 percent said it was because of a lack of access. But access may become an issue. Ruzzamenti said Mexican-based cartels are shifting their focus to marijuana, which is cheaper and easier to produce, and more profitable. But meth’s addictive qualities, which easily outpace crack cocaine and heroin, mean “the bad guys have a captive audience with the speed freaks,” he said. Avila is accused of fostering that audience with his midsized purchases. So is Sacramento’s Salvador Padilla, 33, also indicted in the probe. Fingered as leaders of the operation, Armando Flores “Huedo” Vasquez and Miguel Angel Flores-Mendez, a Mexican citizen, were both living in Sacramento when investigators tapped their phones in March and eavesdropped on what are believed to be multiple, coded conversations about drug orders. One of those calls led to detectives setting up outside the alleged stash house in south Sacramento to observe a 20-pound delivery of meth on April 9, when a moment of levity interrupted an otherwise dour surveillance operation. After a suspect identified as Miguel Angel Rangel arrived at the residence in a black GMC pickup truck and went inside, investigators monitored another coded call between Vasquez and Flores-Mendez. In it, Vasquez asked Flores-Mendez whether he had 10 “pesos” to give the 300-pound Rangel, whom they referred to as “Gordo.” According to the warrant affidavit, 10 “pesos” is believed to mean $10,000. Needing less interpretation is Rangel’s nickname: “Rangel is a large male,” the affidavit explains. “The translation of ‘Gordo’ in Spanish is fat.” Rangel, Vasquez and Serafin “Niko” Magallon were indicted on separate drug conspiracy charges May 1, in Hawaii, said U.S. attorney’s office spokeswoman Lauren Horwood. Horwood’s eastern district office holds the option to charge the men in its case, depending on how the one in Hawaii goes, “among other things,” she said. A status conference for the local defendants is scheduled later this month. Ω

| 08.08.13

SN&R

Mondavi CENTER

A stellar season of classical music, jazz, speakers, dance and more! Orquesta Buena Vista Social ClubÂŽ SEP 21 01&/*/( /*()5 Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell SEP 30 Ahmad Jamal OCT 12 SFJAZZ Collective OCT 23 MOMIX OCT 26â&#x20AC;&#x201C;27 DEC 2 Pink Martini Holiday Show DEC 13 Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas Show Grupo Corpo FEB 4 San Francisco Symphony FEB 13 The Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Singers FEB 14 The Chieftains FEB 19 Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell MAR 22 Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo MAR 27 Peter Sagal APR 11 Diana Krall APR 13

Over 70 different performances at MondaviArts.org 10â&#x20AC;&#x192; â&#x20AC;&#x192;|â&#x20AC;&#x192; â&#x20AC;&#x192;SN&R â&#x20AC;&#x192; |â&#x20AC;&#x192; â&#x20AC;&#x192;08.08.13

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wit, style and just a bit of attitude.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;The Toronto Star on Diana Krall

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Sacramento’s winners and losers—with arbitrary points

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Local Republicans had a rough time at the California State Fair. According to an email from special-events chairwoman Angela Azevedo dated July 30, the Sacramento County Republican Party booth “became the sounding board” for disillusioned conservatives and had its “share of rude visitors, which further prove that it’s the liberal left who are the intolerant ones.” Speaking of tolerance, in the very next sentence, Azevedo writes: “The democrat booth, by the way, was not very impressive.”

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Thousands of Sacramentans received a loud, prolonged Amber Alert warning on their smartphones last Monday night—for a kidnapping that occurred hundreds of miles away, south of San Diego. We support the A.A. strategy, but waking locals up to find a criminal at the other end of the state makes little sense.

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12 | SN&R | 08.08.13

My identity? You must be mistaken.

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Scammers try to pull a fast one on this writer; Sacramento experts advise on identify theft, fraud There’s a warrant out for my arrest, apparently. I learned of this on August 1, by while sitting in a work meeting. My Nick Miller cellphone vibrated, the number was nic kam@ “blocked,” but the caller left a voicenewsreview.c om mail: It was Vivian Ford with United Paralegal Services, which is the name of an actual company with offices nationwide. She was calling about fraudulent checks I’d allegedly written with Tri Counties Bank, also an actual business based out of Sacramento.

A spokeswoman with Sacramento County’s identity-theft division, however, said she hadn’t heard of such a scheme. A quick online search for “arrest warrant scam” showed similar incidents in the past, though. Meanwhile, this arrest-warrant scam kept branching out through my family tree. On August 5, my brother emailed: “A paralegal called this morning. They called my number thinking it was you. Vivian Ford of United Paralegal Services. Says you

“Oh, I can’t remember. Who’s calling?” “This is attorney Jennifer Sharpe—” “Oh!” I interrupted. “I’ve been looking forward to talking to you.” Sharpe wasn’t as enthusiastic. I asked her where she lived, and if she was an actual attorney, and if we could be friends on Facebook. But Sharpe wouldn’t respond. She actually grew hostile, aggravated, and then hung up. So, I did what any potential scam victim might do: I called her back. “Hi, is this attorney Sharpe?” “No, it’s not.” It was obviously her. “We just talked a few seconds ago. You just called me. How ya doin’?” “Um,” she paused. “I didn’t talk to you a few minutes ago.” Our conversation didn’t deviate from this charade, and after 46 seconds, she’d had enough. So, I called her again. And again. And again.

Is it considered “biting the hand that feeds” if we provide a little context for Walmart’s $25,000 grant to Wind Youth Services to feed homeless teens, which was announced this past Tuesday? Sacramento city planners are looking into lifting the big-box ordinance that bans superstores such as Walmart within city limits. Proposed amendments are due Tuesday, August 20, to the Sacramento City Council to limit superstore applications to “certain older neighborhoods” and eliminate wage and benefit analysis requirements. Given the tenor of dialogue at City Hall, the ban could be on the way out. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, given findings by The Sacramento Bee earlier this summer: Since 2011, Walmart and The Walton Family Foundation (the charity funded by the family that owns Walmart) have meted out almost $800,000 in “behests,” or charitable donations, to nonprofit causes championed by Mayor Kevin Johnson and city council members like Jay Schenirer, who actually solicited donations while voicing support for changes to the big-box ordinance. That’s not to say that local community members don’t have a stake in both Walmart and local charities. Franklin Jackson, store manager for the Natomas Walmart on Truxel Road, sits on the board of directors for Wind Youth Services, for instance. But anything Walmart does in and around Sacramento during the ordinance discussion should surely be worth noting, and a big-money grant to needy kids is no exception. (Dave Kempa)

Booze reviews Looking to possibly stanch the flow of booze into saturated, poorer communities, Sacramento County of-

You might consider buying a whistle and blowing it into the phone when they call. Ford said that if I didn’t call attorney Jennifer Sharpe back immediately, at (855) 301-5254, her company would “enter a guilty plea” and “put out a warrant for my arrest.” She even had a court case number, 363880. It was a scam, for sure (case numbers aren’t six digits, for starters). But a clever one; I imagine people regularly fall for swindles like this. I didn’t think much about the arrest-warrant threat until later that day, however, when my girlfriend rang. She sounded worried. “I just got this call from some attorney stating that there’s a warrant out for your arrest,” she told me. This was disconcerting: I live with my girlfriend, sure, but we don’t share any credit cards, and all the bills are under my name. How did these scammers get her number, and how did they link her to me?

A Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman said she’d never heard of this particular phone scam.

Read a longer version of this story at www.newsreview. com/sacramento.

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need to call 855-301-5254, attorney Sharpe, to clear up some information or they are going to process a guilty plea and create a warrant.” Impressive—now my younger brother was in on the circle of scam. The city of Sacramento’s tips for preventing identify theft seem like common sense. It advises not to give out important information, such as credit-card numbers over the phone, unless you initiated the call. And, if you have the misfortune of someone stealing your identity, you should file a complain with the Federal Trade Commission, the city police department and enter your name into the California Identity Theft Registry. On August 6, attorney Sharpe finally called me directly. “Hi, is this Nicholas Miller?” she asked. “Yes.” “Is this Nicholas Miller born in 1978?” she continued.

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Which, according to Sacramento County’s Hi-Tech Crimes identitytheft division, maybe isn’t that bad of an idea. When I called the line for advice last Tuesday, a woman advised that if you keep receiving harassing calls, you might consider buying a whistle and blowing it into the phone when they call next. She also recommended signing up for a fraud-alert program with a company like Equifax, just in case. This way, if there is a hiccup with your credit, the program will alert you immediately (I did sign up, and my credit is still secure). As for attorney Jennifer Sharpe and her team: They stopped answering calls from my number. But, before they hung up on me one final time, I heard someone whispering in the background: “It’s that guy again.” Ω

| A R T S & C U L T U R E

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ficials may add regulations for prospective alcohol sellers. Right now, businesses that want to sell alcohol have to apply for licenses from the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control. Local governments can only make recommendations on whether to approve such requests if the business is pitched to an area with high crime or an undue concentration of liquor establishments. “All they can do is say what they think,” said the Department of Planning and Community Development’s Gloria Cooksey. “The entire decision and process is left to the state of California.” Even so, local officials rarely recommend denial to the state, but they often request conditions, like the hours an establishment can operate and what security measures they need to have in place. Over the past five years, most “undue concentration” requests enveloped the county’s third district, which includes the neighborhoods of Fair Oaks, Carmichael and North Highlands. There are 207 active alcohol licenses in those three communities alone, according to the state ABC’s database. On Monday, the county planning commission could recommend a conditional use permit be obtained by bars, liquor stores, small markets or bigger retailers that sell mostly alcoholic products. Administrative approval could also be required of restaurants, supermarkets and similar establishments before they can sell booze. The new regulations wouldn’t affect businesses with pre-existing liquor licenses. The commission was originally set to hear this item on July 22, but the report wasn’t ready. Cooksey said the August 12 hearing could also be delayed if planning staff hasn’t completed the proposal. (Raheem F. Hosseini)

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California is probably about to become the first state to spell out in the law what school districts must do so that transgender students aren’t discriminated against. Stuff like letting them join the sports team or use the bathroom or locker room that matches their “gender identity,” which may not necessarily reflect their anatomy at birth. Two other states, Massachusetts CAS by GREG LU and Connecticut, have said what schools need to do regarding caplowdown@newsreview.com transgender students and “sexsegregated activities,” they just haven’t stuck the policy in the code books like California is likely to do. Lawmakers have already OK’d the bill—Assembly Bill 1266 by Tom Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat. The measure is awaiting action by Gov. Jerry Brown. Brown won’t say if he’ll sign Ammiano’s bill, but the smart money says he does. One reason is that Ammiano and supporters of his bill stress that it’s primarily a restatement of what California law has been since 2003, when then-Gov. Gray Davis, Brown’s former chief of staff, signed a law adding gender identity to the list of heavyweight characteristics it’s illegal to discriminate over. Like religion, sex, age, race and disability. Who is going to get riled up about refining the status quo? Of course the counter argument is, why does a decade-old status quo need refining? It’s already a crime to not acknowledge and accommodate a person’s gender identity. Even if not a crime, plain ol’ good manners demand it. So make the accommodation and move on. Just as a number of school districts have done. Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second largest school district, passed a policy in 2004, updated in 2011, aimed at preventing discrimination against Greg Lucas’ transgender pupils. The district has yet state-politics column to log an incident or a lawsuit from a Capitol Lowdown parent horrified at boys in the girls’ appears every other bathroom or a transgender kid saying week in SN&R. He also blogs at their needs weren’t being appropriwww.californias ately addressed. capitol.com. San Francisco Unified School District has had a policy for a while. Also Willits Unified School District in Mendocino County and San Rafael City Schools, for example.

Ammiano says the clarification in his bill is aimed at other districts that aren’t doing it right. Like Arcadia Unified School District, which reached a settlement on July 24 with the U.S. Department of Education over a 2011 complaint from a student born female with a male gender identity who wasn’t allowed to use boys bathrooms and locker rooms or stay with other boys during a schoolsponsored field trip. Arcadia pledges to change its policies. Much of Ammiano’s opposition came from the same folks who see same-sex marriage as a precipitous slide down the slippery slope to a mandatory front-row seat at the Gladiator Club’s Nude Twister Night on Main Street Gomorrah. Accommodation of transgender Californians is yet another government-sanctioned blasphemy, an abomination in the eyes of God. Like cross-dressers (see Deuteronomy 22:5). Just curious: Does Pope Frank’s “Who am I to judge?” apply to the “T” as well as “LGB”? Because transgender is the Advanced Placement test on LGBT equality. And that’s why Ammiano’s bill is significantly more than just a restatement of existing law. A percentage of the heterosexual population considers themselves generous and broad-minded by “supporting” same-sex marriage. Many appear to equate conferring that right with equality. Mission accomplished. Even the straights that believe husband and husband or wife and wife shatters the sanctity of marriage can live largely free of actual exposure to same-sex couples. As opposed to having a “boy” stripping and changing into gym togs next to their chaste daughter. Or, more challenging still, witnessing the daily transformation of a teenager undergoing hormone treatments over the course of a school year. Hardest of all, empathizing with the constant conflict and isolation experienced by that kid. To love thy neighbor as thyself, to quote Pope Frank’s boss. Sign the bill. Strike a blow for transgender equality. But don’t forget to check in on the emancipated afterward. Ω

INCLUDES MEMBERSHIP NOW

Near miss Is something wrong with elections in Sacramento County? In Meigs County, Ohio, elections officials last month counted 697 missing absentee ballots, long after the election was over. When they were finally found in a county storeroom, and eventually unsealed and counted, the result was this: 639 votes for Abraham Lincoln, 58 for George B. McClellan. The long-lost ballots, cast by Meigs County ArVIN soldiers serving in the Union Army and by COSMO G counted 149 years later, of course, don’t cosmog@ n ewsrev iew.c om change a thing about that election. But as Democratic campaign consultant and democracy enthusiast Bob Mulholland points out, “Everyone in America values the votes cast by our citizens, and they count them.” “Everyone,” he adds, “except the county of Sacramento, California.”

The number of votes separating the No. 15 and No. 16 finishers is 201. The number of unopened ballots in that contest is 355. To be clear: It’s very, very unlikely that counting the votes will change those outcomes. And voters rejected Measure M, anyway, so the folks who won the charter commission races wouldn’t be seated. (And yes, Bites is sure some readers are wondering, “Is he babbling about the charter commission again?” We all have our hobbies.) None of that means the votes shouldn’t be counted fairly and accurately. And if Maa is correct, then LaVine’s reasoning—that no outcomes could change—simply doesn’t hold. It’s impossible to know that for sure until the votes are actually counted.

Mulholland is, of course, referring to Sacramento County’s refusal to count 407 absentee ballots found in a storage area earlier this year. County registrar Jill LaVine, along with Sacramento County legal counsel, decided the votes would remain secret, because they were in voting precincts where all of the races were decided by margins wider than the number of missing ballots that might affect each contest. “Election Code does not authorize me to recertify an election if the outcome does not change,” explained LaVine at the time. But the county’s math doesn’t add up, says John Maa, a surgeon from San Francisco who has been looking into election irregularities around the state, particularly when absentee ballots are involved. Maa was involved in the Proposition 29 campaign—the tobacco tax measure that narrowly lost in June 2012. The doctor managed to force a partial recount in Los Angeles County, though the outcome was unchanged. He recently contacted Bites to say that he heard about the missing ballots in Sacramento, and they piqued his curiosity. Indeed, in almost every contest, there is no chance that any of Sacramento’s missing ballots could change the outcome of any election. Almost. The only exception, according to Maa’s analysis, is in the contest for Sacramento City charter commissioners. You’ll recall that Measure M, the charter commission, failed pretty badly at the polls. But, at the same time, voters chose 15 charter commissioners. Heather Fargo was the highest vote-getter. No. 15 was a guy named Shane Singh, a big supporter of Mayor Kevin Johnson. No. 16, just missing the cut off, was Democratic Party activist Tamie Dramer. Bites knows a bit about both of these folks, and it’s safe to say that they don’t agree on much in local politics.

“Everyone in America values the votes cast by our citizens, and they count them. Everyone except the county of Sacramento, California.”

