S 2014 04 03

K.J.’s strong (mayor) moves see news, page 11 see Bites, page 13

AlwAys beer o’clock somewhere see night&Day, page 23

Downtown shoot-outs, weaponizeD pitching weDges see scorekeeper, page 10

It taKes a

mcvIllage see news, page 8

$5 2-foot long the v Word, page 25

Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly

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Volume 25, iSSue 51

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thurSday, april 3, 2014

building a

HealtHy S a c r a m e n t o

Waste Not, Want Not

by M i k e b lo u n t

I

f you live in Sacramento, you’ve probably seen Valencia orange trees bearing plentiful fruit that ends up rotting on the ground or getting thrown away. Most of this fruit goes unharvested and never makes it into the community’s food supply. In fact, the Sacramento Region Food System Collaborative estimates anywhere between 1 and 5 million pounds of fruit in Sacramento is wasted each year.

Harvest Sacramento is trying to change that trend by organizing several fruit gleaning events in South Sacramento. And through a partnership with Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, they’re distributing the fruit to residents in need. Events take place throughout the winter and spring on Saturdays, with up to 75 volunteers harvesting around 2,000-4,000 pounds of citrus at each gleaning.

The organization, funded by the Building Healthy Communities grant from The California Endowment, estimates it will collect more than 60,000 pounds of fruit in 2014, with much of that coming from the Oak Park neighborhood.

“We have huge volumes of this fruit that we’ve inherited, but we don’t utilize or even really take care of these trees in many cases,” says Harvest Sacramento Coordinator Dominic Allamano.

Allamano says the effort is also about bringing people together in the community to think about how they can increase food access for residents. Most of the produce grown locally is exported, while most of the produced consumed locally is imported. One of the goals of Harvest Sacramento is to start a discussion about building a more sustainable food system.

“we use these events as community experiences to connect people together.”

Harvest Sacramento partners with several organizations and individuals in South Sacramento to put together gleaning events. In February the organization partnered with Pacific Elementary School, where volunteers helped glean oranges from trees on campus.

Sacramento residents can submit their trees for gleaning, stay updated about future events or inquire about volunteer opportunities at harvestsacrmanento.org.

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.

Volunteers participate in a fruit gleaning event at Pacific Elementary School.

Photo by louise mitchell

dominic allamano, Harvest Sacramento Coordinator “We’re using this opportunity to connect people to a much bigger re-exploration of the food system in each of our neighborhoods, so in the future, we can endow the residents with even more than we’ve received,” Allamano says. “We use these events as community experiences to connect people together, to connect them to the land and their neighborhoods, to open their eyes to these possibilities and to challenge them to look at other harvests that are out there. It’s all about finding mutually beneficial relationships and finding a way to create a better eco-system for the community we live in and share.”

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 2

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www.SacBHC.org

April 3, 2014 | vol. 25, issue 51

51

When doves nest A dove built a nest in my backyard.

It’s not your typical, Disneycartoon-round nest. It’s a V-shaped hodgepodge, wedged between wood beams and out of sight from predators’ and rain’s reach. Eggs appeared a couple weeks ago. Google says it could be any day when they hatch. The dove just sits on them. So damn patient, that bird.

I bring this up because the dove got me thinking about the power of stillness. Doves, peace, calm— it’s not some profound insight or anything. When I was in therapy (not going there), my doctor kept telling me to be more like a dove, to pause and focus on the moment.

She called this mindfulness. Apparently, it will help you live longer and be happier. I was into it for a while.

But then, life.

While biking past L and Fifth streets last week, however, I stopped for a minute. I breathed, then imagined what the block might be like when that crunched Coors Light can of an arena plops down in a couple years. For some reason, this got me thinking about the sepia-tone (and these days, beleaguered) Hans Sumpf Company art panels on the mall wall. You know, those massive ceramic reliefs on Fifth.

People have actually stuffed garbage into the sculpture’s holes, but after four decades at the mall, they’re an iconic piece of local milieu. It’d be great to see someone scoop those up before the wrecking ball arrives. Restore them, keep them on display in the central city.

When the arena’s the hot new thing, maybe a kid will see the art and be inspired to create.

Maybe that will lead to more public art. Maybe a dove will nest in the panel, instead of trash.

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

Co-editors Rachel Leibrock, Nick Miller Staff Writers Janelle Bitker, Raheem F. Hosseini Copy Editor Shoka Shafiee Entertainment Editor Jonathan Mendick Editorial Coordinator Becca Costello Contributing Editor Cosmo Garvin Editor-at-large Melinda Welsh Contributors Ngaio Bealum, Daniel Barnes, Rob Brezsny, Cody Drabble, Joey Garcia, Blake Gillespie, Becky Grunewald, Mark Halverson, Jeff Hudson, Jim Lane, Greg Lucas, Garrett McCord,

Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Junior Art Director Brian Breneman Designers Serene Lusano, Marianne Mancina, Skyler Smith Contributing Photographers Lisa Baetz, Steven Chea, Wes Davis, Ryan Donahue, Taras Garcia, Lovelle Harris, Shoka Director of Advertising and Sales Rick Brown Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Joy Webber Advertising Consultants Joseph Barcelon, Meghan Bingen, Teri Gorman, Dusty Hamilton, Dave Nettles, Lee Roberts, Julie Sherry, Stephen Swanson, Kelsi White Senior Inside Sales Consultant Olla Ubay Ad Services Specialist Melissa Bernard Director of Et Cetera Will Niespodzinski Client Publications Editor Michelle Carl Client Publications Managing Editor Shannon Springmeyer

ISSUE #

7 APR 3RD

★Comics and Graphic Novels ★Card and Board Games ★Toys and Pop Culture ★Friday Night Magic

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Client Publications Writer/Copy Editor Mike Blount Client Publications Staff Writer Meredith Graham Executive Coordinator Jessica Takehara Directors of First Impressions Alicia Brimhall, Matt Kjar Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Services Assistant Larry Schubert Distribution Drivers Mansour Aghdam, Daniel Bowen, Russell Brown, Nina Castro, Jack Clifford, Lydia Comer, John Cunningham, Lob Dunnica, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Joanna Gonzalez-Brown, Aaron Harvey, Wayne Hopkins, Brenda Hundley, Greg Meyers, Kenneth Powell, Wendell Powell, Lloyd Rongley, Duane Secco, Lolu Sholotan, Jack Thorne President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resources Manager Tanja Poley Human Resources Intern Courtney DeShields Business Manager Grant Rosenquist Accounting Specialists Renee Briscoe, Tami Sandoval Accounts Receivable Specialist Nicole Jackson Business Intern Allison Hill Lead Technology Synthesist Jonathan Schultz Senior Support Tech Joe Kakacek

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BEFORE

STREETALK

Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins 1124 Del Paso Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95815 Phone (916) 498-1234 Sales Fax (916) 498-7910 Editorial Fax (916) 498-7920 Website www.newsreview.com SN&R is printed by The Paradise Post using recycled newsprint whenever available.

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

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

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The deTails: Essays must be 650 words or less. Email essays as a Word document or PDF attachment to collegeessay@newsreview.com, with the subject line “College Essay Contest .”

Deadline is Friday, May 9, at 5 p.m.

“It is an excuse for the younger generation to experiment with smoking.”

Asked at Cesar Chavez Plaza:

How do you feel about e-cigarettes?

Christopher McMahon

Yvonne Voloder

Renee Ferguson

artist

ministry leader

E-cigarettes are great. My mom quit [smoking regular cigarettes] by using a vapor pen. I know two other people who did it.

I haven’t seen the juggle of going from e-cigarette to nothing yet. My mom is always carrying [the vapor pen] around. She goes from cellphone to pen, cellphone to pen.

grandmother

My brother died of AIDS, and I was so stressed that I started smoking for six months. I grabbed a hold of something that was like a comfort. It was a cigarette.

Anytime you take a foreign substance into your body, it isn’t good. If it wasn’t already made to go on the inside of you, I just don’t think it is a good idea.

Everybody I know is converting to e-cigarettes.

It is a lot of the younger generation, like my nieces and nephews. To tell you the truth, I think it is all a waste of money. I heard they are not supposed to be harmful. I am sure it is harmful in some way.

Jamaal Johnson

Trevor Simpson

music producer

April Farnham

tattoo artist apprentice

I don’t think it is dangerous to other people. Cigarette smoke hangs in the air, but the e-vapor just disappears. It doesn’t have any smell, and also it doesn’t have as much nicotine as a real cigarette.

I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who is trying to quit. It just makes you want a cigarette.

A lot of my friends smoke e-cigarettes. I have seen people who really want to quit work a system with e-cigarettes in the mix. Like a crutch, the e-cigarette could help you a lot. I have tried it. I like smoking [regular cigarettes].

librarian

I am an asthma and allergy sufferer. I wouldn’t dare. … I have never smoked anything in my life.

Generally, I am opposed to it because it is an excuse for the younger generation to experiment with smoking and inhaling.

I think it is just hokey.

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Re “Hello, legalization� by Ngaio Bealum (SN&R The 420, March 27): Like all good drug warriors, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has a habit of using the drug war’s collateral damage to justify throwing good money after bad public policy. Statistically, the vast majority of marijuana letter of consumers do not move on to harder drugs. Those who the week do can thank Sen. Feinstein and her fellow drug warriors. Federal marijuana prohibition keeps violent drug cartels in business.

When cartels control marijuana distribution, consumers are exposed to illegal cocaine, meth and heroin.

Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. Colorado has closed the gateway, and Washington state will soon follow. Marijuana legalization will raise new tax revenue, provide consumers with a comparatively safe alternative to alcohol, and close the gateway to hard drugs by taking marijuana distribution out of the hands of criminals. Perhaps Sen. Feinstein is on the payroll of Mexican drug cartels. It would certainly explain her efforts to protect their market share.