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“In medicine, we would call this a ‘near miss’— an event where a patient wasn’t harmed, yet the potential was there, and much can be learned from analyzing the event further, in the interest of election integrity,” explained Maa. He also said that in his work on the Prop. 29 recount, he saw some things in Sacramento County’s statement of the vote that concerned him—a high number of mathematical errors, voter turnout in some precincts of more than 100 percent, and other “unusual presentations.” Perhaps the missing ballots are, by themselves, nothing to worry about. They aren’t going to change the course of history or anything. But could missing ballots be a symptom, a sign that something else is wrong? There’s no reason to jump to that conclusion. But the first, most basic safeguard, the heart of the whole election system, is to count everybody’s vote. The secretary of state has ordered the ballots to be held for 22 months, until September 2014. After that, they will be destroyed. “In the interest of election integrity,” Maa says, “I think that [the registrar] has the responsibility to open the ballots and count the votes, and recertify the outcome if appropriate.” Ω

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I had been traveling, so I did not get to the California State Fair this year until the very last day. In my 23 years in Sacramento, the state fair has provided continuity while my life has changed. My first year in Sacramento, I took my 1-year-old son to the fair, and since then, I took my kids again every summer. But this year, I am an empty nester, and so I experienced the state fair in a different way. This time, without babies or young children or teenagers, the fair seemed the same, and yet different. There was still the chocolate-covered bacon; l the leather-faced carnie with the nonregulation ne ae nK Vo FF by Je basketball hoops; the hot, hot asphalt; and the oversized j e ffv @n e wsr e v ie w.c o m stuffed animals. And, of course, the young teens boldly yet anxiously moving into adulthood. Without children, I spent more of my time in the exhibits instead of on the rides. Here, among the animals, the food and the artwork, I sensed the millions of hours that went into caring for the sheep and the chickens, and into creating the woodwork and the paintings. At the exhibits, I met several people with artwork on display. I felt their exciteThe state ment about having their art shown at the state fair; something they had created fair demands would be seen and admired by thousands our active of people. It was a joy. Especially in a time when participation. so many hours are spent sitting in front of a box of flickering light, looking at a screen. A screen demands passivity, while the fair demands our active participation. While many of the fair’s exhibits were created months before the opening, I met a group of students who were shooting videos of the fair. On Native Ground, a tribally Almost 50 student chartered nonprofit, had partnered with students from the videos of the Youth Broadcast and Media Association, students from California State Fair local Sacramento-area tribal communities and the state fair can be found at to create the California State Fair Youth Media Productions http://tinyurl.com/ fairvideos. studio. I spent some time with the Franklin High School students who were among the 40 students making videos. One student told me that he had been shooting video almost every day at the fair, and then going home each evening to edit his videos. He loved using the professional equipment at the fair, as compared to his “dad’s camera.” On Native Ground video director Dominick Porras had been working nonstop with the students, helping them create and edit their videos. He seemed tired, but also Jeff vonKaenel proud. Proud of his students’ videos. Proud that he had is the president, been a part of this impressive project. Check out the student CEO and videos at www.bigfun.org. They bring the fair to life. majority owner of This 2013 California State Fair is over. But next the News & Review newspapers in year’s event is only 11 months away! There are sheep Sacramento, that need to be cared for. Pies to be made. Wood that Chico and Reno. needs carving. Paintings that need to be painted. And life to be experienced. Ω

This Modern World

by tom tomorrow

Elected official actually asks smart question Jay Schenirer has your money on his mind and his mind on aircraft, equipment and software. The largest your money. portion—$365,835—would fund anti-drug and by The Sacramento City Council member with gang programs. Raheem the tricky last name was on the ball last week, Just what kind of programs? F. Hosseini despite a light agenda and recent overseas vacaGood question. Enter Schenirer. tion. (Nice tan!) “That’s more than we have in the city He found a police-department plan to spend general fund to spend on those programs, so nearly $900,000 in asset-forfeiture funds light it’d be good to know what we’re spending it on details, so Schenirer asked officials to do a on,” he said on July 31. better job of itemizing their It’s the kind of question invoice before he’d consider that doesn’t get asked enough One thing that approving it. around these parts. (The hasn’t gone out of The police department previous week, this very same gets to keep a portion of the council said nada regarding style is the art of property and cash it seizes the $7.5 million loan it forgave asking questions. during the course of successthe Crocker Art Museum.) ful investigations. State law Schenirer also wanted says 15 percent of this fund has to be spent on to know what had been purchased in the past drug- and gang-diversion, with a priority given and have a broader conversation about how the to proven programs. It also says such efforts council’s priorities may have shifted since it last “shall wherever possible involve educators, codified its public-safety goals 23 years ago. parents, community-based organizations and “Some things have not changed, but many local businesses, and uniformed law enforcement have since 1990,” he added. officers.” One thing that hasn’t gone out of style A version of The intent is that police agencies don’t keep is the art of asking questions. Considering this essay first circulating the funds internally, but actually put it council members’ recent padding of their appeared on SN&R’s into the community to, you know, help and stuff. discretionary accounts and the upcoming Page Burner blog at A seven-page document submitted to superstore-zoning battle, I hope this council www.newsreview.com/ will be equally as curious about its own pageburner. council suggests spending $896,865 from the police department’s restricted account on doings. Ω B E F O R E | N E W S | F E A T U R E S T O R Y | A R T S & C U L T U R E

Strong, enough In 1893, business powers in Sacramento wanted a more effective city leader, so that year, B.U. Steinman became the city’s first strong mayor. But this executive-mayor government model was short-lived, due to corruption, and the system dissolved 17 years later in 1910. And now here we are, 103 years later, trying again to resurrect the strong-mayor model. Sacramento Tomorrow is responsible for the latest campaign to tweak the city charter. The nonprofit group’s saying all the right things: reach out to stakeholders, listen, learn. It plans to ask city council to place an executive-mayor initiative on next year’s ballot. The media quickly labeled this new push “Strong Mayor 4.0,” even though organizers insist the operation is independent from Mayor Kevin Johnson’s previous three attempts at reform. (That’s difficult to accept, since there are some familiar Team Johnson faces linked to Tomorrow.) Anyway, SN&R still wonders whether Sacramentans want, or need, a stronger mayor. Last year, voters rejected charter reform, with Measure M’s trouncing. And this past spring, Mayor Johnson was able to pass the largest and most expensive urban-redevelopment project in city history, the Kings arena—and with less than 72 hours of public dialogue and feedback. Is power and executive potency really an impediment to his ability to run the city? If so, how would the city have been “more effective” with strong mayor? A bigger arena subsidy? Less council involvement? A 48-hour review process instead of 72? Sacramento Tomorrow has yet to make its strongmayor case, but we worry the argument will be the same unconvincing pitch. Ω

Free Manning Let’s be clear: No one has died as a result of the secrets U.S. Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning gave to WikiLeaks—which is more than can be said of those keeping the secrets. Manning’s been acquitted of aiding our enemies. The other charges—serious though they are—appear to be a response to U.S. embarrassment. What Manning revealed is, indeed, embarrassing: a U.S. government that lied to the public, spied on allies and enemies alike, and ran roughshod over the rules of war. But the information Manning gave to WikiLeaks belonged to us. Manning didn’t leak information about weapons systems or troop movements. He didn’t sell it to the highest bidder or give it to our enemies. Instead, he went to the press with the truth. This does not equal to treason, and the possibility of a sentence of up to 136 years for Manning is outrageous. Manning has indicated his willingness to serve 20 years. Frankly, we think he should be released on time served. Yes, what he did was illegal. But in a larger context, it wasn’t nearly as illegal as killing civilians. We’ve got a huge amount of work to do to fix what’s wrong with U.S. foreign policy. We owe Bradley Manning a debt of gratitude for providing an idea about where to start. Ω | A F T E R | 08.08.13 | SN&R

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city leaders aim to double down on k Street’s recent success with even more entertainment—and a new kings arena. But after downtown’s loss of half its population over the past 50 years, some say it’ll be a shortlived revitalization fad without new housing. Photographer Nicholas Wray, whose studio space is a half-block from K Street, was interviewed for this story— and then SN&R commissioned him to photograph the “The Kay” for this piece.

man brandishing a high-powered water hose blasts away at K Street’s grime, cleaning the block in the same way wardens bathe prisoners in the movies. It’s dawn, and a hazy, straw-colored sunrise overwhelms the street’s urban canopy. In fact, the light startles, as if someone’s whipped back the curtain on this lifeless weekday morning. There is one other person on the strip, a man smoking while seated on a black metal bench near the 12th Street light-rail stop. Just him and the guy purging the mall, readying it for another day. At this point in the typical story about downtown Sacramento’s K Street, one probably would deliver some kind of snarky punch line about how the water wash can’t mask the block’s lingering urine stench. And that’s fair—pee persists!—but lately, it also feels like a cheap shot.

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“K Street” continued from page 19 These are new times for K Street. Once the sun shines on K, it buzzes. Cars spin up and down the block. People actually eat out at the neighborhood’s restaurants, of which there are many new popular spots. And when the sun sets, there’s sexy night life, trendy pizza spots, karaoke bars. Plus Middle Eastern buffets, new painted murals and soon, possibly a new arena. The street’s even adopted a fresh, if mocked, nickname, “The Kay,” which was part of a recent marketing campaign by downtown’s business district. This new K can draw a crowd. A younger, clubgoing, mermaid-watching bro contingent, but still, a crowd. It’s a huge transformation. Sid Garcia-Heberger, who’s operated the Crest Theatre at 1013 K Street going on 27 years, says the atmosphere on the mall “is such a night-and-day change from what K Street was like even a few years ago.” This has some people worried, though. They argue that the city’s emphasis on nightlife, hospitality and a new Kings home is but a higher-stakes version of the very mistakes that rendered K Street a dead zone for more than half a century. William Burg, who’s written books about the street and Sacramento’s history, called the latest revitalization plan “exactly the same thing” the city has always done: a shopping, nightlife and entertainment scheme without the most critical element—housing, housing, housing. “And I think it will continue to fail,” he said. He could be right: Downtown’s population was 50,000 in 1950, but today is only 28,000, he reminded. Meanwhile, city and business leaders want to double down on K Street’s latest successes. They hope to take The Kay’s clay—plus a few hundred million—and sculpt a neighborhood that will thrive and survive for decades to come. A regional destination anchored by a new entertainment and sports complex at the Downtown Plaza site, and a 101 reasons to spend your hard-earned dollars downtown. If it succeeds, leaders say K Street will be the city’s ultimate treasure. Failure, however, would be less than OK: If the plan stumbles, it will cost the city hundreds of millions in bad debt and generate unwieldy deficits.

Not oK There’s a dearth of actual things to do at K and Seventh streets, yet it’s still one of the busier corners in Sacramento. On a Wednesday afternoon last week, young kids mess about and tell jokes and, later, hop on light rail. Down the block, a vendor shouts, “Free cellphone!” A downtrodden-looking man lies passed out in the entryway to one of the street’s empty buildings. A blond teenager, who looks too young to hang out downtown alone, lounges on a park bench, writing in her notebook. Forget about the loitering and drug dealing and more, and the 700 block could be a jewel. It features the largest sidewalk in Sacramento, a park with a glorious water fountain (though it’s blanketed by concrete, because the county requires public restrooms for it to operate), a psychedelic 1970s mural 20 | SN&R | 08.08.13

Author and historian William Burg’s book Sacramento’s K Street: Where Our City Was Born is a rich, comprehensive history of the block. His next book, Sacramento Renaissance, comes out this fall—and he thinks downtown needs more housing for true revitalization.

that puts Haight-Ashbury to shame, easy access to public transit, and proximity to the Capitol and a bustling flock of state workers. It boasts everything you need for commercial, residential and nightlife prosperity. Yet it’s the most wasted block in the region. That wasn’t always the case. “This is where the heart of the business district has been. And it’s only been in the last 50 years where we’ve seen it become some of the more blighted areas,” explained Ali Youssefi, whose company, CFY Development, is shovel-ready to rebuild the 700 block with a $48 million project (more on that later). He’s right: This stretch of K Street was once the city’s gateway. The first-ever U.S. president to visit Sacramento, Ulysses S. Grant in 1869, for instance, paraded down this block. More than any other street in the region, K Street’s experienced drama. Since its inception 165 years ago, the block has seen epic floods (including three-years straight from 1851 to 1853), calamitous fires and riots (one featuring the founding publisher of The Sacramento Bee), burlesque and striptease joints, American Graffiti cruisers, and some of the region’s most crushing poverty and drug use. The street’s decline truly gathered speed in the late 1950s, when suburban sprawl introduced shopping centers to the greater region. Historian Burg, who also heads up the Sacramento Old City Association, says this was part of a concerted effort to move people out of downtown and off of K Street.

“How do we get bacK to a place wHere K Street doeSn’t Have to be a blocKbuSter, but inStead [iS] about reStoring a SenSe of community?” SacrameNto city couNcilmaN Steve HaNSeN “The philosophy was that nobody should live downtown,” he argued. Whether or not this was in fact an overt city policy, it worked. “The loss of downtown jobs and eastward population shift turned K Street from the center of town to a remote end of the urban region,” Burg wrote in Sacramento’s K Street: Where Our City Was Born, published in 2012. “Half of the population has left the urban core in the past 50 years,” Youssefi explained. “It’s crippling. There’s no other way to look at it.” Back in the day, midcentury commercial stores within a close proximity to K accounted for more than 75 percent of the county’s total sales tax, according to Burg. Take a stroll down the strip today, from the 700 block to 12th Street, and such revenues are difficult to imagine. The city threw money and ideas at K Street over the past six decades in hopes of resurrecting the hot spot of yore. In 1969, Sacramento

used redevelopment dollars to transform it into a pedestrian thoroughfare—that’s how it earned the name “K Street Mall.” Cars were banned. The grand opening of the new K was a major to-do. There’s no way it would fail, city officials assured. The project flopped. “Despite the high expectations of the mall and a great deal of fanfare, reaction to the K Street Mall was not as strong as expected,” Burg wrote in Sacramento’s K Street. “A temporary surge in visitors helped sales tax figures. “But K Street could not overcome the basic problems of a downtown shopping district in the era of suburban malls.” As more and more people moved to the suburbs to live, the street’s troubles worsened. Not even a Macy’s, bizarre-looking water structures in the middle of the road between Seventh and 12th streets (they made it “look like a jungle” is how Youssefi described them), or hundreds of millions of subsidies

FAIR OAKS THEATRE FESTIVAL PRESENTS on luxury lofts, theaters and restaurants could resuscitate the block. Moe Mohanna, who owns a gaggle of property downtown and on K street and has been vocal in his opposition to redevelopment and public subsidy, insists that “these subsidies, they did not help.” Would housing have made a difference? Maybe. But there’s no denying what K Street became: a barren and oft-maligned scapegoat for all things wrong with urban Sacramento.

Brand-new K Just five years ago, K Street was still “kind of a wasteland.” Or at least that’s how local artist Nicholas Wray described it. Yet that didn’t stop him from moving his photography studio just a half-block off of the street on 10th. He says he saw promise. “It had the potential to rival the kind of community we see in Midtown,” he explained. (Disclosure: Since he works near the block, SN&R paid Wray to snap photos for this story.) He wasn’t alone in seeing K in a new light. In 2009, the Crest Theatre restored its neon, which has nightly soaked the 1000 block in rays of scarlet and yellow going on 60 years. On a July summer evening, a crowd gathered for the glowing, towering sign’s unveiling. It was a compelling moment, seeing all these locals celebrate an icon of Sacramento history. And, perhaps, it was also some kind of an omen. Because that same year, life started shining on K Street. City council approved spending nearly $6 million, from the sale of the nearby Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel, on buildings across from the Crest: Dive Bar, Pizza Rock and District 30 (once planned as a 30-plus nightclub called Frisky Rhythm). Say what you want about mermaids and pizza juggling, but for the first time in decades, the block underwent new development. Two years later, the spots opened to much fanfare and success. And even today, on a recent weekday night, there was a gaggle of more than two dozen bodies outside the bar, plus a handful of cabs.

“It’s a marked difference from what we had in the past,” the Crest’s Garcia-Heberger said. “I can recall 10 or 12 years ago, where, late at night, the Crest was the only thing open.” Fast-forward to this summer: By all accounts, the 1000 block is thriving. Nearby Grange Restaurant & Bar, in The Citizen Hotel, and Ella Dining Room & Bar are packed. Happy hours and Friday-night Concerts in the Park mean big crowds at KBar, at the K and 10th corner. This coming year, a California Family Fitness will open across from the Crest, and it’s rumored another new restaurant will overtake the movie house’s basement level soon. “And every Second Saturday, it’s just popping down here,” Garcia-Heberger added. Tom Pace, head planner with the city of Sacramento, says everyone’s optimism is tangible. “I think people are a lot more hopeful. In the past it was, ‘Well, I’d like to see this area change.’ And now, they are seeing it change,” he explained. “Every time that I go to the movies at the Crest or go out to dinner in that area, I’m just amazed at all the people who are out and about. At the L Street garage, you now have go up to the top levels; you can’t park just outside the main gate anymore.” But there’s an elephant on the block: Is this latest K Street incarnation a nightlife fad? Or can this brand-new K blossom into a real, lasting neighborhood?

Here we Build Housing? It costs $2.50 to ride the light rail for five blocks on K, but the journey offers a front-row seat to the street’s challenges. Empty storefronts. Stillvacant state-building offices. Panhandlers, drug addicts and the desperately poor. Come-and-go state workers and at-risk youth. They all breeze by in a matter of minutes. Exit the train at Seventh and K and—ready or not—you’re standing at ground zero of the city’s let-it-ride solution: entertainment and sports complex. Developer Youssefi was one of the couple dozen locals—the “mini whales”—who put up

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“K STREET” continued from page 21 $1 million to buy and help save the Sacramento Kings this past spring. And so, while his focus is now on redeveloping the 700 block, he’s of course thrilled at the prospect of a new arena and neighborhood possibly going in at the west end of the mall. “But I drank the Kool-Aid a long time ago about K Street,” he said, adding that he realizes that housing is “crucial” to its success. Youssefi walks up to a building along the 700 block and points out a vintage photo from the early 20th century resting in the window, a black-and-white portrait of hundreds at a parade: Sacramentans converging on this very block, waving flags, frenzied and festive. He believes that the new arena, plus his project and forthcoming developments on K all the way down to the Community Center Theater, will have a “catalytic impact” on downtown, that there will be a “flow” from the arena to his block (which will include 137 units of mixed-income housing, plus a music venue and restaurants) that will inspire new housing and hospitality all the way to 12th Street. “Thinking about what this downtown area will look like in 10 years is exciting,” he said.

it eight hours a day. The only way the core of the city prospers is by adding many more residents.” The sticking point is that few investors want to be pioneers. “I was told people who are investing typically want to see two other projects first,” he explained. So, in theory, if the new arena and the 700 block rises, then there could be a domino effect along K. Burg says he’ll believe it when he sees it. “The crystal ball is blurry.”

Will K be OK? Last month, a series of murals by local artists went up on the corner of Eighth and K streets across from the so-called Darth Vader Building. Money for the art project came from a fundraiser, which was put on a by a group called Turn Downtown Around and featured downtown restaurants like Blackbird Kitchen & Bar serving eats and drinks. It raised thousands, and the sharp-looking murals replaced outdated, cheesy billboards touting K Street’s former “attractions.” This new art is also symbolic: A new community of Sacramentans actually gives a damn about K Street.

“[K STREET iS foR] pEoplE who don’T wanT a cooKiE-cuTTER ExpERiEncE, who don’T wanT To go To applEbEE’S oR olivE gaRdEn.” Sid Garcia-HeberGer, manager, crest Theatre

Burg is an advocate for Youssefi’s project, which will be built in conjunction with D&S Development’s Bay Miry, who’s responsible for the R Street Corridor mixed-use project near 14th Street and the Maydestone Apartments across from the Memorial Auditorium. But Burg also knows that one block of housing won’t nearly be enough, and he worries that the city—whose arena plan doesn’t include any guarantees for more downtown housing—hasn’t learned its lesson. Historically, the densest areas of the city were populated by 90 people per acre; today, that number is around 20. And 20,000 fewer people live downtown today than in 1950. “The city just assumes people will build housing,” Burg said. “But if it was a priority, it would be included” in the arena term sheet. He also reminded that “Sacramento is still building suburbs,” such as Cordova Hills east of Rancho Cordova; why will developers stop sprawl only to embark on more challenging urban-infill projects? And, he questioned, “Do people want to live near an arena?” City planner Pace said there is “sort of a national trend of people moving back to cities,” and that, yes, City Hall wants “to have the nightlife and the entertainment there, and we want to have housing.” There’s meat to what he says. The city’s latest general plan, approved in 2009, places an emphasis on mixed-use housing in the urban core. And, this past April, his department updated code and eliminated the minimum parking requirements for housing, which might encourage more residential development on the grid and K Street, but also makes it easier for commercial projects, too. “We’ve been a city of suburbs for quite a long time,” said Councilman Steve Hansen, who represents the central-city grid. “But now cities are learning that it’s hard to sustain an urban core when you’re only activating 22 | SN&R | 08.08.13

Councilman Hansen, who’s lived and worked near K during his entire tenure in Sacramento, says solutions to sustaining a K Street for everyone lie in the bigger picture. “The intense focus on K Street alone has not been as productive as looking at the J-K-L corridor as a whole,” he said. Indeed, it’s important to remember that downtown’s future doesn’t hinge on just one street. He reiterated how the urban core lost nearly half its residents over the past 50 years; that’s not something that will be remedied overnight, but getting more people in the greater downtown area will feed the block. “How do we get back to a place where K Street doesn’t have to be a blockbuster, but instead [is] about restoring a sense of community?” he asked. Good question. So, what will happen to those who’ve lived and worked on the block during its K Street blues years as the new Kay continues to grow? The low-income hotel residents? Or senior-citizen moviegoers, who’d like to see the Crest return to screening art-house films during weekdays? And the store owners selling suits to businesspeople, or the mom-and-pop taquerias and pawn shops, who are concerned about rent increases on the heels of K’s revitalization? The Crest’s Garcia-Heberger envisions a K Street with a little something for everyone. “[K Street is for] people who don’t want a cookie-cutter experience, who don’t want to go to Applebee’s or Olive Garden,” she said. So, she’s been around for a while, what would she like to see pop up on the block? “Bowling. I love bowling.” How very K Street: strikes and gutters. Ω Which way K? The block now buzzes with nightlife, but also sometimes hums like a vacuum.

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IT’S STILL A DAMN BEER On the cOllisiOn Of beer’s inherent blue cOllarness a n d a n e w, b lO s s O m i n g h i g h - e n d b r e w e x p e r i e n c e

by Nick Miller nickam@newsreview.com photos by Mike Miller

If Chuck Stilphen, who owns music-rehearsal studios in Sacramento, recently opened another high-end beer bar in the Bay Area. It’s being heralded as “the greatest beer bar ever”; at the very least, it will change the way Californians think about brew.

Visit Mikkeller Bar at 34 Mason Street in San Francisco. Its grand opening takes place this weekend, Friday, August 9, through Sunday, August 11. Find out more at www.mikkellerbar.com.

24 | SN&R | 08.08.13

your beer predilection begins and ends with Coors Light, you can stop reading now. No judging here. It’s just that you probably won’t be interested in the finest of international or domestic small-batch beers, ones crafted with the utmost care. Or whether said beer was served at the proper temperature, and in the proper glassware. Or even if the damn label on said proper glassware faces directly at you, and not to the side, when a very knowledgeable (and surely proper) bartender presents it to you. Atop an artfully designed coaster, of course. There’s a place for this type of beer experience, opening this weekend in Northern California—but we’ll get to that in a moment. First, I want to discuss snobbery. These days, food-and-drink experiences matter to Sacramentans more than ever. That is, at least when you’re talking about bone marrow or pinot noir. But there’s a term for such attention to detail and artisanship when it comes to brew: beer snob. And what an unfair double standard. What a loaded word. Order an appetizer of microfarm cheese and house-cured bresaola, perhaps plated on a bed of hydroponic watercress with shaved Marcona almonds, at a $20 price tag, and suddenly you’re “organic,” “health conscious,” even “farm to fork.” Enjoy a $15 wine pour, and it’s your “happy hour.”

But sip Oklahoma’s Prairie Artisan Ales sour saison in a teku glass for 7 bucks? You’re a straightup beer snob. Which is understandable. Beer is America’s “man juice.” To disassociate beer from its blue-collar, working-class refreshment roots is to betray beer itself. Brew cannot be cliquish or pompous. It can just be beer. That’s what defines it. Yet attitudes toward beer are evolving, and fast. Craft-beer sales keep surging (at a clip of nearly 15 percent annually, according to the Brewers Association trade group, while overall beer sales are down 2 percent). And, not unlike connoisseurship of top-tier wines, the world’s finer beers finally are earning a place in the American diet. The “snobs” are coming. And then, this week—courtesy of a new high-end beer bar in the Bay Area opened by a Dane and a guy with Sacramento ties—the matter of beer cliquishness comes to the front burner. The spot: Mikkeller Bar in San Francisco, where dozens of fine international and Belgian ales will be poured from European machines and served in unique stemware. For the uninitiated, it’s possibly a beer-snob heaven. For those who love craft beer, it’s just doing things right. Will it change the way Californians think about beer?

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Very un-American, perhaps, the idea of sipping demi Former punk-rock guitarist Chuck Stilphen is a Bay Area brews in fussy glasses. guy, but he still visits Sacramento every Monday, he But it worked. “We had no idea we were going to be says, to check up on his businesses: House of Hits and successful,” Stilphen told SN&R last week. Sacramento Rehearsal Studios, the two largest and most They also caught a wave: The small-batch craft-beer popular band-rehearsal spaces in the City of Trees. world exploded: Micro and independent craft brewers The rest of the week, however, his focus is now on whipped up about 8 million barrels in 2009, according his new spot, Mikkeller Bar. Not to mention a few of the to the American Homebrewers Association, but today, more successful fine-beer bars in California, including in 2013, that number will nearly double, to an estimated The Trappist and The Trappist Provisions in Oakland 15 million. And overall beer sales gushed to 200 million and ØL Beercafe & Bottle Shop in Walnut Creek. These barrels in 2012. spots serve rare, small-batch American, international and European brews only, and have introduced a bevy Unlike the intimidating wine bars of S.F.’s SOMA district of fine suds to customers that would otherwise remain and high-end restaurants, such as Saison in San Francisco unbeknownst to Northern California. or The French Laundry in Yountville, even the toppest But these days, it’s Mikkeller Bar, just off Market tiers of the beer-drinking world remain informal, demoStreet in the broken-bad Tenderloin neighborhood, that’s cratic, fun. really upping the craft-brew ante. Mikkeller Bar, for instance, is in the slummiest ’hood The spot is poised to do for beer what places like San of downtown San Francisco, on the first floor of an old Francisco’s Bourbon & Branch did for new-wave cockturn-of-the-century edifice on an everyman street, where tails. Why is it so monumental? Let’s begin in Denmark. crack addicts and tweakers roam. But it also belies its In 2006, longstanding home brewer Mikkel Borg Tenderloin digs. A dapper-looking bouncer greets you at Bjergsø co-founded Mikkeller, his first official craftthe door. Inside, it’s a mix brew company. Mikkeller of European and S.F.-chic was antithetical to how aesthetic: tile-floor entrymost breweries worked. way, tan wood paneling, In fact, it wasn’t even a handcrafted bar and tables. brewery: Bjergsø operAnd, most importantly, ates as a “gypsy brewer” 42 drafts, all part of a beer and brews out of other system that surely costs people’s headquarters. more than six figures. Unconventional, sure. The bar, despite But his refined-yet-experBEER iS AmERiCA’S its refined aesthetic, is imental beers (branded welcoming. You may not “mAN juiCE.” with inimitable, funky art know any of the beers labels by Keith Shore) To disassociate beer from on the list—from De La quickly turned palates. its blue-collar, workingSenne’s Taras Boulba And heads. Now, he’s one class refreshment roots is (a light, citrusy, tart, of the premiere craft-beer Belgian-style pale ale) to to betray beer itself. artisans in the world. Mikkeller’s own It’s Alive During this time (a wild, sour brew, aged back in NorCal, Stilphen in chardonnay barrels with and his business partner mango fruit). The bartendopened The Trappist. ers’ friendliness and good It wasn’t your average humor disarm any apprebeer haunt. Trappist only hensions. They’re chill and served brew—no wine, no funny—but also enlightcocktails!—and the beer ened and passionate (one was poured out of draft moved all the way from machines imported from San Diego to San Francisco just to work at Mikkeller). Europe. The glassware wasn’t just plain-old pints, but It’s also an authentic experience. In the basement, instead, tulips and globes and goblets and chalices and there’s a small, auxiliary bar dedicated to only sour beers, snifters. Stouts were served just below room temperature, and the floor is painted seafoam blue, not unlike the Belgian blondes and the like at the proper chill. The beer original Mikkeller Bar in Denmark. was stored and transported with a scrupulous attention to At this Friday’s grand opening, there will be the temperatures and quality control, since light and heat and usual inauguration hubbub—extraordinary dinners and all sorts of ambient transgressions can ruin a brew (this brunches, out-of-town guests and S.F. hospitality-world is why so many macro, mainstream beers can really taste bigwigs, plus ridiculous crowds (seriously), and even an crappy). appearance by Bjergsø himself. Trappist’s beers also were different than the usual Yet it’s the beer—and beer’s inherent proletariatcraft and “microbrew” fare of the time. Bartenders didn’t ness—that will save this high-end brew world from the even pour popular craft offerings like Sierra Nevada or snobs. Yes, there’s a more refined craft-brew quotient Lagunitas. It was the next level. out there these days. It will get everyone, from consumStilphen said he was inspired by the care and thoughters sipping Stella Artois to restaurateurs making their fulness that went into beer presentation abroad. “It had beer lists, thinking deeper and differently about beer’s to do with just seeing what they do in Belgium, and I possibilities. guess Europe, in general. They took a lot more care,” he But brew will never be for the elite. It’s still a explained. damn beer. Ω

Two-fisted prose, ghosts and planet smashers Northern California writers, as always, are keeping the candles burning and the literature churning, and this summer is no exception. Several local literary practitioners have new books available to feed the late summer reading bill, including former Sacramento poet laureate Bob Stanley. Stanley, who served in the laureate role from 2009 until last year, has just published Miracle Shine, his first book-length publication (CW Books/WordTech Communications, $18). Miracle Shine is sure to delight even casual readers of poetry, with poems that ponder the origin of local names (“Roseville, CA”), delight in food on wheels (“The Taco Truck”), and both badmouth and venerate the banjo (“Instrument of Lies” and “The Banjo Justifications”). Stanley’s got a gentle but direct sense of humor, perhaps best illustrated by a truly Sacramento-esque poem, “Enough Beer,” that describes all the work that goes into a good beer before concluding, “Lord, it needs me.” There’s also an elegy for the late Sacramento poet and teacher Quinton Duval (“In an Ordinary Winter”), a twofisted prose poem about teaching that’s oh-so-true (“Ernest Hemingway Teaches Freshman Composition”) and a heartbreaking poem about a homeless veteran (“Intersection”). Miracle Shine demonstrates why Stanley was a good choice as Sacramento’s official poet. Another Sacramento poet exercises her prose muscles this summer. Zoe Keithley, author of 2009’s Crow Song (Roan Press, $12) has gathered three award-winning short stories into 3/Chicago (11:59 Press, 99 cents), available only as a Kindle e-book. 3/Chicago’s triptych of stories is set in the windy city, Keithley’s hometown, but the tales are certainly universal. In the gentle, funny “The Second Marriage of Albert Li Wu,” a widowed In the ever-expanding Chinese immigrant struggles category of Kindle with loneliness, one-shots, Zoe Keithley’s a “housekeeper” who’s not all she 3/Chicago is up to snuff. seems to be and the ghost of his departed wife. In “The Only Thanks I Wanted,” a would-be good Samaritan gets more than he bargained for, and in “Annie Doesn’t Mean Any Harm,” the residents of a nursing home teach a bullying aide that what goes around, comes around. In the ever-expanding category of Kindle one-shots, 3/Chicago is up to snuff. And for a satisfying poolside read, NorCal thriller/science fiction author Jeff Carlson has offed our area once again with his latest novel, Interrupt (47North, $14.95). Here, Carlson takes two separate strands of serious science—the cycles of solar storms and what we’re learning from biological anthropology about our Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal forebears—to once again destroy the world, with special attention to the Sacred City. When violent solar storms first debilitate the world’s superpowers with electromagnetic pulse bursts, sending us back to the Iron Age, then turn us into warring factions of cave people and Neanderthals (hello, Stone Age!), the only hope of restoring order lies with a handful of military and scientific experts holed up in an underground bunker at Beale Air Force Base. Once again, Carlson has trashed the planet in a fashion that’s worth staying up all night to read—and isn’t that what summer’s all about? —Kel Munger

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Best baked goods Doughbot Donuts Estelle’s Patisserie Ettore’s European Bakery and Restaurant Freeport Bakery Les Baux Bakery Mahoroba Japanese Bakery New Roma Bakery Rick’s Dessert Diner The Plum Cafe & Bakery Pushkin’s Bakery Village Bakery

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2019 O street | midtOwn sacramentO | 916.442.2682 BEFORE

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Jazz in the

COURT YARD

GEM FAIRE August 16, 17, 18 Scottish Rite Center { 6151 H St. }

FRI. 12-6 | SAT. 10-6 | SUN. 10-5 - General admission $7 weekend pass ü Huge selection from around the world! ü Buy direct from importers & wholesalers ü Jewelry repair while you shop ü Free hourly door prize drawings ü Displays & demos by Sacramento Mineral Society

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From May through September, every third Thursday evening features the hottest stars in a wide range of jazz styles. Each concert begins at 6 PM in the E. Kendell Davis Courtyard. Don’t miss the last two concerts in this series! LE JAZZ HOT t AUGUST 15 THE JURASSIC t SEPTEMBER 19

The 2013 jazz series is dedicated to the memory of long-time Crocker supporter and jazz devotee, Miles Treaster. SUPPORTING SPONSOR

MEDIA SPONSOR

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3RD THURSDAYS 6 PM $6 MEMBERS $12 NONMEMBERS

August picks by SHOKA

The chosen ones The isolation is startling. A black-and-white donkey stands, riddled with arrows, surrounded by a stark-white background. This piece by Jennifer Nelson was selected by juror Glen Helfand—art critic and professor—for Axis Gallery’s eighth national juried competition. Nelson was one of 31 artists chosen out of a pool of 192 entrants. She was also picked to be in the gallery’s juried show in 2011, although the North Dakota-based artist has yet to visit Sacramento herself. Her home state, however, known for its wide expanses, instructs the subjects (often animals or furniture) and the amount of negative space in her work: “I like to think [it] is a reaction to my observations concerning the arrangement of things in Eastern North Dakota,” she said. “It’s not crowded here, there’s a lot of space.” See her work and that of the other 30 chosen artists at Axis through Sunday, August 25.

Where: Axis Gallery, 1517 19th Street; (916) 443-9900; www.axisgallery.org. Second Saturday reception: August 10, 6 to 9 p.m. Through August 25. Hours: Saturday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; or by appointment.

“In Need of Irene” by Jennifer Nelson, ink wash on paper, 2013.

In plain sight In Sandra Hoover’s “At the Circus,” the brash and choppy brushstrokes of bold colors seem to amount to a jagged abstract painting. Until the viewer’s eye spots a nose, that is. Specifically, a canine’s black nose. And then the dog’s eyes reveal themselves, and the viewer’s gaze trails down to its paws, where another animal is hiding in plain sight. It goes on like this for a while, with more critters and figures emerging from the chaotic swaths of paint. It’s kind of like a fine-art version of a Highlights kids’ magazine hidden-picture puzzle, perhaps. Perhaps.

Where: Adamson Gallery, 1021 R Street, Suite 15; (916) 492-2207; www.theadamsongallery.com. Second Saturday reception: August 10, 6 to 9 p.m. Through September 7. Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; or by appointment.

“Far Mappa” by Michelle Weinstein, gouache and pencil on paper.

The fourth dimension Your eyes will cross and your mind will trip—but in the best way possible—when taking in the artwork of Michelle Weinstein. Fascinated by math and the fourth dimension, which she describes as the imagination of “space beyond three dimensions,” Weinstein constructs calculated geometric scenes, rife with jarring stripes and soothing gradations. She says her aim is to “create a hallucinatory new experience both as a visual work of art, and as the apprehension of a new dimension.” Hers is a controlled view in an uncontrollable world. Where: B. Sakata Garo, 923 20th Street; (916) 447-4276; www.bsakatagaro.com. Second Saturday reception: August 10, 6 to 9 p.m. Through August 31. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.

“At the circus” by Sandra Hoover, acrylic on panel. BEFORE

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Sacramento Vedanta Reading Group

18TH ST.

17TH ST.

14TH ST.

13TH ST.

Parking in back

12TH ST.

Sacramento Yoga Center @ Sierra 2 Community Center, Room 6 2791 24th Street, Sacramento

11TH ST.

Every Friday 7:00 - 8:30 pm · Free admission

The whole world is your own. — Sri Sarada Devi

For more information please see www.SacVRG.org

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Jodette

SIXTH ST.

Belly Dancing Classes by World Renowned Teacher

THIRD ST.

FREE FREE FREE*

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*6 Week course FREE twice a week with $50 purchase of clothing or sash & finger cymbals. Your choice of classes Mon - Fri any night 6 - 7pm, also Tue & Thu 7:30 to 8:30pm

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19TH ST.

16TH ST.

15TH ST.