Email your letters to sactoletters@ newsreview.com.

Robert Sharpe

p ol i cy an al ys t , Com m on S en se fo r D ru g P o l i c y

Re “Have restaurant, will travel� by Lovelle Harris (SN&R Arts&Culture, March 27): Thank you for Lovelle Harris’ excellent article exploring our town’s stimulating pop-up-dining scene.

I’ve been lucky enough to attend most of Kevin O’Connor’s Tree House dinners and attended Sylvanna Mislang’s Roaming Spoon dinner last week (Jason Azevedo is on my list). The dinners are exquisite without pretense and are eye-opening in their level of creativity. (Full disclosure: I worked with both O’Connor and Mislang in the past.)

These events allow Sacramento’s artists to work outside the confines of a restaurant kitchen, where economics often constrain execution of a fully developed concept. Learning how these talented young chefs think and watching them execute their craft is an invigorating experience. Their influence in Sacramento’s cultural scene should not be understated.

They do this without the backing of a business association, corporate partners or opportunistic motivation.

Evidently, they do it because of the experimentation, reaction and love of the process. Not to mention, the dinners are a blast.

Daniel Senecka via email

policies. Here’s the thing: The people setting the policies are either looking out for the public or jerks. American society doesn’t give a shit if taxicab drivers can’t survive. Most of society will be quick to use the catchphrases “You did it to yourself� and “You deserve it.� Drivers either need to follow the new policies or eat it.

Noah Kameyer via email

Bravo, charter schools

Re “Taxi griper� by Raheem F. Hosseini (SN&R News, March 27): In this article, cab driver Kazman Zaidi says, “Our taxicab business is almost really finished.� I read about the competition, as well as the new

Re “Wake-up call for California educators� by Jeff vonKaenel (SN&R Greenlight, March 20): Jeff vonKaenel’s observations about charter schools and the energized passion and enthusiasm in the charter-school movement is absolutely spot-on correct. I have been serving in the charter-school movement for 15 years, and I too have attended both traditional-school conferences and public-charterschool conferences. The differences in attitude are sobering.

At traditional school conferences, I have sat around tables and heard nothing but negativity from teachers and administrators bemoaning everything that is wrong with the “system.� Charter-school administrators and teachers are, on the other hand, energized to do whatever they can that is best for students.

Students’ lives are being miraculously transformed for the better in charter schools, and it is time for the public to wake up and applaud what the charter-school movement is accomplishing both for the health and well-being of our education system and for our society at large.

Jeff Rice Penn Valley

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eal-estate developer Angelo Tsakopoulos is possibly the most powerful man in Sacramento. But tonight, he’s just another citizen inside City Hall.

One of several hundred, in fact, during a standing-room-only meeting to debate and vote on the fate of McKinley Village, a contentious neighborhood planned for East Sacramento. Tsakopoulos owns the land, so obviously he favors fellow developer Phil Angelides’ vision to build 336 homes on the almond-shaped 48 acres. Everyone else in the room, including nearly a dozen neighborhood groups? They pretty much despise the idea.

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80 Despite overwhelming neighborhood opposition, McKinley Village is very close to becoming a reality. After 25 years of development fits and starts, why’d this project succeed?

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New village in town: If the city council approves the McKinley Village project (shown in yellow) later this month, model homes and sales could start in early 2015. Nearby residents are upset a third vehicular access point at Alhambra Boulevard is not being built to complement entries at A and 40th streets.

Wearing a navy suit and with bushy eyebrows, Tsakopoulos sits in one of the front rows of the Planning and Design Commission meeting for what will be a nearly five-hour affair. That’s a Homer-esque endeavor even for City Hall. But the multimillionaire is patient: It’s already been a 25-year journey.

Developers have been trying to do something with Tsakopoulos’ landlocked, low-lying plot for nearly a quarter century. In the late ’80s, a developer hoped to build high-rises and apartments on the property, which, at the time, was referred to as Centrage. But that development didn’t fly with neighbors, who ferociously opposed and eventually crushed the idea. Current Councilman Steve Cohn, a leader of that opposition, used his newfound influence to springboard into city council nearly 20 years ago.

Today, Angelides wants to build what he calls a heritage-style 336-home neighborhood called McKinley Village. He’s been working on this project since 2007, and says he’s held more than 80 community meetings during this time. The gatherings have sometimes been anything but neighborly. Shouting matches drew in TV cameras. Residents have even swatted large renderings of the McKinley Village neighborhood from easels.

But the meetings have also been fruitful.

They’ve led to some four-dozen major changes to the project, Angelides says.

At the planning meeting on March 27, the last one before the project goes in front of city council, he’s asking the Planning and Design Commission to vote in favor to develop what even he admits is a “very difficult site.”

photo by Jonathan Mendick

To the left, eastbound Business 80. To the right, the field that someday will likely house 336 new single-family homes.

“This is a rare opportunity to do at-scale infill development to meet our region’s goal to grow more compactly,” he tells the commissioners.

McKinley Village will be 336 homes, including a few multi-unit residences, that will range in price from the high $300,000 to $600,000. The new neighborhood is tucked in between railroad tracks and Business 80 near the American River, East Sacramento and Sutter’s Landing Regional Park. Amenities will include a recreation center, bike lines and a park, and homeowners will pay neighborhood fees.

The only access to the homes will be via A Street, at the now-unused vehicle bridge over Business 80 (that also leads to 28th Street and the new Midtown dog park), and a tunnel under the railroad tracks at 40th and C streets, which has yet to be built. (See map for details.)

A storm of East Sacramento and Midtown opposition sits in Angelides’ way.

At tonight’s meeting, more than eight neighborhood-group leaders speak out against the new homes, which they not-so-affectionately refer to as “McVillage.”

Julie Murphy is head of the Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association, whose residents say they will be impacted by increased traffic on 28th Street.

“Vehicular access is needed on Alhambra Boulevard,” she says.

Angelides and the city have rejected adding another car tunnel under the railroad tracks at Alhambra and B Street. He says this is due to construction costs, which would be at least $7.8 million, according to city analysis. The city also says the tunnel isn’t needed because additional traffic won’t have a detrimental impact.

Angelides says another tunnel’s construction costs would kill McKinley Village.

“Quite frankly, it’s not something the project can bear,” he tells the commissioners.

The former state treasurer and gubernatorial candidate instead hopes to build a bike and pedestrian tunnel at Alhambra. But many residents, such as East Sacramento Improvement Association president Paul Noble, doubt this

BEFORE

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will ever be built, especially because the city isn’t mandating that Angelides do so.

City planning commissioner Philip Harvey says the reason the tunnel isn’t binding is because of Union Pacific, the railroad company, which is notorious with its feet-dragging. “U.P. could literally take three or four years to say yes or no” on the tunnel, he says.

Jennifer Cummings says that pollution from commuter traffic and trains makes it “morally indefensible for the city of Sacramento to approve this development.”

Nearly three-dozen speakers opposed to McVillage squeeze into an hour’s worth of time at the meeting. There’s also an hour’s worth of supporters, although most of them include business interests, such as developer

“This is a rare opporTuniTy To do aT-scale infill developmenT To meeT our region’s goal To grow more compacTly.” Phil Angelides Mckinley Village developer

Traffic is the meeting’s foremost point of contention. The city’s environmental-impact report estimates an additional 1,700-plus vehicle trips each day due to new McKinley residents. Neighborhood-association leaders have zeroed in on this and lobby aggressively for a third access point at Alhambra. But traffic isn’t only reason neighbors are pissed off.

Speaking on behalf of residents, former lawmaker and current lobbyist Alberto Torrico worries about the dangers of children playing too closely to railroad tracks. Resident Jan Rein says the homes will be unpalatable and just “bring suburban sprawl into the city.”

Some worry about flooding. A couple advocates for the Swainson’s hawk say the neighborhood will destroy the bird’s vital foraging ground. And 37-year East Sac resident

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Gregg Lukenbill and a spokesman for the chamber of commerce.

In an interesting twist, it’s an election year for city council’s District 3, which includes East Sacramento. Most of the candidates make an appearance at the night’s meeting. Some even speak out.

Born-and-raised East Sac resident Rosalyn Van Buren is the only candidate to come out in favor of McKinley Village. River Park resident and candidate Jeff Harris says he can’t support the project without vehicle access at Alhambra. Candidate Deane Dana also opposes.

Cyril Shah, the race’s de facto frontrunner, if only because he’s raised the most money, attends the meeting but doesn’t take a side. In fact, the candidate refuses to do so, arguing

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that he doesn’t have to because it will be decided before he takes office.

East Sacramento Preservation Neighborhood Association president Ellen Cochrane is also one of the eight District 3 candidates. She challenges the commission to actually go out and walk the land; she says that if people go out there, there’s no way they’ll want to live there.

“Have you visited the site and stood in the land between the freeway and the trains?” she asks.

It’s illegal to cross the Union Pacific railroad tracks at Lanatt Street in East Sacramento without permission, but joggers and dog walkers do so often. The crossing leads to the land where McKinley Village will likely one day rest. Standing in the middle of the acreage—just like Cochrane said to do—the field is dressed with gold and ivory wildflowers. The freeway hums, but at a surprisingly lower decibel than anticipated. Four trains, including one Amtrak, pass in a matter of 20 minutes on a recent Sunday afternoon, horns blowing.

There’s an unexpected and impressive view of the downtown skyline.

Planning Commission Chairwoman Kiyomi Burchill says the meeting’s turnout is the biggest she’s seen in her three years.

No surprise, residents are impassioned. In another city such as Roseville or Elk Grove, their disapproval might be enough to kill a project like McKinley Village. Or at least get a consolation-prize tunnel.

But that’s not the case tonight. Just before 10:30 p.m., a vote to unanimously send the McKinley Village project to the city council next month enters the books.