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2131 K Street • Midtown 916.447.3793 07 07 www.jodettes.com

50 BROADWAY

ART MAP 7 BOWS & ARROWS 1815 19th St.,

MIDTOWN 1 ALEX BULT GALLERY 1114 21st St., (916) 476-5540, www.alexbultgallery.com

2 ART STUDIOS 1727 I St., behind Michaelangelo’s; (916) 444-2233

3 ARTFOX GALLERY 2213 N St., Ste. B; (916) 835-1718; www.artfox.us

4 AXIS GALLERY 1517 19th St., (916) 443-9900, www.axisgallery.org

5 B. SAKATA GARO 923 20th St., (916) 447-4276, www.bsakatagaro.com

6 BLUE LAMP 1400 Alhambra Blvd., (916) 455-3400, www.bluelamp.com

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(916) 822-5668, www.bowscollective.com

8 CAPITAL ARTWORKS 1215 21st St., Ste. B; (916) 207-3787; www.capital-artworks.com

9 CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, SACRAMENTO 1519 19th St., (916) 498-9811, www.ccasac.org

10 CUFFS 2523 J St., (916) 443-2881, www.shopcuffs.com

11 ELLIOTT FOUTS GALLERY 1831 P St., (916) 446-1786, www.efgallery.com

12 GALLERY 21TEN 2110 K St., (916) 476-5500, www.gallery2110.com

13 INTEGRATE SACRAMENTO 2220 J St., (916) 541-4294, http://integrateservices sacramento.blogspot.com

14 KENNEDY GALLERY 1931 L St., (916) 716-7050, www.kennedygallerysac.com

15 LITTLE RELICS 908 21st St., (916) 716-2319, www.littlerelics.com

16 MIDTOWN FRAMING & GALLERY 1005 22nd St., (916) 447-7558, www.midtownframing.com

17 OLD SOUL CO. 1716 L St., (916) 443-7685, www.oldsoulco.com

18 RED DOT GALLERY 2231 J St., Ste. 101; www.reddotgalleryonj.com

19 SACRAMENTO ART COMPLEX 2110 K St., Ste. 4; (916) 476-5500; www.sacramentoartcomplex.com

20 SACRAMENTO GAY & LESBIAN CENTER 1927 L St., (916) 442-0185, http://saccenter.org

21 SHIMO CENTER FOR THE ARTS 2117 28th St., (916) 706-1162, www.shimogallery.com

22 TIM COLLOM GALLERY 915 20th St., (916) 247-8048, www.timcollomgallery.com

23 UNION HALL GALLERY 2126 K St., (916) 448-2452

24 UNIVERSITY ART 2601 J St., (916) 443-5721, www.universityart.com

DON’T MISS E ST.

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The Best Selection. The Best Prices.

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25 THE URBAN HIVE 1931 H St.,

35 TEMPLE COFFEE 1010 Ninth St.,

(916) 585-4483, www.theurbanhive.com

26 VIEWPOINT PHOTOGRAPHIC ART CENTER 2015 J St., (916) 441-2341, www.viewpointgallery.org

36 VOX SACRAMENTO 1818 11th St.,

2837 36th St., (916) 457-1240, www.thebrickhousegalleryoakpark.com

IV DEL PASO WORKS BUILDING GALLERIES 1001 Del Paso Blvd.

(916) 443-5601, www.zanzibartrading.com

DOWNTOWN/OLD SAC 28 ADAMSON GALLERY 1021 R St., (916) 492-2207, www.theadamsongallery.com

29 ARTHOUSE UPSTAIRS 1021 R St., second floor; (916) 672-1098; www.arthouse-sacramento.com

30 ARTISTS’ COLLABORATIVE GALLERY 129 K St., (916) 444-7125, www.artcollab.com

31 CROCKER ART MUSEUM 216 O St., (916) 808-7000, www.crockerartmuseum.org

32 E STREET GALLERY AND STUDIOS 1115 E St., (916) 505-7264

33 LA RAZA GALERÍA POSADA

EAST SAC

And be sure to ask us about Custom Framing

V EVOLVE THE GALLERY 2907 35th St.,

(916) 572-5123, www.evolvethegallery.com

37 ARCHIVAL FRAMING 3223 Folsom Blvd.,

VI KNOWLTON GALLERY 115 S. School St.,

(916) 278-8900, www.capradio.org

VII PATRIS STUDIO AND ART GALLERY 3460 Second Ave., (916) 397-8958, http://artist-patris.com

39 FE GALLERY & IRON ART STUDIO 1100 65th St., (916) 456-4455, www.fegallery.com

40 GALLERY 14 3960 60th St.,

Ste. 14 in Lodi; (209) 368-5123; www.knowltongallery.com

(916) 923-6204, www.archivalframe.com

38 CAPITAL PUBLIC RADIO 7055 Folsom Blvd.,

VIII RECLAMARE GALLERY & CUSTOM TATTOO

University Art

2737 Riverside Blvd., (916) 760-7461, www.reclamareart.com

(916) 456-1058, www.gallery14.net

41 JAYJAY 5520 Elvas Ave.,

IX SACRAMENTO TEMPORARY CONTEMPORARY

OFF MAP

X AMERICAN VISIONS ART GALLERY

1616 Del Paso Blvd., (916) 921-1224, www.tempartgallery.com

(916) 453-2999, www.jayjayart.com

705 Sutter St. in Folsom, (916) 351-1623, www.avartgallery.com

I ARTISTIC EDGE 1880 Fulton Ave., (916)

2700 Front St., (916) 446-5133, www.larazagaleriaposada.org

482-2787; http://artisticedgeframing.com

XI GALLERY 1855 820 Pole Line Rd. in Davis, (530) 756-7807, www.daviscemetery.org

II BLUE LINE GALLERY 405 Vernon St.,

34 SMITH GALLERY 1020 11th St.,

Ste. 100 in Roseville; (916) 783-4117; http://bluelinegallery.blogspot.com

Ste. 100; (916) 446-4444; www.smithgallery.com

! D E AM

III THE BRICKHOUSE ART GALLERY

(916) 443-4960, www.templecoffee.com www.voxsac.com

27 ZANZIBAR GALLERY 1731 L St.,

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on new stands 09.12.13

BEST OF SACRAMENTO

2013

For the week of August 8 wEEklY PICkS

Keenen Ivory Wayans Thursday, augusT 8, Through sunday, augusT 11 Keenen Ivory Wayans has three names and a billion siblings. He’s also a pop-culture trailblazer who is bringing his stand-up tour to Sacramento. Now mostly making movies, Wayans created In Living Color in 1990. The COMEDY late-nighter launched the careers of Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx, but also exposed how whitewashed network television was by airing racy skits starring a hilarious, diverse crew. (Damon Wayans’ “Anton Jackson” sketches doubled as scalding social commentary.) Seeing as the entertainment landscape has barely caught up, it might be worth hearing what KIW has to say now. $22.50, 8 p.m. Thursday, 8 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday; at Punch Line Comedy Club, 2100 Arden Way; (916) 925-5500; www.punchlinesac.com.

—Raheem F. Hosseini

Red Bench Entertainment Summer One-Act Theatre Play Series Friday, augusT 9, and sunday, augusT 11 Support local independent theater this weekend with a couple of one-act comedies presented by Red Bench Entertainment. In Bad Auditions by Bad Actors, a casting director has 24 hours to cast her production of Romeo and Juliet and comes across some theater weirdos. Then see if you have the THEATER skills while watching four people try to survive the end of the world in 10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse. $10-$15, 7:30 p.m. Friday; 4:30 p.m. Sunday; The Guild Theater, 2828 35th Street; (916) 599-2651; www.redbenchentertainment.ws.

H AV E Y O U E V E R B E E N

—Jessica Rine

River City Vinyl Swap saTurday, augusT 10

It’s August,

and the California State Fair is over. Now, the comfortable Delta breeze is picking up, signaling a graceful end to summer. How to mourn the passing of the season? Well, there’s the Sunrise at Night Concert Series, happening August 10, through September 14, at the Sunrise MarketPlace Outdoor Pavilion. It’s got similar road-worn-and-aging bands that the state fair did, but the vibe is a notch or two more mellow—just slow enough for a calming transition into autumn. For example, there’s Boyz II Men instead of Kool & the Gang, Trace Adkins instead of LeAnn Rimes, and Sister Sledge rather than En Vogue. Here’s my take on the music lineup: Basically, it’s the mellowest concert series ever assembled—outside of Jack Johnson’s ukulele-filled Kokua Festival, of course: On Saturday, August 10, Dave Koz kick-starts the whole series with his Summer Horns Tour featuring Mindi Abair, Gerald Albright and Richard Elliot. Imagine a bunch of smooth, cheesy pop songs performed on saxophones and multiply it by four. Meanwhile, for kids who were in high school during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the highlight of Sunrise at Night’s music lineup is certainly Boyz II Men and Bell Biv DeVoe, who are scheduled to perform Thursday, August 15. This pair of new jack swing groups penned senior-prom classics such as “End of the Road” and “Poison,” respectively. Soft-rock fans in their early 50s and 60s will appreciate Sail Rock night on Saturday, August 24. On

Sacramento doesn’t have a huge number of record stores anymore, but it still has lots of vinyl-record enthusiasts. There’s even the newly MUSIC founded River City Record Diggers Society (RCRDS for short, natch), which hosts a vinyl swap this Saturday at Bows & Arrows. The traveling record swap, which happens every Second Saturday at a different location, offers vendors selling rock, jazz, hiphop, reggae, soul and more. DJs Ben Johnson and Zack Shaw will be spinning vinyl. Artist Melanie Bown, whose work is currently displayed on the Bows walls, will also be present. Free, 5 p.m. at Bows & Arrows, 1815 19th Street; www.facebook.com/rivercityrecorddiggerssociety.

this evening, a bevy of artists—including Christopher Cross, Orleans and Gary Wright—will provide a perfect soundtrack for adults wearing pastel polo shirts, sailor hats and red sweaters tied around their necks. Country-music fans and conservative-rolling Republicans will be delighted to sing along to hits such as “Ladies Love Country Boys” and “You’re Gonna Miss This” when Trace Adkins performs on Thursday, August 29. The same fans will probably also love Southern-born Christian-rock artist Amy Grant, performing along with local Christian singersongwriter (and worship pastor at Bayside Church) Lincoln Brewster. Bachman & Turner and Blue Öyster Cult—performing Thursday, September 7—will surely appeal to aging hippies and album-oriented rock fans. One thing’s for sure: No one will need to ask for more cowbell during BOC’s live rendition of “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” (Bring your own, of course!) Then, on September 13, Friday Night Fever will bring a bit of soul and R&B to the stage with Sister Sledge, Tavares, the Trammps and Taste of Honey. And, finally, another night of country music ends the series on Saturday, September 14, with Diamond Rio and John Michael Montgomery. (Yee-haw!) All concerts begin at 8 p.m. at the Sunrise MarketPlace Outdoor Pavilion, 5912 Sunrise Mall Road in Citrus Heights. Ticket prices vary; visit www.sunrisemarketplace.com/info/concerts for more details.

—Jonathan Mendick

Banana Festival saTurday, augusT 10, and sunday, augusT 11 The banana, ubiquitous fruit that it is, is often taken for granted, making uninspired appearances in cereal, pancakes, bread and jokesters’ pockets. But for the fourth year running, Sacramento is dedicating two days to the celebration of this produce staple, with activities like banana limbo, a banana fashion show and several banana-split ice-cream FOOD contests, plus various musical acts. Sample the banana all gussied up and weirded out as tamales, nachos and a burger. Crazy, or just bananas? $5, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 10; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 11, at William Land Park, 3800 S. Land Park Drive; http://bananafestival.sojoarts.net.

—Deena Drewis

Institute of Fun Preview saTurday, augusT 10 I’m not really sure exactly what the Institute of Fun does, and chances are, you don’t either. That’s what its open house this Saturday is for—to tell you what the organization is about. According to a recent newsletter FUN from chief fun officer Chris Minnick, the “institute” has been on hiatus for four years. But it will return this September to host more “fun, social, and educational events,” according to its website. The organization will offer classes on juggling, tap dancing and joke telling. Sounds, well, fun. Free, 4 p.m. at the MARRS building, 1050 20th Street; www.instituteoffun.com.

—Jonathan Mendick

—Jonathan Mendick BEFORE

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Be more adventurous Lotus 8 199 Blue Ravine Road, Suite 100 in Folsom; (916) 351-9278; http://lotus8folsom.com Despite a plethora of options in Sacramento, my first choice for dinners out is usually never Chinese. I used to love it, in the days of hangby Ann Martin Rolke overs and sparse funds, but until I discovered Lotus 8, those days seemed long past. It turns out there’s a whole new iteration of Chinese restaurant hiding out in Folsom. Tucked into a strip mall in a busy area, the Cantonese-style Lotus 8 occupies the former Yummy Kitchen Chinese Restaurant, which apparently wasn’t very. The replacement is a revelation. If you think of Chinese food as Rating: oily, salty or full of suspect ingredients, fear HHHH no more. Chef Eric Kuang, who trained with a master chef from Hong Kong, uses a light dinner for one: hand with oil and sauces. $10 - $15 Here, bright, al dente vegetables are plentiful—and they aren’t all green peppers. Kuang is clearly an expert at frying, as well, with whisper-light coatings and little grease. As with many Chinese places, this one has an extensive menu. In fact, there are two: One is cleverly organized with sections such as “Our Most Popular Dishes” and “If You’re Feeling Adventurous.” It’s a unique way to guide the diner, depending on their comfort level. The H other is the “Chef’s Special” tasting menu, Flawed which offers dishes less familiar to American HH diners, like salted egg with pumpkin, and haS momentS bitter melon with beef. Be sure to order at HHH least a couple selections from that menu. appealing Lotus 8 manager and co-owner Michael Chow is a restaurant veteran with more than HHHH authoRitative 40 years of experience, and he directed our ordering with deft suggestions. Seeing that we HHHHH epic were adventurous, he suggested the fried-milk appetizer. Made of sweetened milk that was battered and fried, it tasted like pillows of the lightest cheesecake. He advised that many eat it with a sweet-and-sour sauce, while others top it with powdered sugar for a dessert. The egg with pumpkin came as halfmoons that were lightly battered and fried, Still hungry? then topped with salted hard-boiled egg. With Search Sn&R’s classic sweet and salty complements, the “dining directory” to find local flavor was even better with a drizzle of hot restaurants by name chili sauce. Fried tofu with salt and pepper or by type of food. was the most exceptional. Cubes of silky tofu Sushi, mexican, indian, became barely contained bites of custardy italian—discover it all in the “dining” goodness when fried and served over shreds section at of lettuce. It’s the kind of tofu that could www.news almost make me give up meat. The house review.com. string beans were so good on a previous visit that we had them again. Crunchy beans panfried with bits of pork and chilies and lightly dressed with soy sauce were simply perfect. Wanting a less spicy dish, we tried the honey-walnut shrimp that Chow suggested. A pile of tender shrimp tossed with a mayonnaise-based sauce graced the middle of the platter and crunchy-sweet walnuts sat to the side. It was really the only dish that we ate with steamed rice, as we were hoarding BEFORE

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stomach space for more fantastic flavors. We also ordered Singapore vermicelli, stir-fried with shreds of pork and shrimp. It was tossed with curry spices common to multicultural Singapore and was a great example of the unique choices offered at Lotus 8. At this point, we would have kept ordering, but Chow suggested we stop. Since most restaurants wouldn’t encourage less food, we heeded the advice. It was much appreciated, as we still had leftovers with six diners and food that was hard to not continue eating. That’s the kind of attentive, unintimidating service that makes Lotus 8 stand out.

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Don’t miss the four-course lunches here for $8 to $12. Each includes a cup of soup, a salad (the only uninspired dish we tried), a generous entree and a dessert. The accommodating folks at Lotus 8 will make any dish a diner wants if the kitchen has the ingredients, but there are so many intriguing choices listed, it’ll likely be a long time before anyone is ready to go off-menu. Ω

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Tamagotchi, but there is nothing virtual about its deliciousness. This Argentine parsley-based topping is usually served with meat, but since you’d rather eat the plastic shell of your digital pet, it’s an exciting way to dress up baked tofu, wheat meat, tempeh, roasted vegetables (especially potatoes!), quinoa or toasted bread. There are many variations of chimichurri recipes, but it’s basically made just by putting parsley, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, oil, salt and red pepper in a food processor. Try the simple version on the website Veggie Belly (www.tinyurl.com/ chimi-sauce)—it’s guaranteed to taste better than a virtual pet.

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With Over 100 handcrafted Beers, YOu’re sure tO have fun! On saturday, august 24th, come to sierra brewfest to sample over 100 hand-crafted beers, enjoy delicious food from local food trucks and restaurants, and hear some great music! this year, the festival features blues, soul and rock ‘n roll from the Jamal walker band. brewers participating in this year’s festival include american river brewing Company, Crispin & fox barrel Ciders, Lost Coast brewery, Lagunitas, Mendocino brewing Company, tahoe Mountain brewing Company, and many more, with new brewers signing up every day! WHEN: saturday, august 24 | 3–6:30pm WHERE: Nevada County fairgrounds

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Where to eat?

Here are a few recent reviews and regional recommendations by Becky Grunewald, Ann Martin Rolke, Garrett McCord and Jonathan Mendick, updated regularly. Check out www.newsreview.com for more dining advice.

won’t find any “challenging” dishes on this menu—just delicious local and seasonal food such as the Green Curry & Pumpkin Soup, which has a Southeast Asian flair. A spinach salad features ingredients that could be considered boring elsewhere: blue-cheese dressing, bacon, onion. But here, the sharply cheesy buttermilk dressing and the woodsy pine nuts make it a salad to remember. Grange’s brunch puts other local offerings to shame. The home fries are like marvelously crispy Spanish patatas bravas. A grilled-hamand-Gruyere sandwich is just buttery enough, and an eggwhite frittata is more than a bone thrown to the cholesterolchallenged; it’s a worthy dish in its own right. American. 926 J St., (916) 492-4450. Dinner for one: $40-$60. HHHH B.G.

Midtown 24K Chocolat Cafe This cafe serves a solid, if very limited, brunch and lunch menu. One offering is a firm wedge of frittata with a strong tang of sharp cheddar that almost but doesn’t quite jibe with the slightly spicy mole sauce on the plate.The spinach curry, made creamy by coconut milk rather than dairy, comes topped with cubes of tofu and tiny diced scallion and red bell pepper and rests atop a smooth potato cake. A side of garbanzobean salad is well-flavored with the surprising combination of

mint and apricot. The place, located inside Ancient Future, has “chocolat” in the name, and chocolate is in many of the menu offerings, including a tiny cup of hot Mexican drinking chocolate, and chocolatecherry scones served crisp and hot, studded with big chunks of bittersweet chocolate and tart dried cherries. American. 2331 K St., (916) 476-3754. Meal for one: $10-$15. HHH B.G.

Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co. The restaurant, by the same owners as Midtown’s The Golden Bear, sports a firefighting theme (a ladder on the ceiling duct work, shiny silver wallpaper with a rat-and-hydrant motif, et al) and a bar setup that encourages patrons to talk to each other. An interesting wine list includes entries from Spain and Israel; there are also draft cocktails and numerous beers on tap. The brunch menu is heavy on the eggs, prepared in lots of ways. One option is the Croque Madame, a ham-and-Gruyere sandwich usually battered with egg. This one had a fried egg and béchamel, with a generous smear of mustard inside. The mountain of potato hash alongside tasted flavorful and not too greasy. Another highlight includes an excellent smoked-eggplant baba ganoush, which is smoky and garlicky and served with warm flatbread wedges and oil-cured olives. American. 1630 S St., (916) 442-4885. Dinner for one: $20-$40. HHH1⁄2 A.M.R.

LowBrau This place specializes in beer and bratwursts. Both are done smashingly. The sausage is wrapped in a tight, snappy skin like a gimp suit, which gets nicely charred by the chefs. Within it lies a beguilingly spicy and juicy piece of meat. Get it with a pretzel roll for a truly exciting experience. There are vegan options, too: The Italian, an eggplant-based brat, has a surprisingly sausagelike texture that no self-respecting carnivore will turn it down for lack of flavor. Toppings include sauerkraut, a “Bier Cheese” sauce and caramelized onions. The idea behind Duck Fat Fries is a glorious one, yet somehow still falls short. You just expect something more when you see the words “duck fat.” The beer selection is epic. If you’re lost and confused, the staff will help guide you to the right brew via questionings and encouraged tastings. German. 1050 20th St., (916) 706-2636. Dinner for one: $10-$15. HHHH G.M.

Gruyere and cheddar. It’s silky smooth, without any excess oil. A richer version includes blue cheese and prosciutto for overthe-top indulgence. American. 1801 L St., Ste. 40; (916) 441-7463. Dinner for one: $10-$15. HHHH A.M.R.

East Sac Hot City Pizza This East Sacramento eatery is probably better known for its beer than its food, but its pizza is pretty darn good. Each slice is made with a unique multigrain crust that’s soft, airy and helps soak up a belly full of beer. There are also interesting topping combinations, notably a section full of chicken-topped pizza, plenty of vegetarian options and handful of Pacific Islanderthemed pies, such as the Hawaii on Fire, which comes topped with sweet Thai chili sauce, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, green peppers, pineapple, jalapeño and mozzarella cheese. Of course, beer is the real draw here, and Hot City gets an extra star for its fine selection. With so many choices—there are several fridges full of bottled beer and a handful of rotating taps—selecting a brew can be a tremendously difficult but worthwhile undertaking. Pizza. 5642 J St., (916) 731-8888. Dinner for one: $10-$20. HHHH J.M.

The Rind This is a fromage fanatic’s delight with a menu that changes frequently. A chalkboard by the bar lists the daily suggested trios for cheese boards, but order the Diving Board to choose your own combo. Each arrives with six crisp toasts and two sides, like dried fruit and honey. The rations are small, but reasonable for two people. Buy any of the cheeses by the pound. Ask for the list at the bar. There are also many grilled-cheese sandwich choices and several versions of mac ’n’ cheese, including Not Your Mom’s Mac with Parmesan,

Istanbul Bistro Turkish chef Murat Bozkurt and brother Ekrem co-own this paean to their homeland, with Ekrem usually at the front of the house, infusing the space with

cheer. Turkish cuisine features aspects of Greek, Moroccan and Middle Eastern flavors. The appetizer combo plate offers an impressive sampling. Acili ezme is a chopped, slightly spicy mixture of tomatoes, cucumber and walnuts that’s delicious paired with accompanying flatbread wedges. For entrees, try the borani, a lamb stew with garbanzos, carrots, potatoes and currants. The meat is very tender, while the veggies arrived nicely al dente. Also good is the chicken shish plate (souvlaki), which features two skewers of marinated grilled chicken that’s moist and succulent. There are also quite a few choices for vegetarians, including flatbread topped like pizza, with spinach and feta or mozzarella and egg. Turkish. 3260 B J St., (916) 449-8810. Dinner for one: $15-$20. HHH1⁄2 A.M.R.

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 add-ons—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. HHHH B.G.

South Sac Blue Moon Cafe and Karaoke In Sac, most people equate Hong Kongstyle cuisine with dim sum, but this restaurant, which also features private karaoke rooms, serves up tasty, familiar food by way of rice plates, sandwiches, noodle bowls, soups and stirfries. A few random Japanese (ramen, fried udon), French (sweet or savory crepes), Russian (borscht), Korean (beef and kimchi hot pot) and Italian (various pastas) foods add to the feeling that whatever your cultural background, you’ll find a comfort dish from your childhood to wrap its arms around you and give you a hug. Cultural diversity aside, one of Blue Moon’s best dishes is the braised pig ear with soy sauce and peanuts. Asian. 5000 Freeport Blvd., Ste. A; (916) 706-2995. Dinner for one: $10-$20. HHH J.M.

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Skip’s Kitchen You know you’re at an American restaurant when a cheeseburger is one of the healthiest items on the menu. Sure enough, Skip’s Kitchen features a lot of calorie-rich items, such as fried macaroniand-cheese balls, ravioli, chicken strips, chicken wings and shrimp, plus creamy Oreo milkshakes. There are salads, too, but the best dish on the menu is the burger. All five styles (original, mushroom and Swiss, bacon and cheddar, three-cheese, and Western) are served on a brioche bun and cooked “medium,” unless otherwise specified. The kitchen offers a house-made veggie burger as well. If there’s such a thing as a “gourmet” burger that can rightfully sell for $10, this is probably it. American. 4717 El Camino Ave. in Carmichael, (916) 514-0830. Dinner for one: $10-$20. HHH1⁄2 J.M.

Taqueria Garibaldi One of this restaurant’s biggest pulls is its choice of meats. The chorizo is red, crispy and greasy in all the best ways. The lengua (tongue) is soft and dreamily reminiscent of only the most ethereal bits of beef. The fish is fine and flaky and the cabeza and pork are herculean in flavor options worthy of note, too. Tacos are small and served on two tiny tortillas (flour or corn, your call) with a bit of house salsa that has all the kick of a pissed off Girl Scout who’s just tall enough to nail you right under the kneecap. Or, feel free to customize, too, courtesy

of the fully loaded salsa bar. Be sure to pick up a glass of the homemade horchata, which is sweet and milky with seductive whispers of cinnamon. You will want seconds. Mexican. 1841 Howe Ave., (916) 924-0108. Dinner for one: $8-$10. HHH G.M.

The menu’s heavy on fried appetizers, salads, sandwiches and burgers, the latter of which are architectural, towering assemblages. Happily, the fluffy charred buns are sturdy enough to hold up when the tower is squeezed to a more realistic height. A meaty veggie burger gets crunch from fried pickles and sweet heat from barbecue sauce. Overall, the Hideaway offers cheap beer, adequate bar food and a comfortable place to hang with out friends. American. 2565 Franklin Blvd., (916) 455-1331. Dinner for one: $10-$15. HHH1⁄2 B.G.

Land Park/ Curtis Park Burgess Brothers’ Burgers This burger joint’s motto is “Committed to Service,” and that’s evidenced in its outstanding customer service. The food is also exceptional. There are plenty of burgers on the menu—all smoked before they’re grilled. The one-third pound Tactical Blue Burger is served with blue cheese, tomato, lettuce and fried onions. With a generous slathering of the “Patrol” sauce, it’s full of flavor but not too smoky. Don’t miss the barbecue, though. The pulled-pork sandwich is nicely smoked and shredded, piled on a garlic roll. There are also kidsized sliders and the Code 4 vegetarian burger, made with a portobello mushroom. Barbecue. 2114 Sutterville Rd., (916) 209-0277. Dinner for one: $5-$10. HHH1⁄2 A.M.R.

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star of the arroz con pato isn’t the duck or the rice, but rather a house-made salsa criolla, consisting of pickled onion and cilantro. Whatever you order, La Huaca’s attention to detail makes it the ideal place to be introduced to the complexities found in this regional cuisine. Peruvian. 9213 Sierra College Blvd., Ste. 140 in Roseville; (916) 771-2558. Dinner for one: $20-$40. HHHH1/2 J.M.

Folsom Back Wine Bar & Bistro Back has nuzzled itself into a comfortable niche with an eclectic wine selection and—albeit unfocused—menu that draws an upscale crowd. The bruschetta plate arrives with four types of toppings, two of each: goat cheese, avocado, caramelized onion and tomato. They don’t suck, but they aren’t great. A rib-eye steak with a basil-andtomato compound butter is served cooked to perfection. But the chocolate soufflé is like having a hot date and then finding out he’s a terrible kisser: greatly disappointing. In the end, a little refinery needs to happen to make the food at Back unique enough for the average Sacramento diner to find it worth the trip, but for the Folsom diner who feels Grange Restaurant & Bar is too far, then Back will do right enough. The wine selection is strong, and pairing recommendations are practical. American. 25075 Blue Ravine Rd., Ste. 150 in Folsom; (916) 986-9100. Dinner for one: $25-$50. HHH1/2 G.M.

Roseville La Huaca This Peruvian eatery

The Hideaway Bar & Grill This bar fills a niche Sacramento might not have known it lacked with its vague rockabilly vibe, lots of greased hair on the men, brightly dyed hair in retro styles and cat-eye glasses on the ladies, and an abundance of black clothes and tattoo sleeves for all. The liquor selection is basic (no craft cocktails here).

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offers an experience decidedly upscale in every way: décor, art, lighting, presentation, price and—most importantly—taste. Peru’s national dish is ceviche, seafood cured in lime, salt and chili, and it’s a must-have starter. Try the mixto version, which features fish, shrimp, octopus and calamari, or sample the spicier ceviche de aji amarillo— both are exceptionally piquant and hearty. Entree recommendations include the arroz chaufa, a dish that resulted from the Chinese immigrants’ influence on Peruvian cuisine. Here, it’s served with shrimp and crispy fried pork. The lomo saltado oozes with an incredibly smoky flavor—apparently, the result of cooking the beef in pisco, a type of brandy popular in Peru. The

A pretty pickle There’s only so much cucumber salad one can eat before it gets repetitive. Pickles, on the other hand, are more dynamic. That’s what I discovered, anyway, after my home garden produced about 10 huge cucumbers at the same time. Here’s a quick and easy pickle recipe my fiancée found online that we altered to our tastes: Cut cucumbers to your desired size and stick them into a canning jar along with some red-pepper flakes and garlic cloves (these last two ingredients were our additions). In a small pot, mix 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of water, a quarter-cup of sugar and a tablespoon of kosher salt. Stir the ingredients, and let them come to a boil. Pour the boiling liquid into the jar of cucumbers. Put the lid on, and let it sit until it reaches room temperature. Stick the jar in the fridge for 24 hours before eating. They’re good for a month. —Jonathan Mendick

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Eben Weiss, the snarky cyclist blogger and columnist more widely known as BikeSnobNYC, faces the chalBOOK lenges of fatherhood and biking abroad in his travelogue Bike Snob Abroad: Strange Customs, Incredible Fiets, and the Quest for Cycling Paradise (Chronicle Books, $16.95). His witty observations on American bicycle culture will keep readers pedaling through the pages. Hop on for treks through Brooklyn, New York; Portland, Oregon; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Copenhagen, Denmark—just don’t forget your helmet. —Cody Drabble

Born this way GaGa FeminiSm Only author and noted queer-studies theorist J. Jack Halberstam can take Lady Gaga, toss in a quote or two from SpongeBob SquarePants, mix in personal stories concerning the usefulness of men’s briefs, BOOK add a handful of romantic comedies and an examination of Finding Nemo, and have it all make sense. In Halberstam’s newest work, Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal (Beacon Press, $26.95), she explores these issues through the lens of Lady Gaga and proves that theory can be fun. —Trina L. Drotar

Motion commotion Giphy Got the Internet blahs? Pop on over to Giphy to snag your own pop-culture GIF. The site features a seemingly endless well of cute, animated graphic clips WEBSITE featuring adorable animals (hopping penguins, banana-eating bunnies, piano-playing kitties), TV faves (Doctor Who, Parks and Recreation, Arrested Development) and total randoms (dancing guy in a zebra costume, swimming tiger, angry baby) to make your online life just a little more worth living. www.giphy.com. —Rachel Leibrock

The first-ever Creative Women Mini-Con is coming to town on Saturday, August 10—which means that now you can be a part of history. The lowdown: 12 artists from the greater Sacramento area are scheduled to spend the day talking shop and showing off their wares at Empire’s ComcOMIcS ics Vault. If you love comic books and the art of illustration, this is a chance to rub elbows with some local greats. Shop owner Ben Schwartz says he’s hosting this femalecentric convention in order to spotlight women in the comic and illustration trade. “There are a lot of comic readers who are women, but on the other side, as far as creativity goes, there aren’t a whole lot of women [artists] out there,” said Schwartz. “I thought it would be nice to bring attention to some ... who are doing something to become part of the industry.” Artists scheduled to appear include Sarah Straub (whose work is pictured above), Kelsey Suan, Melissa McCommon and Minnie Saucedo. In addition to displaying artwork, each Mini-Con artist will take part in a meet-and-greet session during which they’ll answer questions and even sketch out ideas. They’ll also offer tips and advice to others trying to break into the industry. Mini-Con attendees may also purchase drawings, books and other merchandise during the event. A charity auction will also be held. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and there is no charge to attend. 1120 Fulton Avenue, Suite K; (916) 482-8779; www.empirescomics.com. —Lory Gil

Reboot your karma I bought a computer at a yard sale and discovered that the hard drive had not been wiped clean. It contains information that reveals the previous owner of the computer was threatened by her family to change her will. I got a good deal on the computer and would have to give it up if I report what I know. I’ve wanted a new computer, put that wish to the universe, and got one. by Joey ga But part of me says I need to rcia contact the authorities, even if I have to give the computer a s kj oe y @ ne wsreview.c om up. I keep weighing pros and cons. What do you think? You seem smitten with the law of Joey attraction. So what will be drawn to you if you stay silent about a enjoyed the view from “heaven” in possible crime? And is a yard-sale El Dorado Hills. computer worth keeping if doing so inspires your mind to swing between pros and cons? These questions should pull you beyond the level of thinking that focuses primarily on energy (like attracts like) and into consciousness, the state of being awake and aware of what is going on in and around you. Yes, that means it’s time to wake up and contact the elder-abuse unit of your local district attorney’s office for further guidance.

You seem smitten with the law of attraction. So what will be drawn to you if you stay silent about a possible crime? I’m 59 years old and lost my job after my employer downsized. I found another position fairly quickly. Unfortunately, that company went out of business. I have not come close to being invited for a job interview for nearly three years. I’m certain it is because of my age. I’m depressed and out of options. My unemployment runs out this month, and I’ve already spent my retirement savings. I’ve always been planted in a successful, creative career and don’t know what to do. Sell everything you own and migrate to Thailand, Ecuador, Vietnam, Belize or another country where you can live like a queen on your Social Security income. Many developing countries offer sweet packages for retirees, because your relocation benefits their economy. Here in the United States, you’re

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

BEFORE

NEWS

swimming against an economic tsunami; there’s no fun in that. But as a creative professional, you possess a skill set that allows you to thrive in another country. Those skills include an adventurous spirit, a flexible, curious nature, the ability to be open to new experiences and the capacity to follow the muse. Plus, your talent and knowledge means you can teach or ply your trade in programs catering to ex-pats who speak English. I know several people who have embraced this path and will not move back here, ever. Of course, not one of these emigrants expected anything in their new home to be like it is here in the States. Each was simply grateful for the privilege of a fresh start. You can live that fully, too. My best friend from high school stopped talking to me senior year. I don’t know why. It’s bad enough we’re going to the same university. Yesterday, I found out that I have two classes with her. Every time I think about seeing her, I feel sick to my stomach. Talk to those unresolved feelings in your belly. Ask your emotions how to stop this discomfort and move forward. It may be strange to address your feelings. But when your body speaks your mind, you must respond. Reassure yourself that whatever you may have done, or whatever has been done to you, can be forgiven. Then, forgive yourself and her. Trust that a friendship’s end is an opportunity, not a crisis. Visualize making eye contact with her in class and emerging unscathed from the interaction. Practice until you have no fear. You have as much right to be in the classroom as she does. Believe it, and behave accordingly. Ω

Meditation of the Week “You’re not here just to do what you’re told. You’re here to see gaps and to act upon them,” says Kirthiga Reddy, director of online operations for Facebook India. Here’s a challenge: Pick one area of your personal life or career, see what it’s missing, and take action today that blesses both you and your community. I double-dog dare you!

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New ShowS Added weekly for Ace of SpAdeS be Sure to check the SweetdealS webSite for Show dateS!

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sherlock’s last case� by charles marowitz�

Leaving the whole world blind

“Part spoof, part loving tribute, all fun”�

The Lieutenant of Inishmore

Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre� No. Main Street, Jackson�

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Fri. & Sat.�

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Produced by Special Arrangement with Dramatist Play Services, Inc�

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The object lesson from Martin McDonagh’s wild, violent and incredibly funny play is this: Don’t ever kill a terrorist’s cat. Or, put more broadly: An by Kel Munger eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. The Lieutenant of Inishmore, currently in production at Big Idea Theatre under the direction of Brian Harrower, is set in Ireland during the “troubles,” and features the outstanding Justin Muñoz as Padraic, the lieutenant of the title. He’s a self-appointed officer in a splinter of a splinter group from the Irish Republican Army, on a mission to bomb and torture the world until Ireland’s free. And his cat, Wee Thomas, died. Or was murdered.

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Please visit WWW.GOFOBO. COM/RSVP and enter the code: SNRAPL9 for your chance to win passes to attend a special screening on Wednesday, August 14 in Sacramento. Passes are limited and winners are chosen by random drawing on 8/11.

THIS FILM IS RATED PG-13. Passes received through this promotion do not guarantee admission - seating is first come, first served, and early arrival is strongly encouraged. Passes received through this promotion do not guarantee admission. No one will be admitted without a ticket or after the screening begins. Relativity Media, Sacramento News and Review, Allied-THA, Gofobo.com and their affiliates accept no responsibility or liability in connection with any loss or accident incurred in connection with this prize. Tickets cannot be exchanged, transferred or redeemed for cash, in whole or in part. We are not responsible if, for any reason, winner is unable to use his/her ticket in whole or in part. Void prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. NO PHONE CALLS!