At this point, the room is nearly empty.

Commissioners pat each other on the back and offer congrats for what they say was a smartly run marathon. The meeting adjourns.

Only one resident remains: Tsakopoulos.

He’s loomed large the entire night without saying a word. Finally, he rises from his seat, walks to the dais, thanks the commission chairwoman, then exits into the cool spring night.

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Sacramento’s winners and losers—with arbitrary points

Feast feud

Shots fired

Former Sacramento Bee writer (and SN&R contributor) Rick Kushman called out Bee food critic Blair Anthony Robertson for being a meanie last week on Capital Public Radio’s Insight show. Robertson responded on Twitter—then the feud went national on media blogger Jim Romenesko’s site. Meanwhile, Scorekeeper wonders if it was all an act to hype up the Bee’s new Sunday food section.

Unprecedented gun violence in the city continued this past Friday afternoon, this time across the way from the light-rail station on D and 12th streets. A suspect fired shots just before 3 p.m.; an innocent female bystander was hit in the leg. Police say two men arguing turned into a shoot-out near a tattoo store on 12th. The 20-year-old suspect was arrested soon after.

Scorekeeper uses that light-rail stop and sometimes buys gum at the neighboring market. Ugh.

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On Sunday, day raging got a bit out of hand at around 6:15 a.m., when police officers responded to a disturbance near G and 14th streets. Apparently, a resident was threatening neighbors with golf gear and a sword. Police went to the suspect’s door. “When the officers knocked, the suspect answered the door armed with the golf club,” they reported. The man fled—but then returned to bum-rush the police, who finally used a Taser on the 29-yearold. The Masters isn’t until next weekend, buddy.

- 330 ILLUSTRATION BY HAYLEY DOSHAY

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To your health More than 150,000 Golden Staters signed up for health care with Covered California last week, according to president Peter Lee. Not even an apple a day can keep people away from the doctor now. Er, wait, is that how the saying works? Whatever.

+ 150,000

House of turds Arms dealing? Shrimp boys? How corrupt is the Capitol? This is wilder than a season of House of Cards! And it’ll take more than a handful of years for Sacramento’s political establishment to overcome this past year’s spate of criminal investigations and indictments.

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Strong mayor, weak press

BEATS

K.J.’s camp, union keep media from covering public debate That’s where two Sacramento reporters, including one from SN&R, were denied access.

Word of the media blackout came from three different union representatives, including SEIU communications director Marianne von Nordeck, who explained that the event was open to the public, yet closed to the press.

Reporters argued that this was a paradox. For all the city residents who couldn’t attend the evening’s debate, the press is their access, they said.

Pressed to respond, von Nordeck said the decision to block media was arrived at through a consensus of the panel, and that the union would permit entry if participants approved.

“Any time a government is closing any meeting to the public is concerning,” said Emily Grannis, the Jack Nelson Legal Fellow at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a nonprofit that provides free legal assistance to journalists.

Especially when said meeting has to do with increasing a public official’s authority, she added. “That rings all sorts of alarm bells.”

The Sacramento branch of SEIU, a labor union made up of state employees, billed last week’s debate as an “educational town hall” featuring a “panel of experts.” To be sure, the panel seated three Capitol all-stars: Johnson and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg arguing in favor of a strong-mayor initiative, and former Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo taking the opposing view.

While panelists mixed it up with each other and fielded audience questions on the wisdom of installing an executive-mayor form of government with new budgetary and personnel authority, a different kind of debate ensued just outside the packed union hall.

Informed of this, Joshua Wood, head of the mayor’s pro-arena coalition, The4000, declined a reporter’s request to be admitted with a twoword text message: “Sorry bro.”

By this time, Sacramento Bee reporter Ryan Lillis had taken to Twitter to explain the predicament: “Stuck on the sidewalk outside SEIU strong mayor forum … sounds like mayor’s campaign made call for no media.”

In response, attendee Lisa Ouellette began live-tweeting the debate, critiquing the mayor’s justifications for the power grab in the process: “KJs life story, now. How this relates to strong mayor, IDK.” And: “[KJ] suggests we should just ‘try this on’ for 6 years. How about we do that after KJs reign, then?”

The audience leveled penetrating questions, as well, asking the mayor, “what’s so broken that needs fixing?” and whether Johnson’s ability to fire people will include “due process” protections, according to Ouellette’s Twitter feed.

Photo by Raheem F. hosseini

A town hall meeting designed to vet Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s latest push for more power devolved into a freeby speech firestorm last week, when Raheem F. Hosseini those involved blocked reporters from attending. ra heemh@ The March 26 event inside SEIU newsre view.c om Local 1000’s union hall downtown was the first strong-mayor debate of the campaign season, seven months before a hotly anticipated November vote on whether to expand the mayor’s role. Banishing media from the “public” forum raised a question echoed indoors and on social media: Was this an early preview of how Johnson might wield greater authority?

Organizers of a strong-mayor town hall debate at a union hall in Sacramento last week prevented media from entering.

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Reached a day after the debate, Fargo said the mayor failed to make his case for greater authority, even though he had apparently picked the time and venue. “It was very clear from the turnout that the public has a strong interest in the strong mayor proposal, but not strong support,” she said via email. “I understand the early timing and location was driven by Kevin Johnson and his supporters.”

While Johnson’s office didn’t return multiple requests for comment, two other big-name panelists told SN&R they didn’t approve of the media prohibition.

Steinberg, who has his own political fires to put out as leader of a scandal-ridden Senate, had no inkling that the media would be excluded, said the state Democrat’s spokesman.

“Mr. Steinberg expected the press to be there,” Rhys Williams told SN&R the following day.

Fargo, unseated by Johnson in 2008, said there was no consensus to keep the press out, and laid that decision at the feet of SEIU and Johnson. “If there was an agreement, it must have been with Johnson or his staff,” she said. “I’m not sure what the motivation was for SEIU in keeping the media out; they said this was a way to educate their members. I can only assume that Kevin Johnson wants to control the message or is testing arguments and didn’t want early coverage.” von Nordeck declined to go on the record with reporters.

Brian K. Landsberg, a constitutional-law professor with the University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law, said proving the mayor’s involvement would be key to leveling a First Amendment challenge. “If one could prove that the mayor caused the exclusion and did so under color of his office, there might be a viable argument, but that would be hard to prove,” he said.

“So while the exclusion of the press seems heavy-handed and bad PR, I don’t see a First Amendment ground for challenging it.”

Five months ago, the Sacramento City Council narrowly agreed to place a new strong-mayor proposal on the November ballot. It would elevate the mayor to chief-executive status—able to propose budgets, apply new veto powers and limit the council’s access to the city manager, whom the mayor would appoint. Ω

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Testing the rehabbers Sacramento State University will spend the next year evaluating a criminal-rehabilitation program it designed three years ago to make sure it’s actually working.

Under the terms of the agreement, approved March 25 by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, researchers will get access to raw data on dozens of people incarcerated at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Elk Grove and those being released into alternative sentencing programs. Half of the local offenders will be enrolled in Ascend, a community-based program run by two criminal-defense attorneys.

The agreement is more notable for opening the sheriff’s department and its re-entry programs up to independent evaluation.

It’s been two-and-a-half years since California downshifted thousands of state-prison inmates to local jurisdictions to deal with its overcrowding crisis. With the move came a new source of revenue for county law-enforcement agencies around the state, but little oversight into how that money was being spent or whether so-called rehabilitation efforts were effective.

The chief of Sacramento County’s correctional arm, Capt. Milo Fitch, pressed for an independent Sac State evaluation last year, but a possible research project crumbled over a disagreement between probation and university officials. The new local contract will allow researchers to follow 50 offenders participating in the Ascend program and 50 others who are either receiving other re-entry services or none at all. The evaluation period runs from March 26, 2014, to March 25, 2015.

Ascend boasts a 10-percent recidivism rate among graduates, but took a while to win over Sacramento’s criminaljustice system. That happened recently, following a change of leadership at the probation department and the promotion of Fitch, a key supporter. “A year ago, last February, I thought we might have to close our program,” said Ascend co-founder Christine Morse Galves. (Raheem F. Hosseini)

Regulating vapor Rancho Cordova may be the first city in the region to stub out secondhand vapor.

On Monday, April 7, the city council will consider regulating electronic cigarettes in the same manner it does tobaccobased products. Council members requested updates to local ordinances last month, when they also enacted a 45-day moratorium on any new vapor bars, as well as hookah and smoking lounges.

City officials characterized the moves as their attempt to reign in a trending product with uncertain health effects.

“The e-cigarette regulations are pretty silent, because ecigarettes weren’t even on the radar when the regulations were made,” planning director Paul Junker said on March 17.

A mechanism inside of electronic cigarettes heats liquid nicotine and turns it into a vapor, which is inhaled by the user and dissipates within seconds upon being exhaled. No one seems to know how safe they are, or how harmful the secondhand vapor possibly is.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet passed judgment, and the safety of e-cigarettes is currently unknown, according to the California Medical Association. California state law prohibits the sale of e-cigs to minors, but does not extend other smoking restrictions to them.

Rancho Cordova isn’t the only city to impose precautionary measures. Last month, the Davis City Council directed staff to come back later in the spring, likely May, with a proposal to add e-cigarettes and hookahs to the current nonsmoking city code, according to Kelly Stachowicz, Davis’ deputy city manager.

Spokespeople for the cities of Sacramento and Folsom said they don’t anticipate addressing e-cigarettes anytime soon.

(Jessica Rine)

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Book it SN&R columnist Greg Lucas on becoming the next State Librarian A little more than a week ago, Gov. Jerry Brown appointed me California’s next State Librarian. My math says I’m the 25th person to have this job since California became a state in 1850. That rocks.

What rocks even harder is that the State Librarian is charged with preserving California’s history and making sure Californians understand and appreciate the Golden S A C U

by GREG L State’s uniqueness. The mission statement on the website caplowdown@newsreview.com says the State Library is “the state’s information hub” and connects “people, libraries and government to the resources and tools they need to succeed and to build a strong California.”

One of the greatest lovers of libraries is Ray Bradbury, who used a rental typewriter in the basement of a UCLA library to create Fahrenheit 451.

This is Greg Lucas’ last Capitol Lowdown column.

That’s pretty exciting, particularly as the world moves deeper into the digital age. But the State Librarian also gets to tell stories about how important and vital libraries are to California and its communities and, even more awesome and essential, are the librarians who bring those places for learning and personal growth to life. E.B. White, the Charlotte’s Web and Elements of Style guy, said this: “A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people—people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.”

California’s 1,115 public libraries and the several thousand others at universities, community colleges and public schools aren’t just about books. They’re about connections.

In many parts of the state, libraries are lifelines. Californians go to public

libraries to get important information like state and federal tax forms. To fill out job applications. To enroll in the Affordable Care Act. To hold meetings. To seek haven in a sketchy neighborhood.

We’ve invested many hundreds of millions in this statewide network of places of safety and study. Places that provide anyone who walks through the door with a cornucopia of connections online or in-hand.

Part of the State Librarian’s job is helping that network reach and then expand its potential. Just trying to do that is going to generate a lot of good for a lot of Californians, old, young and in between.

One of the greatest lovers of libraries is Ray Bradbury, who used a rental typewriter in the basement of a UCLA library to create Fahrenheit 451—one dime for each half hour.

Bradbury says it all, as he usually does, with simplicity and style: “Without libraries what have we?

We have no past and no future.”

The State Librarian is, de facto, an advocate for literacy. First of all, literacy is good for the library business. Second, like libraries and other centers of learning, increased literacy—financial, digital or otherwise—builds a better world.

Speaking of building a better world, one of the most attractive parts of being State Librarian is getting back on the barricades, being a foot soldier en la revolución.

It’s probably not something to admit before facing confirmation by the state Senate, but, hidden in plain sight, libraries are hotbeds of social change, unapologetic and unflagging fomenters of rebellion. Always have been. Always will be.

It’s no coincidence that information Karl Marx found in London and Manchester libraries is central to his Communist Manifesto, written shortly after he quarreled with Groucho and quit the family act.

Libraries convert every person who enters into an agent of change.

Like Mark Twain says, just being in them we absorb the contents—even if we don’t touch a screen, click a mouse or crack a cover. Libraries brim with ideas, ripe for the picking.

Who knows what just one of those ideas, nurtured by imagination and drive, will grow into?

Information is power. An open book is an open mind.

Hasta la victoria siempre! Ω

Sacramento Vedanta Reading Group

A strong move

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

Bites was the only reporter inside last week’s strong-mayor debate When the AstroTurf group Sacramento Tomorrow rebooted the strong-mayor effort last year, it said it had nothing to do with Kevin Johnson.

And yet there was Boss Johnson on Wednesday night, March 26, at a town hall meeting, saying, “I hope you will support me in November” with a vote to approve the strong-mayor plan.

Arvin Johnson tag-teamed with Senate

by CoSmo G President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and cos mog@ n ewsrev iew.c om Iron Workers Local 118 president Kevin Ferreira, facing off against former Mayor Heather Fargo, Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education candidate Anna Molander, and Oak Park activist Michael Benjamin.

The forum was put on by SEIU Local 1000, the state workers’ union. It was standing-room only and open to the public. But at the request of the mayor’s people, reporters were turned away at the door. Well, some reporters were turned away. Hell with that.

You know the basics of the strong-mayor plan by now. It would make the mayor an executive separate from the city council. He would introduce the budget and could veto any action by the city council. The council would need a super-duper majority of six out of eight votes to override—giving the mayor a much stronger veto than the California governor or the U.S. president. The mayor would hire and fire the city manager, making him the head of the city bureaucracy. The council’s power would be token at best, more likely they’d be a rubber stamp for whoever sits in the mayor’s office.

It’s never been clear what real-world problem the strong-mayor plan is supposed to fix. Johnson’s special brand of word salad doesn’t help. “What it all boils down to is this: At the end of the day, you have two different visions.

And I would ask you to allow Sacramento to evolve with this vision going forward, where we can take our community to the next level.”

Got that?

Johnson’s teammate Ferreira told the union crowd that strong mayor would mean more construction projects and more project-labor agreements for his members. Like the one the trade unions struck with the Sacramento Kings to build an NBA arena. “In L.A. and in the Bay Area, it’s working fine. There are project-labor agreements all over the place,” Ferreira said, noting both of those cities have executivemayor systems.

Steinberg didn’t contribute much to the debate, other than grumpiness. This was the same Wednesday that news broke of state Sen. Leland Yee’s jaw-dropping indictment for gun running and corruption—the third corruption case to blow up on Steinberg’s watch in recent months.

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

“I’m Darrell Steinberg, and I’ve had a really rough day,” Steinberg joked at the beginning of the town hall. It really didn’t get any better for the next couple of hours. Steinberg has said he’s considering a run for mayor, and probably feels a strong-mayor system would better suit him.

Bites wonders if his time arguing for strong mayor could have been more productively spent attending to issues at his current job.

Probably the most cogent argument coming from the “yes” side was Steinberg’s complaint that the mayor is elected citywide, but has no more power than a single council person. And Team K.J. rightly points out that five of the eight largest California cities have an executivemayor form of government. But that’s a numbers trick. Take the top 10 California cities, and they’re evenly split between strong mayor and the kind of council-manager government that Sacramento has now. So what?

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It’s never been clear what real-world problem the strong-mayor plan is supposed to fix.

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And Johnson wasted points by saying things like, “The Sacramento City Charter has not been modernized in about 100 years.” That’s just false. Does he not think statements like that will be fact-checked?

Oh, right. Despite the SEIU’s bizarre and dumb decision to agree to a reporter ban, the mayor wasn’t really in friendly territory.

When Fargo quipped, “I don’t see how you can get a quarter-billion dollars for an arena and then complain that you don’t have enough power,” she got big applause. Fargo also brought up the fact that Johnson and his council colleagues denied a public referendum on the arena project, even though the city’s “sports policy” explicitly calls for a public vote. That’s a strong move right there.

“We can’t allow the power of our neighborhoods to get sucked away by the wealthy and well-connected,” said Molander. And Benjamin pushed back against the argument for a unified “vision” coming down from the mayor. “I voted my council person in. If their ‘vision’ is different than the other eight members, it is what it is,” he said, adding: “We need more trickle-up politics, not more trickle-down politics.”

Bites wonders if the strong-mayor boosters will keep using Johnson as pitchman. They probably shouldn’t. If they do, next time they should make sure there aren’t any reporters in the room. Ω

STORY

The whole world is your own.

— Sri Sarada Devi

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him when he opened The House in Midtown. Her passion is working in the community, including volunteering at Leataata Floyd Elementary School and leading The House’s Breakaway Summer Camp. Ashlei and Grant love being part of a diverse church that cares for its community.

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www.thehousechurchsac.com | 916.706.2337 14 | SN&R | 04.03.14

Avoiding doom The future of our economy is dependent upon the successful implementation of health-care reform Seeing Covered California executive director Peter Lee and California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Diana S. Dooley having breakfast last week at Fox & Goose, I congratulated them on California’s successful rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Over the last several months, the state has signed up more than a million residents for health insurance through Covered California, and an additional 1.5 million through Medi-Cal. Dooley thanked me, then said something like, “It helps to be graded on a curve.”

Other states have had more problems. While the L rollout in California may not have been smooth, it

by Jeff VonkAene was historic—significantly increasing the number j e ffv @ne wsr e v ie w.c o m of insured Californians in a very short time. Many families who were previously unable to receive medical treatment have been helped tremendously.

But the ACA is not just about providing health insurance for those who did not have it before. The ACA is designed to completely overhaul the United States health-care system. Why? If we don’t fix the health-care system, our economy is doomed.

The United States cannot compete in the world market unless we fix our health-care system. We are already spending nearly 18 percent of our gross domestic product on health care. Other industrial countries spend between 6 and 12 percent. Despite paying significantly more, we have more uninsured people and worse health outcomes. And as If we don’t fix the if that’s not bad enough, baby health-care system, boomers, despite their protests, are aging, putting more strain our economy upon the health-care system. is broken. is doomed. TheInsystem an interview I had with Dooley in August 2012, she talked about the three-legged stool of the ACA: The first leg being extended coverage, the second being the reduction of costs and the third being more emphasis on prevention.

The ACA has a wide array of cost-saving reforms that To see comparisons between countries will transform our health-care system. Paying for outcomes on health-care instead of incentivizing doctors to perform often needless costs, health risks and life procedures, opening health clinics that will allow us to expectancy, go to provide more cost-effective health care, increasing the http://tinyurl.com/ percentage of general practitioners and decreasing the comparecountries. number of specialists, improving record-keeping, expanding job responsibilities of nurses and nurse practitioners, and many other much-needed reforms.

Implementing these reforms will be difficult. Why? Because every dime saved by reform is a dime out of someone’s pocket. A pocket that is usually attached to a very nice suit. These suits are worn by the lobbyists and political donors who will do everything in their power to protect that dime and that suit.

The future of our economy and the health of our citizens Jeff vonkaenel is the president, is dependent upon the successful implementation of the CEO and ACA reforms. These reforms should be debated. They majority owner of the News & Review could be improved. But it is irresponsible to attack the ACA newspapers in without presenting an alternative to the current system. Our Sacramento, Chico current system will undoubtedly bankrupt our government and Reno. and our economy, while providing inferior health care compared to other countries. Ω

This Modern World

by tom tomorrow

Build Safe Ground Homelessness can seem like an intractable problem. But one model that’s worked in numerous cities is service-enriched housing. These programs provide the chronically homeless with not just a place to live, but also access to supportive services they need to cope with substance-abuse issues, disabilities and health problems—which are the most common causes of homelessness.