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A Star Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hole in Heaven

Celebration Arts’ artistic director James Wheatley takes pride in nurturing artistic talents in the Sacramento area, both in dance and theater. In his current production of A Star Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hole in Heaven, Wheatley gives opportunities to cast members who have limited stage experience, some making their theater debuts. The result feels more like a summer student workshop rather than a polished production, but it does highlight young, talented actors who demonstrate acting potential. Playwright Judi Ann Mason’s compelling coming-of-age story explores the limited opportunities facing African-American teens in 1969 Louisiana in the rural South, and centers on Pokie Cotton (Ronnae Murray), who has to decide between going to college in the North, or staying behind to take care of ailing relatives and a budding romance. The younger cast members are anchored by more seasoned performers Wheatley and Mardres Story, who portray Pokie’s elderly aunt and uncle who push her to excel, and at the same time, rely on her to help them as their health declines. The audience really feels the dilemma facing Pokie—wanting her to escape the limitations of her upbringing, while understanding her need to take care of those who took care of her. The young cast members who portray the Southern teens are enthusiastic and realistic. Though the play would have benefited with a little bit more rehearsal time and tightening up of the pace, it still presents a memorable story that resonates with authenticity. PHoTo By JoeLLe RoBeRTSoN

LET’S NOT GO TO EXTREMES.

INVITE YOU AND A GUEST TO ATTEND A SPECIAL SCREENING OF

terrorism ultimately fails: It leaves so much trauma, that no one comes out unscathed. Unless, of course, you’ve got the nine lives of a cat. Ω

“I’ll show you a grumpy cat.”

The Lieutenant of Inishmore, 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday; $10-$16. Big Idea Theatre, 1616 Del Paso Boulevard; (916) 960-3036; www.bigidea theatre.com. Through August 31.

In either case, Padraic will go on a rampage, and his drunken father (Scott Divine) and the neighbor, who may or may not have run over the cat on a bicycle (Benjamin T. Ismail), are determined to fool him into thinking the cat still lives, even if they must use shoe polish to a dye an orange tabby. Meanwhile, a strike force of assassins (Ryan Snyder, Matthew Donaldson and Eric Stine Alley) are out to murder Padraic, and a lovelorn, young neighbor girl (Katrina Muñoz) so wants to join him in his cause, that she’s blinded most of Inishmore’s cattle with a BB gun. The Irish accents are spot-on, from leading players to supporting actors (including Jouni Kirjola, who performs upside down for his brief role as a torture victim). One can only imagine what awful items went into producing the properties, some of which consist of internal organs and puddles of blood. Yes, this show is bloody as only Big Idea can do bloody—and can it ever do bloody! It’s also chock-full of curse words and stupidity. In short, it’s just like the real world, only funnier—and definitely not for kids. It’s also a powerful statement about the futility of violence as a response to violence, a sort of fable that illustrates oh-so-clearly why

—Patti Roberts

A Star Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hole in Heaven, 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; $8-$15. Celebration Arts, 4469 D Street; (916) 455-2787; www.celebrationarts.net. Through August 18.

e v a s to t o n r o e v a s toup to 60% off these

Now Playing

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

all-star cast in Randall King, Donald Paul, Rushi Kota and James Long.

Director Charlie Fee cleverly blends this evergreen Shakespeare comedy into the modpsychedelic setting in London in the mid-1960s, replete with tunes of the time. Add starlight, a lakeside venue and a professional cast, and it makes for a lovely summer show. Bring a sweater. Tu, W, Th, F, Sa, Su 7:30pm. Through 8/25. $15-$85. Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor State Park, 2005 Highway 28 in Incline Village, Nev.; (800) 747-4697; www.lake tahoeshakespeare.com. J.H.

W 7pm; Th, F, Sa 8 pm; Su 2pm; Through 8/11. $22-$35. Capital

Stage, 2215 J St.; (916) 995-5464; www.capstage.org. K.M.

Venus in Fur

Playwright David Ives springs plenty of surprises in this masochistic comedy of dark intent in which a weary writer-director is coming off a long, fruitless day of auditions, about to head home. In comes a breathless actress, begging for a chance at the part. She says her name is the same as the character

1 FOUL

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Andrew J. Perez stars as “The Mace” in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity.

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WELL-DONE

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity

Kristoffer Diaz’s incredible story of the intersection of art, power, wrestling and politics, deserves the bells, whistles and action-packed moves it gets in this Capital Stage production. In addition to the incredible Andrew Joseph Perez (Macedonia “The Mace” Guerra)—whose performance is mind-bogglingly good—it has an

in writer-director’s script, and she seems eerily right for the role.

Th, F 8pm; Sa 5 & 9pm; Su 2pm;

T 6:30pm. Through 8/11. $25-$35. B Street Theatre, 2711 B St.; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreet theatre.org. J.H.

aug 10

BlacktoP comedy PreSentS: the ShortieS + true Story $10 tix For $5

SUBLIME–DON’T MISS

Short reviews by Jeff Hudson and Kel Munger.

PHOTO cOURTESy OF THE cORNERSTONE THEATER cOMPANy

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Marcenus Earl (left) and Donald Lee Calhoun Jr. performing Willful, written by Julie Marie Myatt and directed by Ashley Teague.

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sept 13 – oct 6

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Based on interviews with local adults and youth, the play Willful—from the Cornerstone Theater Company and the California Endowment—dramatizes a school policy from the view of the students it slams. Sacramentans Donald Lee Calhoun Jr. (American Legion High School) and Kai Michelle George (Martin Luther King Jr. Technology Academy) radiate that reality. The pair, plus writer Julie Marie Myatt, director Ashley Teague and actor Marcenus Earl nail “willful defiance,” a catchall discipline term some school personnel use. Characters played by Calhoun, George and Earl compel us to see how this does not work. Why care? Data on W.D. reveals it expands skin-color injustice in public classrooms. Black and Latino students are far more likely to face temporary and permanent removals from public schools compared to their white peers. After the play, audience discussion rocks the house. Democratic Assemblyman Roger Dickinson’s Assembly Bill 420 seeks to change W.D. policy. Willful airs on Access Sacramento at 6 a.m. on Thursday, August 8; 10 p.m. on Sunday, August 11; 2 p.m. on Monday, August 12; and 6 a.m. on Tuesday, August 13; http://cornerstonetheater.org/plays/talk-it-out.

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Crash and burn Planes John Lasseter was the driving force behind Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Cars and the rise of Pixar Animation Studios. He’s currently the by Jim Lane creative head of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios; he also sports the title of principal creative consultant for Walt Disney Imagineering, which designs and builds attractions for the Disney theme parks in Anaheim, Calif.; Orlando, Fla.; Paris; Hong Kong; and Tokyo. The gossip is that in recent years, Lasseter has been so preoccupied with developing Cars Land for Disney California Adventure, that he’s been shortchanging the moviemaking end of the business. Planes offers discouraging support for this rumor. Lasseter used to make clever, original and innovative movies; now he makes promos for coming theme-park rides.

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42 | SN&R | 08.08.13

5 excellent

A couple of weeks back, reviewing Turbo, I reproached DreamWorks Animation for its obsession with outdoing Pixar; thus, it’s embarrassing to report that Planes is Turbo in almost every detail, right down to the hero’s loveable Mexican sidekick. The only difference is that in Turbo, the sidekick was human, while in Planes, he’s another airplane. Both Turbo and Planes have heroes with impossible dreams: Turbo the snail wanted to compete in the Indianapolis 500; here, a lowly crop duster, aptly named Dusty Crophopper (voice by Dane Cook) longs to enter a round-the-world air race. Playing hare to Dusty’s tortoise is Ripslinger (Roger Craig Smith), an arrogant multiyear champion determined not only to beat Dusty, but to grind his propeller into the dust somewhere along the way. You needn’t have seen Turbo to get a sense of déjà vu from Planes—almost any followyour-dream movie will do. Planes cleaves to the formula with excruciating precision: the setup of Dusty’s dream, the help he gets from a veteran fighter-plane mentor (Stacy Keach), Dusty’s embarking on his journey and the amusingly eccentric character planes he meets, the subplot of the Mexican plane sidekick

(Carlos Alazraqui) and his French-Canadian inamorata (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the mounting obstacles as the bad guys circle for the kill, the all-is-lost crisis, Dusty’s “dark night of the soul,” his climactic renewed effort, and the inevitable triumphant finale. Every tick of the plot comes along as steady and predictable as the action of a Swiss clock (but without the cuckoo). Lacking suspense or surprises, the movie offers nothing to occupy us but trying to identify its celebrity voices. (I decided Dusty’s voice belonged to Ryan Reynolds, until the credits told me it was Dane Cook’s. Oh yeah, Reynolds did the hero’s voice in Turbo.) Giving credit where it’s due, the animation in Planes is never less than stunning. The opening shot, as Dusty daydreams himself into a race with two military muscle planes, looks so real that it isn’t until the planes start to talk (with mouths in their nose cones like the bygone jets of Pacific Southwest Airlines) that we realize we’re watching animation. We’ve come to expect nothing less from Pixar. Planes, however, isn’t actually from Pixar, but from DisneyToon Studios, a subsidiary that usually produces direct-to-video cartoon features—various adventures of Tinker Bell and Winnie-the-Pooh, sequels to earlier Disney features (Bambi, The Lion King, Cinderella, Brother Bear), etc. Planes was originally going straight to video as well, but it’s now in theaters, no doubt to provide a higher profile for the ride that’s sure to come. It’s probably already off the drawing board and under construction—a flight simulator like Star Tours, the Star Wars ride, beginning with a leisurely crop-dusting jaunt, then accelerating into a replay of Dusty’s race from New York to Europe, India and China, across the Pacific Ocean to Mexico, and finally back home.

Lacking suspense or surprises, Planes offers nothing to occupy us but trying to identify its celebrity voices. No doubt it’ll end up in Disney’s California Adventure, in the aviation-themed Condor Flats area, where there’s currently only the hang-glider ride, Soarin’ Over California, which is beginning to show its age. Planes keeps us tapping our feet impatiently for more than an hour-and-a-half—we know where this is going, so quit fooling around and get there already!—but the ride (Dusty’s Globe-trot?) will have us in and out and on our way much more quickly. That’ll certainly be a switch: a feature-length preview trailer for a five-minute main attraction. Ω

REEL

by daniel barnes, JOnaTHan KieFer & JiM lane

2 Guns

While Tom Cruise and Will Smith save the universe every other summer, Denzel Washington has carved out a middle-class niche for himself making relatively low-key genre films. His latest movie, 2 Guns, doesn’t ask him or co-star Mark Wahlberg to bring anything more than charm to the table, and that’s the problem. As undercover agents set up by their superiors and hunted by the CIA, Washington and Wahlberg can perform this Butch-and-Sundance Kid shtick in their sleep, and practically do. Their apathy apparently caught on, as the slack screenplay stumbles over loose ends, and director Baltasar Kormákur fails to find a consistent tone. Kormákur lets his stars preen like they’re in Ocean’s Fourteen one minute, casually endorses torture the next, and finally offers a lone female character so thoroughly exploited, it would make Peter Berg blush. D.B.

REVIEWS. EVERY THURSDAY. YOU’RE WELCOME, FILM GEEKS.

Half-blood? That’s kind of like a muggle, right?

The Conjuring

This film is purportedly pulled from the files of Ed and Lorraine Warren, real-life “demonologists” best known for their involvement with the events that inspired the 1977 book (and subsequent 1979 and 2005 films) The Amityville Horror. That case, in which a family’s new house was possessed by demons and subsequently exorcised, has since been exposed as a hoax and the Warrens as charlatans. The Conjuring however, paints them as credible and concerned experts, and thus the film plays like an unofficial Amityville prequel, only with amplified shrieks and the now necessary Paranormal Activity-era verisimilitude. Director James Wan (Saw) delivers effective scares, showing more interest in sinewy camera moves and building a slow creep than in mindless gore, but the performances are a mixed bag, and the script repeatedly seeks refuge in the familiar. D.B.

Fruitvale Station

It still stands for “Retired, Extremely Dangerous,” just as in the 2010 movie and the comic books it was based on (by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner). This time, courtesy of writers Jon and Erich Hoeber and director Dean Parisot, the emphasis is on “comic” as well as “dangerous,” as retired CIA agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), his sweetheart Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) and colleague Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) swing into action to find a lost nuclear bomb—and dodge the assassins set on their trail. Helen Mirren and Brian Cox return from the original; new this time are

NEWS

The To Do List

Fresh out of high school, an uptight brainiac (Aubrey Plaza) makes a list of the sexual exploits she intends to get out of the way before college. Writer-director Maggie Carey indulges the dubious ambition of making a sex comedy for girls just as crude and dimwitted as the boy-themed comedies that have blighted screens for decades. But her timing’s bad—by having her heroine spend the summer working at a public pool, she invites comparison to The Way Way Back, which has all the humor, truth and insight her own raunch fest lacks. As for Plaza, she can’t make her character even slightly likeable, but it’s doubtful if anybody could pull it off; this girl is a dreary little drip at best, a nasty schemer at worst (which is most of the time). A parade of 20-something “teenagers” lends feeble support. J.L.

Red 2

The Smurfs 2

Smurfette (voice by Katy Perry) is kidnapped by the wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria), who wants to use her to extract the Smurf essence, so he can rule the world; Papa Smurf (Jonathan Winters) and pals form a rescue party, enlisting their human friends Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris), Grace (Jayma Mays) and Patrick’s stepfather Victor (Brendan Gleeson). This year’s entry in the Unnecessary Sequel Sweepstakes is perfectly acceptable for kids, though their parents will probably find their minds wandering. The pursuit takes everybody to Paris, where there are several CGI exploits in and around the usual tourist spots: Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, etc.—even the Paris Opera, with some amusing references to The Phantom of the Opera for the benefit of any adults who haven’t checked out completely. J.L.

Pacific Rim

BEFORE

“WILL ROCK YOUR WORLD.” - David Edelstein, NEW YORK MAGAZINE

STARTS FRI., 8/9

WED-TUES: 11:15AM, 1:15, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15PM FRI-TUES: 11:00AM, 1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8:00, 10:15PM NO SUN 1:15, 3:15PM • NO TUES 5:15, 7:15, 9:15PM “ENDEARINGLY SWEET.” - Peter Debruge, VARIETY

THE WAY WAY BACK WED/THUR: 11:00AM, 1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50PM FRI-TUES: 10:30AM, 12:45, 3:00, 5:15, 7:30, 9:45PM

“FLAMBOYANT FUN.”

“BOTH ACCESSIBLE AND THRILLING.”

ENDS THU., 8/8 WED/THUR: 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00PM

ENDS THU., 8/8 WED/THUR: 11:00AM

I’M SO EXCITED FILL theVOID - Betsy Sharkey, LOS ANGELES TIMES

- A.O. Scott, NEW YORK TIMES

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

Korean star Byung-hun Lee as one of those killers, Neal McDonough as another, Anthony Hopkins as a daffy scientist and Catherine Zeta-Jones as a KGB agent. The action is solid, the pace headlong, the dialogue saucily tongue-in-cheek. J.L.

Monsters from another dimension invade Earth through the ocean floor, and humanity invents an army of huge robots to fight them. Director Guillermo del Toro and his co-writer Travis Beacham indulge their inner child, the one who always wanted to dress up in a Godzilla costume and kick the bejesus out of an elaborate scale-model city. In the process, they give other kids of all ages a movie for their guiltypleasures list (the older, the more the guilt, but the pleasure’s still there). It’s like the fights in King Kong vs. Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Megalon, but with a CGI grandeur those 1960s Japanese filmmakers could only dream of. (Or, for that matter, Michael Bay, whose Transformers movies were never this much fun.) Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi and Idris Elba acquit themselves well amid the mayhem. J.L.

Blue Jasmine FRUITVALE STATION “A MEATY, FULLY REALIZED DRAMA.” - Justin Chang, VARIETY

The son of the Greek god Poseidon and a mortal mother (Logan Lerman) and his best friends (Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson) set off in quest of the legendary Golden Fleece in order to save their haven, Camp Half-Blood. The second movie from Rick Riordan’s Harry Potter-clone novels is a considerable improvement on the first (Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief, which was pretty good to begin with). A new writer (Mark Guggenheim) and director (Thor Freudenthal) stick closer to the book than the first movie did, while still streamlining and simplifying the plot. The result is an exciting kids’ adventure movie and a nifty eye-candy-coated introduction to classical mythology. Anthony Head replaces Pierce Brosnan as the centaur Chiron, and there are cameos from Stanley Tucci as Dionysus and Nathan Fillion as Hermes. J.L.

Writer-director Ryan Coogler’s first feature is an auspicious debut, portraying the last day of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), the Hayward man who was shot dead in an altercation with police officers for Bay Area Rapid Transit in Oakland on New Year’s Day 2009. The shooting sparked protests, both peaceful and violent. Coogler’s movie is a protest, too, but more in sadness than anger. It’s that rarest of movies (these days, anyhow): one that’s “based on a true story” and actually has the ring of truth (some names are changed for either dramatic or legal reasons). Jordan’s performance is muted but earnest and strong, and there’s fine work from the supporting ensemble, especially Melonie Diaz as Grant’s girlfriend Sophina, Octavia Spencer as his mother, and little Ariana Neal as his 4-yearold daughter. J.L.

•

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

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

The Way Way Back

Writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, the Oscar-winning adapters of The Descendants, here co-direct their earlier script, another melancholic beach-house comedy of sympathetic middle-class white folks whose failed marriages are hard on their adolescent kids. Producers and actors from Little Miss Sunshine complete the cutely movie-ish family-dysfunction formula. An awkward, inward 14-year-old (Liam James), drifting apart from his divorced

F E AT U R E

STORY

mom (Toni Collette) and her douchey new beau (Steve Carell), endures a strained summer vacation with help from a friendly water-park manager (Sam Rockwell), who helps the kid come of age. Consequently, he does all right with the perfectly available pretty blond girl (AnnaSophia Robb) next door. The supporting cast includes Allison Janney, Amanda Peet, Rob Corddry and Maya Rudolph, all generously doing their duty to nudge both the awkward and the feel-good moments forward. But Rockwell is the highlight here, exuding great warmth, wit and just enough irony to make even the bromides seem savory. J.K.

RECYCLE

THIS PAPER.