Such programs are hopeful, humane and cost-effective. They reduce the expensive incarcerations and emergency-room visits that many homeless people experience on a regular basis.

That’s why it’s so encouraging to learn that Safe Ground Sacramento, a coalition of local homelessness leaders, is working with Sacramento City Councilman Allen Warren on plans to build a cottage-style development in north Sacramento.

This Safe Ground Model Community would provide transitional housing and basic services for up to 100 chronically homeless individuals.

To make this happen, Safe Ground will need roughly $3 million, 2.5 acres of land, and the support of not only Warren and his colleagues on the city council, but also the community at large.

We urge readers to join in building a consensus on this important project. Ω

Limit concealed weapons More guns and more gun violence: That’s California’s future if recent court decisions striking down local law enforcement’s discretion over concealed-weapons permits are allowed to stand.

In the latest blow to common-sense gun regulation, a federal court struck down Yolo County’s policy requiring citizens to show “good cause” before receiving a concealed-carry weapon permit.

The decision followed a federal court ruling in a San Diego County case that essentially requires law enforcement to adopt “shall issue” policies in which an applicant’s desire to carry a gun is considered reason enough to issue a permit.

As a result, CCW applications are surging across the state, and law-enforcement agencies have little alternative except to approve them and put more guns on the streets. The problem with this should be obvious: Firearms have a disturbing tendency to escalate routine disagreements into deadly violence. Studies have shown that shallissue laws correlate with increases in aggravated assault, and requiring law enforcement to issue CCW permits in the absence of any demonstrated need is a prescription for increased gun violence.

It’s true that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms, but like all rights, this must be subject to reasonable limitations. It is reasonable and necessary to give law enforcement some discretion over CCW permits. We support Attorney General Kamala Harris’ challenge to the shall-issue ruling and hope to work for sensible limitations on concealed weapons following her successful appeal. Ω

Earn your vote “In a democracy, people get the government they deserve.”

—Alexis de Tocqueville

It would also raise the value of the vote.

Tea partiers are fond of reminding others that freedom isn’t free—and they’re right. Except It doesn’t matter if you chant Neil Young while that wearing a ribbon or holding a placard isn’t a occupying Wall Street or dress like Benjamin legitimate method of payment, either.

Franklin to oppose public health care; many At one time, the idea of earning citizenship of us can agree that our treasured American wasn’t radical. Even conservative science-fiction democracy is broken—gridlocked and infected author Robert A. Heinlein broached the subject by money and interests that are alien to the in his classic novel Starship Troopers back in common individual.

1959. No democratic superpower can survive the As Jimmy Carter so entitlement, apathy or ignorance eloquently put it in his of its people and remain strong, What impact “Law Day” address at just and honorable. the University of Georgia would it have if With great power does come in 1974, these forces great responsibility, as a certain either military or represent our chambers of neighborhood web slinger once community service commerce without ever learned. Asking a little more worrying about represent- was required of the citizenry, which plays ing the customers of a major role in a democracy, before you could commerce. could help ensure that our I don’t entirely know government is equal to that either vote or run how to solve this probresponsibility. for office? lem, but I do have one This wouldn’t be conscripidea: What if everyone in tion. If you wish to remain America had to earn their citizenship? on the sidelines, fine. You can still vote for What impact would it have if either military American Idol. or community service was required before you Don’t get me wrong: I want everyone to vote could either vote or run for office? Join the in political elections. I want everyone to believe Army, teach inner-city youth, serve in Peace in America. I just want us to do the American Corps or AmeriCorps—any of these voluntary thing and earn it. options would prove you could put your counWho knows, we might just create a try’s needs before your own. government that finally deserves us. Ω

by

Scott M. Bruner

scott M. Bruner is a writer of interactive fiction living in Alameda.

An online version of this essay can be found at www.newsreview.com/ sacramento/ pageburner/blogs.

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Try out a masterpiece and do some mingling when Sacramento favorite Rachel Barton Pine returns for a performance of Glazunov’s lyrical and demanding Violin Concerto, followed by the raw power of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7.

Enjoy sharing this new experience with other young professionals at the pre-performance cocktail reception.

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Waiting to

ExhAlE

by Jonathan Mendick

jonathanm@newsreview.com

E-cigs, lounges and labs. As Sac’s vaping industry heats up, will regulation efforts sound an alarm?

B

arWest’s air looms thick and humid on a recent Sunday afternoon. The inside of the Midtown bar smells like candy, cigars and menthol, and the room’s suffused with a smoky haze as several people crowd into one corner, watching a young woman named Emily participate in a “cloud competition.”

Emily inhales deeply and then spews a 5-foot plume of smoke across the room. The crowd emits a collective “ooh” with an intensity that suggests both shock and respect.

“Did you hear?” she says later to a friend, barely able to contain her excitement. “I got third!”

Emily’s not the winner today, but the crowd still cheers with wild enthusiasm for every contestant—including the eventual champion, a young man who goes by the name Chewbacca.

While each contestant seems to have produced the same 5 feet of smoke, the three contest judges still award Chewbacca first place.

Maybe it’s the name.

Technically, however, this isn’t smoke, because e-cigarettes, or e-cigs, don’t burn anything. Instead, they heat a flavored liquidnicotine solution until it turns into vapor.

And the crowd here today proves just how popular it’s become in Sacramento over the last year. Several hundred have turned up for the first Capitol Vape Meet, and the scene seemingly represents the entire cross section of Sacramento’s vaping community: a multiethnic crowd of mostly young 20- and 30-somethings, and a few older folks, too. A young man sporting a chest-length beard sits on the bar’s patio, smoking a large e-cigarette. Others wear T-shirts that read “Eat. Drink. Vape.”

Elsewhere, a middle-aged couple peruses free samples of liquid vapor—or e-juice—with names like Hawaiian Sunshine and Purple Mist.

Upstairs, young men and women blow clouds of steam while playing beer pong. It looks like any really hip frat party.

A hip party that Sacramento’s crashing pretty late.

“Vaping has been around for a while, [but] this is new to Sacramento,” says VaPour House co-owner Sam Chao.

For years now, big and small businesses worldwide, including tobacco companies, have been jumping into the fray to cash in on the growing trend. Dozens of Sacramento-area e-cig businesses opened in the past few years, and venues such as Vapor Parlor, Vapor Lounge and The Vapor Spot v5.0 are popular hangouts. But governments are still working out how to regulate it, and researchers are still studying possible health risks.

All the while, Sacramento’s growing e-cig community steams forward.

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Christopher “Pong” Encina, a “vape-tender” at VaPour House, exhales an e-cig.

The vaping tools of the trade (middle): vaporizer cartridges and bottles of e-juice.

VaPour House employee Ashley Jones (bottom) at the Capitol Vape Meet at BarWest in March.

20 | SN&R | 04.03.14

Triumph of The quiTTers photos by lovelle harris

VaPour House can be hard to find, but many locals who vape know about it. It’s located behind and connected to Pour House, the Midtown bar and restaurant owned by Trevor Shultz, who also co-owns the vaping spot with Chao. Like its neighbor, VaPour House has a few beer taps. But most who sit at its wooden bar instead sample one of 107 e-juice flavors on a midweek afternoon. A guy at the bar points out that in a glass case in the corner, there’s a shiny new Zodiac, an e-cigarette model from Korea, and also a Poldiac, from Greece. The most expensive one, the Hammer, sells for $265.

Chao’s been busy running the venue since its soft opening in October 2013. After a meeting, he barely has a chance to talk during a vape break before his phone starts vibrating again. In a few minutes, he’ll grab the phone, sell a handful of e-cig parts, and type the order into a computer. Then he’ll instruct another employee on how to train a newly hired e-juice “vape-tender.”

But first, he takes intermittent puffs of an e-cig and glances at his phone while describing the first time he tried it. Chao was once a social smoker. But he says that changed about a yearand-a-half ago.

“When I discovered vaping, I thought it was the coolest thing ever,” he says. “I don’t smoke much, but I’d rather vape, because I feel better vs. smoking, and I wake up feeling great.”

The history of vaping is as murky as the steam it produces.

According to Chao and various articles, it was a Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik who invented e-cigs in 2003. The Los Angeles Times reported that Hon’s dad died of cancer, and he wanted to help others break the habit.

He patented the invention in the same year, and is now CEO of a multimillion-dollar Chinese company that produces them.

Still, others point out that Herbert A. Gilbert first patented a battery-powered “smokeless nontobacco cigarette” in 1963, but the product was never successfully commercialized.

Whatever the origin, they didn’t become popular until battery technology helped make e-cigs easier to use. They flooded Asian and European markets in the mid and late 2000s before hitting the United States. Now, e-cigs are nearly a $1.5 billion industry globally, according to a February article in Bloomberg Businessweek magazine. Of course, that pales in comparison to the tobacco industry, which generates about half-a-trillion dollars annually, according to the same article. Several big tobacco companies such as Lorillard Tobacco Company, Altria Group and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company are now starting to produce e-cigs, too.

But it’s not only attracting customers who are trying to quit smoking. Data from the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed that use of e-cigarettes more than doubled among middle-school and high-school youth from 2011 to 2012. Yet, during the same time period, the number of young tobacco smokers decreased. Still, in total, the study estimated that 1.78 million students used an e-cig in 2012.

And if the trend continues, that number will grow in the next report.

“It’s picking up,” says Chao.

Quitters and students certainly aren’t the only ones buying into the e-cig trend. At Vapor City on Auburn Boulevard in Sacramento, manager Alex Feirman says he once had an obese

customer come in for a specific flavor of e-juice to help curb her appetite. That’s rare, though.

One afternoon, a man with a leathery, prematurely wrinkled face, sleeveless T-shirt and a gritty, deep voice enters the store and asks Feirman for a bottle of e-juice.

“How long’s that lasting you?” says Feirman.

“Not very long,” says the customer.

Feirman instructs him to turn the power of the e-cigarette down to a smaller voltage and take drags less often. That way he can eventually use less nicotine.

The man says he’s a lifelong smoker trying to quit. Later, Feirman says most customers are like him.

But there’s a completely different type of e-cig consumer at the Capitol Vape Meet where the average attendees are mostly young, certainly not old enough to be lifetime smokers yet. This group is a relatively new subculture of nonsmokers that generally use zero-nicotine e-juice, explains Chao. Though many of them normally communicate and trade products via online forums and social networks, many here are getting a first chance to buy and trade e-cigs in person.

“It’s a lifestyle for them. It’s a hobby,” says Chao. “It’s a crew that’s got members now. It’s a culture.”

Plus, they don’t use mainstream “disposable” e-cigs like Blu or Njoy. Or even intermediate e-cigs like eGo or Vision. Many of these young vape enthusiasts use advanced e-cigs called “mods” (short for modifications) or “unicorns,” which are generally thicker, contain custom metal elements and emit much more vapor.

Yes, of course the nascent world of vaping even has its own slang.

At the very least, e-cig advocates say it’s a culture of young people that would otherwise pick up a cigarette.

The juice craze VaPour House is the only store within a 25-mile radius to carry a line of e-juice manufactured by the Lincoln-based company Luxe Liquid Vapors. Run by Zach and Karra Lefler, it’s the largest e-juice maker in town and supplies liquid vapor to more than two-dozen e-cig shops nationally.

They’re currently in the process of moving into a new 2,500 square-foot space about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento. And they’re experiencing a 450-percent growth rate per month, according to Karra, who operates the business end of the company and goes on sales runs.

One Sunday afternoon in March, Karra leads a tour of the facility. She wears a white lab coat, has long blond hair, and sports a colorful mosaic tattoo of skulls, flowers and flames on her right arm. Zach, a tall man with a wellmanicured beard and friendly South Carolina accent, says everyone who enters the lab must also wear a lab coat.

Hundreds of bottles sit across across a wall, all organized by nicotine content: 6 milligrams on the left, 12 in the middle and 18 on the right.

Each group contains dozens of flavors. Several companies make formulas that contain up to 36 milligram nicotine content e-juice, but Luxe doesn’t because the Leflers say they don’t want to cause harm—once a friend was hospitalized for nicotine poisoning with symptoms that included a nausea and a racing heart after using a different company’s e-juice.

“Allowing e-CigArettes where other smoking is prohibited leAds to Confusion thAt undermines smoke-free poliCies.”

Steve Hansen Sacramento City Council, on a potential e-cigarette ban “It’s basically overdosing on nicotine,” says Zach. “If it’s severe enough, it could cause a heart attack.”

Zach also points out that Luxe products use organic nicotine and food flavoring, and organic, kosher-certified vegetable glycerin. The other ingredient is propylene glycol.

After the tour, the pair sits down with six cartridges of Luxe e-juice flavors at an office table, one room over from the laboratory. Here, Zach drips e-juice onto the heating coil of a shiny metal e-cig. It’s a flavor sampling. A glossy sheet of paper that looks like a wine menu shows four categories: fruity, savory, menthol and tobacco. The top seller, a fruity one called Purple Mist, is “a combination of pomegranate and blueberry,” says Zach. The second mostpopular, a savory named Adonis, is described as “banana bread.” They taste exactly as advertised.

It all started back when Zach decided to quit smoking in 2011. He was a chain-smoker, and says he quit a pack-a-day habit within four days of switching to an eGo e-cig. A month later, Karra also quit her tobacco-cigarette BEFORE

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habit in three days. They’d tried many other conventional ways of quitting, but only e-cigs did the job.

“It’s a mind game when you’re quitting,” says Karra. “You really have to be on top of the thoughts that are going through your mind … without panicking and [getting] stressed out dropping all this nicotine. If you do it the right way of tapering down, you can get down really quickly.”

Soon after they quit, friends and family began asking to help them order e-cigs. That’s when they knew they had a business idea.

They started an online e-cigarette and e-juice distribution company. One day, Karra discovered a flavor she really liked, but it was made in China, and she couldn’t find out what was in it.

So she asked Zach—who spent 12 years training as a chef in North and South Carolina before joining the military and moving to Northern California—to replicate it.

He did it on the first try.

The couple stopped distributing e-cigs and launched Mad Hatter Vaping in November 2012.

The company quickly expanded and, with the help of silent investors, launched Luxe Liquid Vapor in November 2013 at VaPour House’s grand opening.

Now, the company has eight employees— although Zach’s still the only one making the e-juice—expanding from its original 450-squarefoot shop to the current, much larger space.

Luxe’s vinyl laboratory floors are certified by the National Sanitation Foundation, and the climate-controlled room runs high-efficiency

F E AT U R E

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particulate absorption—or HEPA—air filters.

Absolutely no vaping is allowed in the lab. No one asked or required the Leflers to do any of this. The entire e-juice industry is still, for the most part, self-regulated.

“You get a lot of pop-ups ... [who’ve] walled off [a] garage and turned it into a lab,” says Zach.

The Leflers also claim they’ve heard of studies about some e-juice products having possibly dangerous chemicals such as triacetin, so they make sure to stay away from using that.

“They are finding trace elements of this and that, but it’s so small that you’re going to breathe it in somewhere [else], so it’s not going to be damaging to be around it,” Zach says.

On the other hand, they praise Johnson Creek Enterprises, a Wisconsin-based company certified by the International Organization for Standardization as a “quality management system” but still in the process of gaining Food and Drug Administration approval.

Even though no e-juice company has yet to earn an FDA approval stamp, the Leflers maintain it’s still safer with fewer chemicals than smoking cigarettes—both first- and secondhand.

“You’re still doing much better than smoking a cigarette,” says Karra.

Just do the math, Zach adds.

“You figure there’s on average 16,000 chemicals per cigarette, and in the juice we make, [there are] zero,” he says. “Yes, you’re

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still getting nicotine. But there are worse things for your body.”

Clouding the room Talk to anyone who smokes an e-cigarette, and he or she will probably tell you the same thing: It’s a lot less dangerous than smoking.

“Super safe,” says Chao. “Ask Hon Lik. …

His whole intention was to invent something to protect the public from cigarettes.”

Still, most researchers don’t want to jump to conclusions quite so fast. Michael Schivo, assistant professor of internal medicine at UC Davis and author of an October 2013 scientific review, said in a recent press release that no nicotine product should ever be considered safe.

“There isn’t enough research yet on the comparative risks or benefits of e-cigarettes, making it difficult to have meaningful conversations with patients about whether or not they are appropriate alternatives to conventional cigarettes,” he said in the press release.

Yet, the FDA has long classified the two main e-juice ingredients—vegetable glycerin, commonly used as a food sweetener, and propylene glycol, used as a food solvent—

“eXhAle”

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A crowd gathers in the corner of the room at BarWest to watch a cloud competition at the Capitol Vape Meet.

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Iced delight See DISH

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“eXhale”

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Spitting words See COOLHUNTING

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as “generally recognized as safe.” Some doctors also say e-cigs are just as safe as other smoking-cessation options.

Government entities are still looking for more research, too. But that hasn’t stopped them from starting to regulate them anyway in an effort to prevent possible health risks.

In the past month, the cities of Davis and Rancho Cordova drafted legislation to ban them everywhere cigarettes are banned. The cities of Folsom, Roseville and Sacramento are also looking into e-cigs, but don’t have any concrete timelines on any regulations.

However, Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen may eventually take on the issue.

He’s currently working on an ordinance to ban cigarettes on restaurant patios in an effort to protect outdoor diners and workers in the food-service industry. But while Hansen says he’s heard complaints about e-cigarettes and is researching them, he’s not sure if he’s ready to include them in his ordinance.

At the same time, Hansen says he understands the concern.

“Allowing e-cigarettes where other smoking is prohibited leads to confusion that undermines smoke-free policies, and potentially harmful effects from secondhand exposure remain,” said Hansen. “It is something we are looking at closely.”

“Yes, You’re still getting nicotine. But there are worse things for Your BodY.” Zach Lefler co-owner, Luxe Liquid Vapors Several Bay Area cities, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City have passed laws that restrict vaping in public. Meanwhile, the FDA is gathering “voluntary reports” of e-cigs’ adverse effects, and intends to regulate it as a tobacco product, according to the organization’s website. However, unlike tobacco products, e-cig advertising is still unregulated. Hence television advertisements for Blu e-cigarettes featuring Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy.

Many states—including California, Washington and Arizona—have already banned sales to minors, but others, such as Oregon, Nevada and Montana, still allow them.

Regardless, a kid in Sacramento can still easily get an e-cig legally online—a loophole that California Assemblyman Roger Dickinson aims to close with Assembly Bill 1500, proposed in January.

“Because there is no physical presence of the seller with the buyer, it’s easy for a 22 | SN&R | 04.03.14

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Captain of industry See FILM

young person who is not legally eligible to buy tobacco products or e-cigarettes to do so,” he said during a press conference announcing the bill. “A.B. 1500 will make it impossible for young people to order e-cigarettes or other tobacco products online, thereby safeguarding them from the dangers of smoking.”

Many local businesses are already wary of selling to minors and regularly card buyers.

Chao and others in the industry say they welcome testing and regulation in order to protect the public’s health.

“We actually want regulations,” says Zach Lefler.

Karra agrees: “Because it would get rid of the other companies that are putting crummy stuff in their liquid.”