We’re the Millers

A small-time pot dealer (Jason Sudeikis), having been strong-armed into smuggling tons of weed in from Mexico, hires a stripper (Jennifer Aniston), a teen runaway (Emma Roberts) and the dweeb next door (Will Poulter) to masquerade as a straight-arrow family and avoid suspicion at the border. The writers’ credit (Sean Anders, Steve Faber, Bob Fisher, John Morris) is studded with numerous “ands” and “&s,” indicating rewrites without collaboration, and the unevenness shows in story sags and digressions. On the plus side, the whole thing plays to Sudeikis and Aniston’s comic strengths, and they have good chemistry. The humor is often raunchy (watch out for that spider-bite scene!), but most of the gags hit the target, and some hit the bull’seye. Rawson Marshall Thurber directs with a game (if at times unsteady) hand. J.L.

YOU’RE WELCOME, EARTH. Sally Andrew Michael Peter Alec Cate Louis Bobby Baldwin Blanchett C.K. Cannavale Dice Clay Hawkins Sarsgaard Stuhlbarg

Grade A

(Highest Rating)

“Powerful and Enthralling.”

The Wolverine

-Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

In 1945 Nagasaki, a Japanese soldier is ominously warned by Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine that “you can’t outrun what’s coming.” Within seconds, the same Japanese soldier literally outruns a nuclear blast that in real life killed tens of thousands. If that doesn’t offend your intelligence enough, there’s also some Wolverine crucifixion imagery here, as well as the most inexplicable samurai robot imaginable. It’s clear that at one point, The Wolverine had ambitions to be a character-driven superhero film, but all coherence and motivation were apparently bled out in preproduction. The result is a dull origin story (again!) that forces Wolverine to refrain from acting like Wolverine 90 percent of the time. Jackman shuffles along with zombie obligation, as though he can’t believe how much money he’s been paid to go through these motions. D.B.

Written and Directed by Woody Allen

The New York Times

CRITICS PICK

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WILLIE NELSON & FAMILY

wITh SpECIAl gUEST

Catching fire Matisyahu sparks the world of pop-meetship-hop with songs of faith and inspiration

The Wild Feathers

wednesday, august 21 sacramento community center theater

BUDDY GUY

For Matthew Miller—best known in music circles as Matisyahu, an Orthodox Jew who combines reggae, hip-hop, rock and beat-boxing by Brian Palmer with thought-provoking and uplifting content—the creation and evolution of his most recent album, 2012’s Spark Seeker, was not so much an accident as it was simply unintentional.

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The great working relationship Matisyahu had with Kool Kojak (the pair worked together on Matisyahu’s 2011 holiday single “Miracle”) made the Spark Seeker sessions even more enjoyable, he says. This, in turn, allowed the recording process to go more smoothly. “It’s like playing street ball with some good friends that you’ve grown up playing with your whole life, because you start working together based more on intuition,” he says. “When you have a musical connection with somebody—a similar vision for music—and you get along well and have fun together, it’s like any match or partnership. Each of us has different things that we bring to the table that the other one’s not able to do.” But despite a carefree feeling that permeates certain aspects of this record, it is not without its more serious moments as well—not surprising, considering Matisyahu’s penchant for mixing music with his faith. The lyrics of the pop-meetship-hop single “Live Like a Warrior,” for example, focus on standing up for oneself, but could also easily be about someone committing to a set of beliefs, while “Crossroads” features telling lyrics, such as, “They say I inspire, but I’m still looking for my fire.”

Check out Matisyahu on Sunday, August 11, at Ace of Spades, 1417 R Street. Tickets are $25. Visit www.matisyahu world.com for more information.

“The Spark Seeker record was just something I was doing as an experiment, working and writing with some different producers for fun,” Matisyahu says. “But I had another record that I was going to make, and that was a much more planned-out thing.” As time went by, however, Matisyahu says he realized that it was the free-flowing, experimental record he should actually focus on. “It was more about having fun in the studio and being in more of a relaxed environment, without the pressure of making the record I was supposed to make,” he says. “It was almost more recreational. That’s how it started, and so, whenever I was in Los Angeles, I would get together with [producer] Kool Kojak, and we would work on a couple of songs. No pressure, just having a good time,” he says. “Before I knew it, we had almost half the record, so, at that point, I made a decision to switch gears.” Spark Seeker is something of a departure from Matisyahu’s previous releases, in terms of its more pronounced pop sensibilities. The reggae-pop track “I Believe in Love” possesses an unmistakable sense of joy, and the catchy world-music-tinged closer “Shine on You” practically begs listeners to get up and dance. The track “Sunshine,” however, probably best exemplifies the album’s flavor, with sunny guitars, energetic hip-hop beats and upbeat lyrics combining to create an undeniable summer jam.

“ [Spark Seeker] was more about having fun in the studio and being in more of a relaxed environment, without the pressure of making the record I was supposed to make.” Matisyahu This theme of looking for something of value is further augmented by the aptly titled track “Searchin,” and the name of the album also hints at a quest for meaning and purpose. “Initially, it was the name of a song I had written about this mystical idea of sparks that created the world and trying to find the sparks that are embedded into the physical reality of the world, the spiritual within the physical,” Matisyahu says. “It’s that idea of a spark seeker, whether it’s an artist, a musician, a religious person, or a person who loves God or is searching for God,” he continues. “[It’s someone who is] searching for some meaning, looking for a way to make things three-dimensional.” Ω

If the show Fitz: Standing atop a vinyl bench seat at Ace of Spades last Tuesday, watching Fitz and the Tantrums espouse its brand of what is generally being referred to nowadays as “neo soul,” my thoughts were occupied by two things: First, concern over whether it was a good idea to be standing on top of a springy, raised platform with a full beer, in the presence of music that cannot very well not be danced to; second, thoughts on the difference between a nod and a rip-off when it comes to a “retro” sound. To wit: If Daryl Hall of Daryl Hall & John Oates (you know, that band all the kids are listening to these days) had possessed cheekier dance moves in his heyday and scaled up on the Motown sound just a hair, Fitz and the Tantrums might never have had reason to exist. Fitz et al. nod vigorously to bygone eras, borrowing with both hands from ’60s R&B, right on through to ’80s dance rock, and whether it’s novelty, nostalgia, enjoyment of a new strain, or some combination of all three, Sacramento, on this particular weeknight, was buying all of it: The 1,000-plus sold-out crowd hung on every synth-drenched note that the very-Los Angeles band flung at them, waving their arms in synch with lead singers Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs, and gleefully obliging when the duo attempted to teach them a little step-touch choreography. Halfway through the set, the band marched right into a cover of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” propelling the crowd into a collective tizzy. It’s not difficult to enjoy Fitz and the Tantrums, nor to understand why they’re a hit, once you see them live. They’re riding high on the coattails of the soul resurgence of late, and they take it way over the top, but the music is so thoroughly unironic—so not tongue-in-cheek the way, say, “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk is a little ersatz with its nod to the ’70s—that what seems to hold a lot of potential for cheesy unhipness on paper just comes across as a lot of fun. Plus, you really can’t beat (or imitate, even,) Scaggs’ dance moves or her prowess with the tambourine. Heading out on tour this fall with Bruno Mars isn’t going to do much for the band’s street cred, but you get the impression that Fitz and his tantrums really couldn’t give a damn.

ON NEW STANDS 09.12.13

—Julianna Boggs

BEST OF SACRAMENTO 2013

We’ve seen the future, the future is mixtapes?: If hip-hop is performance, and performance is art, and art is imitation, and imitation is flattery, if there’s no such thing as originality, and the most we can do is improve on what we steal, then hip-hop, in the end, is a fickle mistress. This is the era of mixtapes where sites such as DatPiff (www.datpiff.com) host thousands of mixes created by aspiring kids in their bedrooms. Then, promoters come along and book shows based on download numbers, and soon the guy from Chicago who recorded his own lyrics over a few of his favorite songs is out on a national tour. The show for Chance the Rapper this past Saturday at Assembly was sold out—a pretty amazing feat for a 20-year-old with nothing more than two mixtapes to his musical résumé, neither one especially hard-hitting nor innovative. Taking the stage, Chance didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands or where to look in the crowd, but with his limited experience as a performer, how could he? The deejay hit play on the mixtape, and Chance stood up there and rapped along. That’s what got him the gig, and in the end, it’s all he had. The set was over in 30 minutes—in fact, it was shorter than the actual mixtape, which at least ran 53 minutes. I’m not going to bombast him for killing hip-hop; it’s not his fault. He’s a victim of a gimme-gimme music culture that’s based on business, not music, and it burns through enterprising adolescence just as quickly as it can find it. Remember Kreayshawn? I’d make the list longer, but I can’t remember any further back than that. In any case, the rate of fad bands rising and falling with the blogs and festivals cycle is starting to look like a growing, war-time death toll. What does it mean for hip-hop? I don’t know. The bigger question is what will Chance do when the tour is over and another one-hit prodigy takes his place? Maybe he’ll step back into the audience from whence he came, grateful for the ride, and maybe you’ll be up there next. Just know that you’re not going to ride it out past spring.

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Sacramento News 07-18_08-08-13.indd 1

08.08.13

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6/20/13 11:16 AM

09FRI

10SAT

Cat & the Fiddle Music Festival

Jesca Hoop

Youth Lagoon

Train

Fairytale Town, 6 p.m., $15-$30 This music festival features three nights (Friday, August 9; Saturday, August 10; and Sunday, August 11) of concerts, all starting at 6 p.m. Headliners include FESTIVAL Mumbo Gumbo on Friday, the Keri Carr Band on Saturday, and Joy and Madness on Sunday. Friday evening’s show also features performances by rockers Walking Spanish (pictured) and folk singersongwriter Parie Wood. Plus, there’ll be children’s concerts from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. These daytime performances include the Raytones, Musical Charis, and a joint performance by the recently merged Sacramento Opera and Sacramento Philharmonic. Pay $15 per night for the evening shows or cop an all-festival pass for $30. 3901 Land Park Drive, www.fairytaletown.org.

The Center for the Arts, 8 p.m., $10-$18 Like a lot of theatrical songwriters before her (Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Regina Spektor), Jesca Hoop is fluid in terms of genre. There are elements of folk, jazz, blues and chamber pop in her music, and the mishmash of sounds makes sense. Not only did she grow up singing in a Mormon choir, but she also later became the nanny for Tom Waits’ children. And she moved from Santa Rosa to England, which seemed to further influence her work in that she actually sounds somewhat like an English songwriter approximating American blues and roots music—which isn’t a bad thing. Some of FOLK/POP the best music of the last 50 years followed this formula. 314 W. Main Street in Grass Valley, www.jescahoop.com.

—Aaron Carnes

—Jonathan Mendick

WE CAN HELP SOCIAL SECURITY APPEALS FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN

APP

it’s sandal weather ta

ROV

Law Office of Steven H. Berniker, APC 2424 Arden Way #360, Sacramento, CA 95825 (Behind the Social Security Office on Arden Way) www.SACFAMILYLAWFIRM.com

46 | SN&R | 08.08.13

Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7 p.m., $25-$307 Train has left one of the more indelible marks on the alternative pop-rock POP ROCK landscape over the last 15 years. “Meet Virginia” is still a radio staple across various formats, “Drops of Jupiter” has a swelling rock rhythm and catchy chorus (despite puzzling lyrics about fried chicken and best friends sticking up for you, among other things). After a brief hiatus (from 2006 to 2009), the band regrouped to release two follow-ups: 2009’s Save Me, San Francisco, featuring radio staple “Hey, Soul Sister” and wedding staple “Marry Me,” and 2012’s California 37. 2677 Forty Mile Road in Wheatland, www.trainline.com.

Ge pair at...

FREE CONSULTATION & NO FEE UNLESS YOU WIN

FREE CONSULATION AND WALK-INS WELCOME

Youth Lagoon, née Trevor Powers, will be playing Outside Lands in San Francisco the day after this show to a massive crowd of blissed-out electronica kids (read: advantage, Sacramento). The San Diego-born and Idahoraised musician’s second album, Wondrous Bughouse, is even more avant-garde and psychedelically ELECTRONIC POP soundscapey than 2011’s The Year of Hibernation, but it eventually yields to a similar, dream-pop aesthetic. The eccentric Powers claims that he’s “not a gifted speaker. … But music always makes sense,” and indeed, it’s a statement to behold. The venue is almost certainly too small for the act, so get your tickets, like, yesterday. 2708 J Street, www.fatpossum.com/artists/ youth-lagoon.

—Brian Palmer

—Deena Drewis

DENIED SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS?

(916)480-9200

Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub, 9:30 p.m., $15

Swanberg's 2316 J Street • Sac • 916-447-MAUI

ds Weekensom in fol 15 ep Aug 8 - s 15 $12 - $ For tickets or reservations:

916.207.4420 | info@freefallstage.com

11SUN

14WED

15THURS

Stairway to Stardom

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band

Delta City Ramblers

Soul-o-Rama

Mondavi Center, 7 p.m., $35-$65

Crest Theatre, noon, $10 The culmination of an eight-week music camp in which young musicians were placed in bands and committed themselves to weekly rehearsals and to writing three songs—all while being coached by music professionals and educators—is a 14-band battle for first, second and third place. Only one band will record and release its first three-track album. This all-ages event features musicians between 11 and 17 years old, performing a three-song set of original rock and pop in a five-hour fight, courtesy of Skip’s Music ROCK/POP Stairway to Stardom program, now in its 33rd year. Bands will be judged on overall performance, songwriting, talent and presentation by professionals in the music industry. 1013 K Street, www.skipsmusic.com.

It’d be easier to pin down water than Lyle Lovett. He’s a musical Zelig, capable of sounding native almost anywhere. Lovett’s probably most comfortable with windblown Texas country-blues inspired equally by Guy Clark COUNTRY/BLUES and Townes Van Zandt. While he’s explored jazzy swing, gospel soul, jump blues, rock and folk over the years, his 2009 album—the cover-laden Natural Forces— returned to tightly drawn country balladry and keenly crafted narrative. Whatever the style, Lovett’s alternately dour, sardonic and empathetic—yet always straightforward and honest—lyricism beats at its core. Last year brought the surprisingly good odds and sods collection, Release Me. 9399 Old Davis Road, www.lylelovett.com.

Torch Club, 9 p.m., $5 Heartwarming, toe-tappin’ Americana music is what Delta City Ramblers does best. Not to mention renditions of classic tunes such as Patsy Cline’s “She’s Got You” and Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” At a show last January, the Ramblers hyped up patrons at Shine so much that one man grabbed a set of spoons and started jammin’ along. The topper of that memorable evening ended with a cover AMERICANA of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel,” which sent the whole coffee shop into song. If there’s one thing the Ramblers know how to do, it’s involve the audience—whether inspiring dancin’, singin’ or even grabbin’ utensils as instruments. 904 15th Street, www.facebook.com/deltacityramblers.

—Chris Parker

—Trina L. Drotar

Shine, 8 p.m., $7 Hans Eberbach (pictured) fronts Hans! and the Hot Mess and funk-rock project Joy and Madness. CC Siulapwa fronts Yuba City alternative-rock band Featherweight, and singer-songwriters Sandra Dolores, Kate Livoni and Tyler Rich are all SOUL talented solo artists with plenty of shows under their collective belts. What do these five all have in common? They’re soulful singers with heartfelt deliveries, and they’re all playing a show together this Thursday night at Shine. The show is called Soul-o-Rama, and the all-ages performance will surely entertain, but hopefully it also moves you—in a good way—the way a lot of soul music does. 1400 E Street, www.shinesacramento.com.

—Jonathan Mendick

—Steph Rodriguez

monday

trivia @ 6:30pm (free) tuesday

taco tues $1 tacos, $2 coronas, 2–8pm wednesday

open mic

sign-ups at 7:30pm thursday

KaraoKe @ 7:30pm friday, august 9 th

down the hatch happy hour mon-fri 3pm-7pm

open for lunch & dinner 7 days a weeK doors open at 11:30

upcoming shows

sat aug 17 street urchinz fri aug 23 island of black and white sat aug 24 willow creek fri aug 30 simple creation fri sep 06 tj mcnulty

Cult Status Deliciousness and Quality in a Refreshing Summer-Style IPA.

no cover charge

facebook.com/bar101roseville 101 main street, roseville • 916-774-0505

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NIGHTBEAT

THURSDAY 8/8

FRIDAY 8/9

ASSEMBLY

1000 K St., (916) 832-4751

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.

BADLANDS

2003 K St., (916) 448-8790

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

Fabulous and Gay Fridays, 9pm, call for cover

BAR 101

Karaoke, 7:30pm, no cover

DOWN THE HATCH, 9:30pm, no cover

101 Main St., Roseville; (916) 774-0505

BLUE LAMP

THE BOARDWALK

HUJ, SPENCER BORUP, TANGO,

BOWS & ARROWS

AFTERNOON TEACUP COLLECTION, SUMMER CANNIBALS, SOFT SCIENCE, CLASSICAL REVOLUTION; 8pm, no cover ATLAS & ARROWS; 8pm, $5

9426 Greenback Ln., Orangevale; (916) 988-9247 THE WESTWARDS; 7pm, call for cover 1815 19 St., (916) 822-5668

THE HOLDUP, THEY WENT GHOST, IANC, NO WHERE BUT UP; 8pm, $15-$18

CENTER FOR THE ARTS

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

THE COZMIC CAFÉ

Open-mic, 7:30pm, no cover

DISTRICT 30

DJ Eddie Halliwell, 9pm, call for cover

1016 K St., (916) 737-5770

FACES

2000 K St., (916) 448-7798

Hey local bands!