If and when national regulations come, the Leflers are confident they’ll pass. They’d apply for FDA certification now, they say, but it’s an expensive process. In the end, they want e-cigs to be seen how they view them: a safe way of quitting smoking.

“We’re trying to get away from this stigma,” says Karra. “It’s not smoke. It’s vape.

It’s steam.”

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Blue Lamp reboot See 15 MINUTES

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Karra Lefler displays her company’s— called Luxe Liquid Vapor—products at the Capitol Vape Meet.

e-smoking allowed Although Sacramento’s vaping industry isn’t quite as big as others, it’s definitely growing.

From the Capitol Vape Meet, a few people wander down J Street to Vapor Spot—part of a chain of Los Angeles-based vapor bars— holding its soft opening on the same day. The Leflers estimate it’s joining a group of about 50 or 60 related businesses already in the Sacramento area.

Vaping has its allies, too. Some local businesses such as Folsom Lake Bowl Entertainment Center display signs that read “Smoking prohibited, e-smoking allowed.”

BarWest, on the other hand, doesn’t usually allow vaping inside because, according to a security guard, “people don’t like getting smoke blown in their face.”

“What it comes down to is etiquette,” says Karra. “If you’re sitting down having dinner, unless it’s advertised that vaping is OK, don’t use your e-cig and blow the biggest cloud of smoke that you can.”

But the question remains: What happens next with regulation?

No one knows for sure. But Chao thinks the e-cig trend will survive. He reasons that people who are trying to quit smoking will keep using them, even if they’re banned in public places along with cigarettes. Everyone will easily adapt, and vaping culture will persist, he says.

Meanwhile, the industry will pump out newer and better e-cigs.

“Now they have an [e-cig] device that has Bluetooth … [and] it connects to your phone, so if you’re vaping and your phone’s going off, you hit a button, and you can talk and vape at the same time,” says Chao.

He’s excited about the prospects.

“I’m looking to be around this industry for a long time.” Ω

photo by jonathan mendick

For the week of April 3

wEEkLY PICkS

Assemble: An Avengers Quiz Thursday, april 3 It’s a plot worthy of Loki himself: Geeks Who Drink’s Avengers-themed quiz hits on the eve of the release of Captain America: The TRIVIA Winter Soldier, the latest superhero flick from Marvel Comics. Happening concurrently in 21 other cities, most questions will be about the Marvel movies, but prepare for nods to comicbook lore (like, what was Jack Kirby smoking?). $5, 8 p.m. at Capitol Garage, 1500 K Street; www.geekswhodrink.com.

—Raheem F. Hosseini

The Laramie Project Through saTurday, april 5 This play chronicles a small town in Wyoming and its people’s experiences during the year after a vicious hate crime resulted in one young man’s death. Now, 15 years later, this widely produced play still provides a necessary look at this nation’s THEATER views on discrimination and tolerance. $10-$17, 7 p.m. at the Benvenuti Performing Arts Center, 4600 Blackrock Drive; (916) 491-1028; www.benarts.org.

—Jessica Rine

Duct tape creations saTurday, april 5 Few things exhibit a devil-may-care attitude more than a wallet made out of duct tape. Show off your frugal and crafty side by creating a wallet, purse or cellphone cover out of the duraCRAFTS ble adhesive. Free, 1:30 p.m. at the Franklin Community Library, 10055 Franklin High Road in Elk Grove; (916) 264-2920; www.saclibrary. org/locations/franklin.

—Deena Drewis

Northern California Beard and Moustache Competition saTurday, april 5

I

t’s always beer o’clock somewhere in the world.

And it’s definitely felt like beer o’clock in Sacramento recently.

With Sacramento Beer Week, Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s Day behind us, we now turn our attention to a trio of lower-key but still pretty cool beer-related events.

Ever thought: “I want to go to an event that combines testicles, beer and wakeboarding?”

Me neither, but the Sacramento Ball Sack & Beer Fest might make me change my mind about that.

It takes place on Saturday, April 5, from noon to 5 p.m., and

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the event features 30 Northern California breweries (including Berryessa Brewing Co., 21st Amendment Brewery and Rubicon Brewing Company), food vendors (Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen, Beach Hut Deli, and Ink Eats & Drinks), and family-friendly carnival-style games. And it takes place at Wake Island (7633 Locust Road in Pleasant Grove), so attendees can watch wakeboarders in action. By the way, it’s a fundraiser for testicular-cancer research and awareness, thus the “Ball Sack.” Tickets cost $10-$30, depending on how many beer samples you want, and parking is $5. |

F E AT U R E

Pub quizzes are difficult, especially when contestants have had a few too many drinks. But the Mastermind Treasure Hunts’ (www.master mindhunts.com) pub-hunt format helps solve that problem. It starts at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, at Cesar Chavez Plaza (910 I Street), and participants will receive a series of clues that must be solved in order to lead them to the final location, a local watering hole. The first team of three to five people to the endpoint wins a round of drinks. It costs $10 per person to participate.

If you want a festival that’s all about the tradition of beer,

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The golden era of facial hair lives on, which is good news for everyone sticking it to the man by not shaving. Enter your FACIAL HAIR own ’stache or beard to win as the best in one of 15 categories, including Uber Stache and Whiskerina, whatever those may be. $8-$15, 5 p.m. at the California State Railroad Museum, 125 I Street; www.facebook.com/ themustacheandbeardsocialclub.

then head to Sacramento Turn Verein’s Bockbierfest . It celebrates the German Bockbier, with music (the Gruber Family Band, AKAlive Band), dancing (Alpentänzer Schuhplattler), and plenty to drink (beer, champagne, wine, coffee) and eat (a variety of German food).

It kicks off on Friday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m. with a keg tapping and flag march, and music and dancing from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

On Saturday, April 5, the celebration continues from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets cost $5-$20 per day. Purchase them in advance at www.sacramento turnverein.com.

—Deena Drewis

Scriptorium Saturday saTurday, april 5 A new series debuts just in time for National Poetry Month. Scriptorium Saturday is an opportunity for writers, speakers, poets and anyone else interested to come together and share their creative voices, elevate poetry and revel in POETRY words. Free, 6 p.m. at APS Graphic Center, 3925 Power Inn Road; www.facebook.com/ scriptoriumsaturday.

—Jessica Rine

—Jonathan Mendick

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EastEr Brunch 2014 Carved Prime Rib Au Jus

Eggs Benedict

Sautéed Salmon Julliette

Cheese & Fruit Blintzes

Aged Brie, Dried Cherries, Champagne & Cream

Braised Pork Shoulder

Caramelized Fennel, San Marzano Tomatoes, Garlic & Cabernet

Honey Glazed Ham & Smoked Bacon Roasted Red, Gold & Purple Potatoes

Spring Pasta

Spring Vegetables

Smoked Chicken Stir-Fry

Smoked Salmon & Chilled Seafood Display

Asparagus, Fava Beans, Grape Tomatoes, Button Mushrooms & Pecorino Cheese Shiitake Mushrooms, Sugar Snap Peas, Bok Choy & Carrots

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Fresh Fruit, Assorted Pastries & Desserts

Made to Order

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34.95 Adults | $31 Seniors | $16.95 Kids 5-12 | Under 5 Free

500 Leisure Lane | Sacramento, CA (916) 922–2020

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1801 l street • midtown sacramento, ca 9 16.4 4 3.10 10

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Our handmade pastries & bread are baked fresh daily!

Estelle’s Patisserie is a charming, warmly lit French-style bakery and espresso bar in the heart of Sacramento, dedicated to quality and our community. Using fresh, local ingredients to make our pastries and desserts from scratch every day, Estelle’s also offers breakfast and lunch items.

Located on the corner of 9th & K in downtown Sacramento

Open 7 days a week: Mon-Fri 7-5 | Sat and Sun 8-4 Wi-fi available

#estellespatisserie Jensaisushi.com | 2210 16th street | sacramento, ca | 916.443.8888 24

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Contact us at 551-1500 or via email at info@estellespatisserie.com

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All the frozen bits Tidbit Catering & Gelateria

to start your day

1907 Capitol Avenue, (916) 442-7369, www.letseat.at/tidbitcateringgelateria A few friends and I finally dipped into Tidbit Catering & Gelateria, a quaint spot on Capitol Avenue and 19th Street that we’ve passed by often by Garrett McCord enough yet never stopped in. We found the place manned by a single gent who courteously made us feel at home by plying us with samples of gelato. We also learned that chef Eric Lee has crafted an eclectic and Midtownfriendly menu that comes at a striking bargain.

Fried calamari are lightly seasoned with a crispy exterior and served with a marinara-ish bland sauce. Chips and salsa are available; the salsa comprises roasted veggies (with an rating: emphasis on tomatoes and poblanos) that are HHH 1/2 blackened and thick with flavor. The result is curiously divisive: Some of us thought dinner for one: it black gold, others considered it a crude $8 - $10 sludge.

A carrot-and-ginger soup possesses a slow burn, like the fistful of ginger opened your jaw and slapped your tongue with a hot iron. Yet the carrot’s sweetness is the perfect salve. More disquiet beset the table in the form of barley soup: Half of us adored the H flAwed texture and earthiness, while the other half found it achingly bitter from too much thyme HH hAs moments and lacking in salt.

Nachos should not have their ingredients HHH divided into sections, the chicken lying due AppeAling north, a coppice of black beans to the west, HHHH and lo the sole green mountain of guac to AuthoritAtive the south. My chip shouldn’t have to make a HHHHH pilgrimage through the sparse cheese wasteepiC lands to various shrines in order to achieve self-realization.

The carnitas tacos on the Tri-tilla Taco Platter are richer than a Zuckerberg offshore account, and while the crispy bits of pork are pleasant and lime is provided to cut through it all, it just isn’t right without some onions or pico de gallo to enliven it.