FOX & GOOSE

CALI COLAB, CHOSEN ONE, PAP Z, MIC MEEZY, YAKRAMENTO; 8pm, call for cover

PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND, 8pm, $45-$50

IAN COOKE, BREATHE OWL BREATHE, AARON ROSS; 8pm, $10-$15

DANA CHILDS, 8pm, $7

MARIEE SIOUX, PREGNANT, RUBY FRAY; 8pm, $7

Community Music Jam, 6:30pm M, no cover

DJ Elements and DJ A-1, 9pm W, call for cover

DJ Oasis and Inkdup, 9pm, call for cover

DJ Billy Lane, 9pm, call for cover

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

DJ Crook One, 10pm, call for cover

DJ Whores, 10pm, no cover

PARTY RUMOR, 9pm-midnight, no cover

ANT BEE, 9pm-midnight, no cover

5681 Lonetree Blvd., Rocklin; (916) 632-8200

MIKE TRAMP, MORSEN; 8pm M, $15; MY TICKET HOME, NIGHT VERSES, 7pm Tu Comedy open-mic night hosted by Ray Molina, 8pm W, no cover

DJ Shaun Slaughter, 10pm, call for cover

HALFTIME BAR & GRILL

Mad Mondays, 9pm M; Latin video flair and Wii bowling, 7pm Tu; Trapacana, W

BROWN SHOE, A HOUSE FOR LIONS; 6pm, call for cover

THE GOLDEN BEAR

2326 K St., (916) 441-2252

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 8/12-8/14

Trivia, 6:30pm M, no cover; Open-mic, 7:30pm W, no cover

FOLLOWERS OF SUNSHINE, BELLYGUNNER, MISS MASSIVE SNOWFLAKE; 9pm

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

Dragalicious, 9pm, $5

Open-mic, 7:30pm M; Pub Quiz, 7pm Tu; Northern Soul, 8pm W, no cover Industry Night, 9pm, call for cover Trivia night, 7:30-9pm Tu, no cover

HARLOW’S

CROSSING THE RIVER, DA PROJECT, GUERO; 9pm, $5-$7

YOUTH LAGOON, TIARAS, ROXANNE; 9:30pm, $15-$18

LUNA’S CAFÉ & JUICE BAR

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

BLAME THE BISHOP, ADAM MARSLAND, BELLYGUNNER; 8pm, $6

XOCHITL, KEATON NELSON, SCOTT BERRIAN; 8:30pm, $5

Nebraska Mondays, 7:30pm M, $5-$20; Comedy night, 8pm W, $6

MARILYN’S ON K

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

THE SILENT COMEDY, THE WOODEN REVOLT; 9pm, $10

JUKEBOX JOHNNY, 9pm, $5

Beer pong, 8pm-2am M, no cover

Get Down to the Champion Sound, reggae and dancehall deejays, 10pm, $5

Phuture Global Discotheque w/ D.A.M.B., Gothic, Industrial, Darkwave, EBM, Funktion and Jon Maestro, 10pm, $3-$5 Retro, 9:30pm-2am, $5

Swing, Lindy Hop, 8pm Tu, $6-$10; Salsa, Bachata and Merengue, 8:30pm W, $5

THE DRAWERS, TREE; 8:30pm, $5

TYLER ROBINSON, CLEO CARTEL; 8:30pm, $5

Jazz, M; BLUE OAKS, SNAKE ISLAND, THE LURK, COBRA LIGHT; 8:30pm W, $5

MIDTOWN BARFLY

1119 21st St., (916) 549-2779

NAKED LOUNGE DOWNTOWN

MARTIN PURTILL, MAFU WILLIAMS, CHRIS KNIGHT; 8:30pm, $5

1111 H St., (916) 443-1927

2708 J Street Sacramento, CA 916.441.4693 www.harlows.com - August 8 -

- August 15 -

CROSSING THE RIVER

BE BRAVE BOLD ROBOT

DA Project • Guero $5ADV • 8pm

CFR • Tao Jiriki

- August 9 -

$5ADV • 8pm

YOUTH LAGOON

TIARAS (ex-Ganglians) Roxanne (of The Sandwitches) $15ADV • 8:30pm

- August 11 -

THE BELL BOYS

- August 16 -

FILLIGAR w/ Torches $10ADV • 7pm All Ages

For Sayle • Freeport $5ADV • 6pm • All Ages

- August 16 -

THA ALKAHOLIKS

Casual • Cali Agents • $15ADV • 10pm - August 14 -

LIVERS OF STEEL TOUR FEAT.

RECKLESS KELLY Wade Bowen, Micky and the Motorcars $20ADV • 8pm |

Sin Sunday, 8pm, call for cover

SACTO SOUL REBELS, BIG STICKY MESS; 9pm, $5

908 K St., (916) 446-4361

SN&R

Saturday Boom, 9pm, call for cover

INFINITE VASTNESS, DANGER CAKES; 8pm, no cover

1414 16th St., (916) 441-3931

KIM WATERS, 5pm and 7:30pm, $30-$50

1001 R St., (916) 443-8825

2708 J St., (916) 441-4693

SUNDAY 8/11

VALU FA, YA BOY MO, MAELI, FINA LOVE, SQUAREFIELD MASSIVE; 9pm, $5

WARP 11, 9pm, call for cover

1400 Alhambra, (916) 455-3400

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

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.

SATURDAY 8/10

08.08.13

COMING SOON Aug 17 Aug 19 Aug 22 Aug 23 Aug 24 Aug 25 Aug 27 Aug 28 Aug 29 Aug 30 Aug 30 Aug 31 Sep 03 Sep 04 Sep 05 Sep 06 Sep 09

Midnight Players Keiko Matsui Storytellers Brothers Comatose Selah Sue Andrew Belle Deerhunter KYLE Casey Abrams Ben Solee Bumptet Tipsy Hustlers Ottmar Liebert The Lone Bellow The Dodos / Two Sheds Tainted Love Tab Benoit

THE BELL BOYS, FOR SAYLE, FREEPORT; RECKLESS KELLY, WADE BOWEN, MICK7pm, $5-$7 EY AND THE MOTORCARS; 9pm W, $25

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WEDNESDAY 8/14

INDIA’S INDEPENDENCE DAY COMEDY NIGHT THURSDAY 8/15 SUNDAY 8/18 FROM 30 ROCK AND SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!

TRACY MORGAN TRENTON DAVIS

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thursdays

rock on live band kar aoke rock-n-roll // 9pm // FrEE Fri 8/9

the silent comedy the wooden revolt indiE // Folk // rock // 9pm // $10 sat 8/10

jukebox johnny all request covers 9pm // $5 sun 8/11

skip’s music stairway afterpary 4pm

mon 8/12

showcase mondays singEr // songwritEr // 8pm // $3 tuesdays

gset

classic rock & bluEs rEviEw // 8pm // FrEE wed 8/14

the solvents el.eph.ant 9pm // $5

UPcOMING sHOWs:

8/17: Lucky Laskowski & the Liars choir

908 K Street • sac 916.446.4361 wwwMarilynsOnK.com

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SUNDAY 8/11

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 8/12-8/14 Karaoke w/ Sac City Entertainment, 9pm Tu, no cover; Open-mic, 9pm W, no cover

Open-mic comedy, 9pm, no cover

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THE HONEYCUTTERS, 8:30pm, $15

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DJ Five, 9pm, call for cover

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Karaoke, 9pm-1:30am, no cover

KARATE IN THE CARPORT, 8-10pm, no cover

Open-mic, 10pm-1am Tu, no cover; Trivia, 9-10pm W, no cover

THE EVOLUTION BAND, 9pm, $10

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POINTDEXTER, 9pm, $5 COVER ME BADD, 9pm, call for cover; INSPECTOR 71, 10pm, call for cover

MR. DECEMBER, 3pm, call for cover

Country Karaoke, 9pm M, call for cover; DJ Alazzawi, DJ Rigatony, 10pm Tu, $3

Top 40 w/ DJ Rue, 9pm, $5

Top 40 Night w/ DJ Larry Rodriguez, 9pm, $5

Sunday Night Soul Party, 9pm, $5

SNAKE ISLAND, FOR SAYLE, JILT VS. JONAH, ORION WALSH; 8pm, M, $5

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THE BLANK TAPES, HINDU PIRATES, MYSTIC BRAVES; 9:30pm, $5

BODY PARTS, MASTON, GENIUS; 9:30pm, $5

Country dancing, 7:30pm, no cover, $5 after 8pm

Country dance party, 8pm, no cover

Comedy open-mic, 8pm M; Bluebird Lounge open-mic, 5pm Tu, no cover

METAL SHOP, 6:30-9:30pm, $5

SAVANNAH BLUE, 5-9pm, $5

URGENT, LONG TIME, 3-7pm, $8

JOHNNY KNOX, 5pm, no cover; VOLKER STRIFLER, 9pm, $10

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Sacto Soul Rebels with Big Sticky Mess 9pm Friday, $5. Fox & Goose Rocksteady

WILLIAM MYLAR, Tu; Open-mic, 5:30pm W; DELTA CITY RAMBLERS, 9pm W, $5

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PLAIN WHITE T’S, FFG; 7pm, $15

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INCREDIBLE ME, I WISH WE WERE ROBOTS, MERCHANTS; 4pm

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MATISYAHU, 7pm, call for cover CASH PONY, FROZEN FOLK; 8pm, $5

BRIAN SOUDER BLUE, CARISSA LEIGH; 8pm, $5

Kim Davis Studio recital, 7pm, no cover

Open jazz jam, 8pm Tu; Poetry With Legs with Bill Gainer, 7pm W, call for cover

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Ngaio Bealum is a Sacramento comedian, activist and marijuana expert. Email him questions at ask420@ newsreview.com.

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ARTS&CULTURE

AFTER

08.08.13

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by Jessica Rine

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “You have to

participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings,” said author Elizabeth Gilbert. I recommend that you experiment with this subversive idea, Aries. Just for a week, see what happens if you devote yourself to making yourself feel really good. I mean, risk going to extremes as you pursue happiness with focused zeal. Try this: Draw up a list of experiences that you know will give you intense pleasure, and indulge in them all without apology. And please don’t fret about the possible consequences of getting crazed with joy. Be assured that the cosmos is providing you with more slack than usual.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “I am not

washed and beautiful, in control of a shining world in which everything fits,” writes Taurus author Annie Dillard, “but instead am wandering awed about on a splintered wreck I’ve come to care for, whose gnawed trees breathe a delicate air.” I recommend you try on her perspective for size. For now, just forget about scrambling after perfection. At least temporarily, surrender any longing you might have for smooth propriety. Be willing to live without neat containment and polite decorum. Instead, be easy and breezy. Feel a generous acceptance for the messy beauty you’re embedded in. Love your life exactly as it is, with all of its paradoxes and mysteries.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Studies show that when you’re driving a car, your safest speed is 5 miles per hour higher than the average rate of traffic. Faster than that, though, and the danger level rises. Traveling more slowly than everyone else on the road also increases your risk of having an accident. Applying these ideas metaphorically, I’d like to suggest you take a similar approach as you weave your way through life’s challenges in the coming week. Don’t dawdle and plod. Move a little swifter than everyone else, but don’t race along at a breakneck pace.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The key

theme this week is relaxed intensification. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to heighten and strengthen your devotion to things that are important to you—but in ways that make you feel more serene and self-possessed. To accomplish this, you will have to ignore the conventional wisdom, which falsely asserts that going deeper and giving more of yourself require you to increase your stress levels. You do indeed have a great potential for going deeper and giving more of yourself, but only if you also become more at peace with yourself and more at home in the world.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Last year, a young

Nebraskan entrepreneur changed his name from Tyler Gold to Tyrannosaurus Rex Joseph Gold. He said it was a way of giving him greater name recognition as he worked to build his career. Do you have any interest in making a bold move like that, Leo? The coming weeks would be a good time for you to think about adding a new twist to your nickname or title or self-image. But I recommend something less sensationalistic and more in line with the qualities you’d actually like to cultivate in the future. I’m thinking of something like Laughing Tiger or Lucky Lion or Wily Wildcat.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): African-

American jazz singer Billie Holiday was the great-granddaughter of a slave. By the time she was born in 1915, black people in the American South were no longer “owned” by white “masters,” but their predicament was still extreme. Racism was acute and debilitating. Here’s what Holiday wrote in her autobiography: “You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation.” Nothing you experience is remotely as oppressive as what Holiday experienced, Virgo. But I’m wondering if you might suffer from a milder version of it. Is any part of you oppressed and inhibited even though your outward circumstances are technically unconstrained? If so, now’s the time to push for more freedom.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): What resound-

ing triumphs and subtle transformations have you accomplished since your last birthday? How have you grown and changed? Are there any ways you have dwindled or drooped? The next few weeks will be an excellent time to take inventory of these things. Your own evaluations will be most important, of course. You’ve got to be the ultimate judge of your own character. But you should also solicit the feedback of people you trust. They may be able to help you see clues you’ve missed. If, after weighing all the evidence, you decide you’re pleased with how your life has unfolded these past 10 to 11 months, I suggest you celebrate your success. Throw yourself a party or buy yourself a reward or climb to the top of a mountain and unleash a victory cry.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Monmouth

Park in New Jersey hosts regular horse races from May through November. During one such event in 2010, a horse named Thewifenoseeverything finished first, just ahead of another nag named Thewifedoesntknow. I suspect that there’ll be a comparable outcome in your life sometime soon. Revelation will trump secrecy. Whoever is hiding information will lose out to anyone who sees and expresses the truth. I advise you to bet on the option that’s forthcoming and communicative, not the one that’s furtive and withholding.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

You have both a poetic and a cosmic license to stretch yourself further. It’s best not to go too far, of course. You should stop yourself before you obliterate all boundaries and break all taboos and smash all precedents. But you’ve certainly got the blessings of fate if you seek to disregard some boundaries and shatter some taboos and outgrow some precedents. While you’re at it, you might also want to shed a few pinched expectations and escape an irrelevant limitation or two. It’s time to get as big and brave and brazen as you dare.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): When

I was 19, a thug shot me in the butt with a shotgun at close range. To this day, my body contains the 43 pellets he pumped into me. They have caused some minor health problems, and I’m always queasy when I see a gun. But I don’t experience any routine suffering from the wound. Its original impact no longer plagues me. What’s your own personal equivalent of my trauma, Capricorn? A sickness that racked you when you were young? A difficult breakup with your first love? The death of someone you cared about? Whatever it was, I suspect you now have the power to reach a new level of freedom from that old pain.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Want to

take full advantage of the sexy vibes that are swirling around in your vicinity? One thing you could do is whisper the following provocations in the ear of anyone who would respond well to a dose of boisterous magic: 1. “Corrupt me with your raw purity, baby; beguile me with your raucous honesty.” 2. “I finally figured out that one of the keys to eternal happiness is to be easily amused. Want me to show you how that works?” 3. “I dare you to quench my thirst for spiritual sensuality.” 4. “Let’s trade clothes and pretend we’re each other’s higher selves.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Some

people put their faith in religion or science or political ideologies. English novelist J.G. Ballard placed his faith elsewhere: in the imagination. “I believe in the power of the imagination to remake the world,” he wrote, “to release the truth within us, to hold back the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen.” As you make your adjustments and reconfigure your plans, Pisces, I suggest you put your faith where Ballard did. Your imagination is far more potent and dynamic than you realize—especially right now.

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.

BEFORE

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pHoTo BY JoNATHAN MENDICK

by Rob bRezsny

For the week of August 8, 2013

F E AT U R E

STORY

Operation life Liz Salmi is just a gal living in Sacramento, who likes to hang out with her husband and loves her job in communications. After she was diagnosed with brain cancer five years ago, however, Salmi began using her blog, The Liz Army (www.thelizarmy.com), to keep loved ones in the loop on her cancer status. Now, Salmi reaches thousands with the site, using posts to advocate for the National Brain Tumor Society. Salmi sat down with SN&R to talk about blogging, her advocacy work, living with brain cancer and, really, just living.

When were you diagnosed with brain cancer? July 2008. I had just turned 29. My first symptom was a really big seizure. So, that’s how I found out, from a seizure.

So, where are you now? I’m done with treatment. Where I’m at is there’s still cancerous tissue in there. I’ve had two surgeries to try to get rid of as much of it as possible right away, and then I was put on an oral chemotherapy pill. I have been off that pill for two years, and I get scans … every four months to watch the brain. It’s still there, it’s just kind of frozen, deer-inthe-headlights style. [When the] tumor is still there, as long as it doesn’t change, you’re good.

When did you start using your blog specifically for cancer updates? Well, when you have a crazy disease, everyone wants to know what’s going on, and I let everyone know I had a brain tumor, and I was going to have brain

A RT S & C U LT U R E

surgery. I got my cellphone, which they shouldn’t have given me, and I created a text message, like, “I have a brain tumor. I’m going to have brain surgery in three days.” I copied everyone in my phone, and I sent it. I was out of it, so my boyfriend at the time started emailing everyone updates, and I thought, “You know, rather than emailing everyone updates, I should just open up the blog and let them follow along that way.”

What is the worst thing anyone has said to you about your diagnosis?

What has the response been?

Best thing anyone’s said?

I’m getting about 12,000 to 13,000 unique visitors every year. It’s not just people with brain cancer. It’s their loved [ones]. It seems like your friend gets diagnosed, and you want to talk to them every day, but you know they’re busy, so you’re trying to find out what’s this like, and so you read this stuff, and [they realize], “Oh, so that’s what they’re going through.” It’s not exactly the same, but then, people feel like they can understand what their friend is going through.

How has social media helped you in your recovery in living with your disease? The blog is a conduit for me to find other people like me. I am able to develop an online network of people who know what it’s like. We don’t all have the same type of tumor, we don’t all have the same symptoms, we might not all have the same treatment, but we all experience the same fear or guilt. So, there’s no way I can walk out on the street and meet that person, but through social media and this online world, I am able to make those connections.

AFTER

I was on the phone with my sister … about a month-and-a-half after the diagnosis, and she was just like, “I don’t know how to react. I’m really scared. It seems like everyone’s getting cancer. First it was you, now my dog has cancer.” I was like, “Can you really compare the two?” I don’t think she realized, but I was just like, wow.

Having a blog and writing about all my experiences, I get lots of feedback through the comments section, and then there’s Twitter and there’s Facebook. Even just the first time hearing that I wrote something and it’s exactly how someone else feels—one, I don’t feel alone, and two, [it feels] cool that someone else felt like I said what they feel.

You’re also an advocate for the National Brain Tumor Society. I am an unpaid volunteer, but I am the lead advocate for the state of California—which is a huge state. I’m like, “Can there be more of us?” There’s just a couple of national brain-tumor organizations. [The National Brain Tumor Society] is the biggest one, and they deal mainly with advocacy.

Greatest ambition? Right now, I’m living, and I think a lot about [that] I have this disease, and I’m going to accomplish this. I would love to get out of that one day and live like a normal person and not think about accomplishments and checking things off related to my disease. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get there, but that would be cool. Ω

08.08.13

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