A chicken-lettuce wrap is sophisticated: a modest and responsible portion of food of moderate size and highlighted with slivers of cucumber and a shaking of vinegar.

The burger eschews the traditional bun Still hungry? search sn&r’s for lightly toasted focaccia. A genius move. “dining directory” Topped with fried onions, bacon, Jack cheese, to find local restaurants by name veggies and garlic aioli—which was where or by type of food. for the calamari?—it’s one of the more unique sushi, mexican, indian, burgers in town. italian—discover it Overall, the food isn’t bad, but it isn’t all in the “dining” section at great either, minus a few exceptions. Most of www.news it is middling, like a student with a “C’s get review.com. degrees” attitude. However, $10 gets you a main, a side and a generous scoop of gelato, so yayness there.

The frozen bits, however are where Tidbit really achieves.

Gelato (milk based) and sorbet (fruit based) are both available in astounding off-the-cuff flavors that mostly draw inspiration from Asian cuisines. A vanilla-and-adzuki-bean gelato tastes sweet and earthy, with a flavor reminiscent to Chinese moon cakes. A nutty BEFORE

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soy-based black-sesame-seed gelato is as rustic and charming as your favorite Instagram filter. In addition, I found myself drawn to both the pistachio and oatmeal flavors, the latter reminiscent of the Mother’s Cookies Iced Oatmeal cookies that your gran bought you, assuming you had a happy childhood.

Sorbetwise, the grapefruit is refreshing as can be, while the POG (passion fruit, orange, guava) is not only tart and fruity, but also a fun ride on the Wayback Machine for anyone who survived the ’90s and owned a Heavy Metal Slammer.

Try our signature drink: Ruby Fizz – Sparkling wine & Deep Eddy Ruby Red Vodka

A nutty soy-based black-sesame-seed gelato is as rustic and charming as your favorite Instagram filter.

What boggles my mind is why people aren’t lining up every single day for their gelato and sorbet.

Sacramento, I’ve heard you whine for a decent ice-cream store equivalent to San Francisco’s Bi-Rite Creamery—the kind of place that makes unique flavors on the premises at affordable prices.

So, here it is. Tidbit. The ice-cream place you wanted. Why aren’t you here forming lines around the block? Ω

1725 I Street • (916) 469-9574 Open 11am-12am (Sun-Thu) 11am-1am (Fri + Sat) • Happy Hour Mon-Fri 2pm-6pm

COMfORT, NOT CORPORATE

A cheap ploy and cheap meal

Breaking news: Nearly a year ago, a cheap ploy in the form of an embarrassing poem in this microcolumn was used to convince the owners of Pushkin’s Bakery (1820 29th Street) to include vegan cookies on their gluten- and dairy-free menu. There are now double-chocolate with walnuts and Russian tea cookies, so you’re welcome. In other news, Kaveri Madras Cuisine (1148 Fulton Avenue) offers masala dosas for five puny dollars on Wednesday nights. This 2-foot-long meal is twice as long and twice as delicious as similarly priced subs at those ubiquitous sandwich shops, so experts advise readers not to blow this choice. And finally, The V Word’s Eye in Sky copter spotted a sign on Stockton Boulevard announcing that an eatery called Every Vegan is coming soon. Stay tuned for more details as they develop.

STORY

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311 Judah Street Roseville, CA 916.786.6655

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Downtown Darna This Palestinian restaurant

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.

serves an excellent baba ghanoush that, instead of being blended into a smooth paste, is served chunky and studded with eggplant seeds. Its smoky, deep flavor is balanced out by a lemony brightness, and it’s good on the somewhat flabby pita bread with which it’s served, but it’s even better on the house-made za’atar bread. Chicken-breast kebabs are not particularly flavorful but have some char from the grill, while the falafel and chicken shawarma are underwhelming. Do order a side of tabbouleh salad, however. It’s pretty to look at—bright-green chopped parsley studded with white grains of bulgur—and tastes refreshing. Palestinian.

925 K St., (916) 447-7500. Dinner for one: $15-$25. HHH B.G.

Mother It’s no secret that Mother is a vegetarian-vegan restaurant, but this is not just a place that replaces the meat in a meal. Instead, Mother celebrates an endless array of fresh vegetables and grains.

The chile verde here comprises chunky potatoes, pinto beans and hominy for a “meaty” texture. Try it topped with a soft-poached egg, and stir the yolk into the zingy chile sauce. Kale has been done almost to death, but Mother’s version is a take on the Waldorf salad that makes eating your greens easy.

Lots of golden raisins, celery,

walnuts and balls of apple with a bit of skin attached join dilled yogurt and baby kale. Dessert includes the now-legendary brown-butter and sea-salt cookies. Do yourself a favor and get some. Vegetarian.

1023 K St., (916) 594-9812.

Dinner for one: $10-$15.

HHHH1/2 AMR

Midtown The Coconut Midtown The food here travels a path between standard and inventive.

Cream-cheese wontons, for example, aren’t the epitome of culinary Southeast Asian traditions, but damn it if they aren’t delightful. Soft cream cheese and chives in a crispy wrapper and served with a sweet chili sauce? Nothing wrong with that. The chicken larb—a spicy minced-meat salad—is fragrant and intense. Mint, chilies, basil and iceberg lettuce are drenched in a spicy lime dressing punctuated with a heavy hand of fish sauce.

The Coconut has warnings in its menu about which dishes are spicy, but unless you’re a newborn kitten, trembling and mewling, you might not even be aware of the chilies in your food. Thai. 2502 J St., (916) 447-1855. Dinner for one: $10-$15. HHH1/2 G.M.

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) 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. The menu also features pizzas and housemade pastas, but one of its highlights includes an excellent smoked-eggplant baba ghanoush, which is smoky and garlicky. The bananas foster bread pudding is equally transcendent. American.

1630 S St., (916) 442-4885.

Dinner for one: $20-$40.

HHH1/2 AMR Thai Basil SN&R readers consistently vote this place among the city’s top Thai restaurants for this paper’s annual Best of Sacramento issue. And for good reason.

The restaurant’s tom yum soup may be one of the best foods served in the City of Trees. It features an incredibly savory broth with layers of flavor. Likewise, the tom kha gai—a coconut-broth soup—is a veritable panacea against Delta winds. Salads make up a large part of Thai cuisine and should not be

overlooked. Larb gai consists of simple shredded chicken over mixed greens, cucumber and tomatoes. Fresh mint and a chili-laden dressing heavy with fish sauce and vigorous squeezes of lime juice pull it all together for an addictive and satisfying lunch. One of Thai Basil’s true highlights is its homemade curry pastes.

These balanced constructions of basil, lemongrass, shallots, chilies, kaffir lime leaves and other ingredients, when roasted, have been known to drive hungry Sacramentans into a berserk craze. Service here is impeccable. Thai Basil has earned its reputation.

Thai. 2431 J St., (916) 442-7690.

Dinner for one: $10-$20.

HHHH G.M.

Land Park/ Curtis Park Spice Kitchen The menu here has a few tangential dishes like pad thai, but it’s mostly focused on Japanese cuisine, with a side menu of Chinese-American favorites.

Tasty options include the vegetable tempura, lightly fried with slices of Japanese sweet potato and yams. If you want ramen, the hot soup dish these days, try the red tonkotsu version: It’s served with lots of nicely chewy noodles, spinach and the requisite soft-boiled egg.

Spice Kitchen also serves bento boxes in lunch and dinner portions for a good price.

Here, diners get soup, rice, salad and tempura, as well as

classic

Ctoatyeourr California RAVING...

C craving

a meat of choice. Japanese.

1724 Broadway, (916) 492-2250. Dinner for one: $10-$15. HHH AMR

vanilla and epazote. Mexican.

3672 J St., (916) 736-2506.

Dinner for one: $20-$25.

HHHH AMR

East Sac

South Sac

Cielito Lindo Mexican Gastronomy

Kansai Ramen & Sushi House This

Instead of cheese-blanketed entrees, diners here can order upscale dishes such as enchiladas de mole: tortillas wrapped around amazingly moist, flavorful chicken, bathed in a housemade mole poblano. The sauce has a million wonderful flavors. The portions here are quite generous. A green salad with fruits and nuts was big enough for a meal, even without the optional meat or seafood topping. The restaurant’s empanaditas de salpicon con papas are little turnovers standing up amid a drizzle of ancho sauce.

The crust features a bit of leavening that makes it both crunchy and fluffy. The filling of beef, potatoes and vegetables tastes well-flavored and a bit spicy. Or try the tacos de arrachera—three soft tortillas enclose marinated strips of meltingly good steak, topped with roasted poblano chilies, lots of fresh cilantro and crema. They’re drippy, but worth every napkin. The menu is meatcentric, but the kitchen is vegetarian friendly as well. The crema de rajas poblanas, fully vegan and similar to a Mexican minestrone, is full of chickpeas, poblanos and onions in a rich broth uniquely flavored with

place serves its own take on ramen and sushi, with varying degrees of success. The kakuni ramen, which features three thick slices of braised pork belly in lieu of the house ramen’s thin slices of chashu, boasts a nice, sweet marinade; tender consistency; and copious flavor. Be sure to order noodles al dente, and it’ll make for a good option, even with its run-of-the-mill broth. Or amp it up with the spicy tan tan men, which uses a beefy and seafood-tinted soup base that teems with flavor. The sushi rolls here are Western style—a.k.a. loaded with toppings. Try the Mufasa roll. With crab and avocado on the inside and salmon and sauce outside, it’s particularly tasty, seasoned in sesame oil and baked—a somewhat unusual technique for sushi. Japanese.

2992 65th St., Ste. 288; (916) 455-0288. Dinner for one: $10-$20. HHH J.M.

Yang’s Noodles This is perhaps the only place in town that serves niu rou jian bing (sliced beef rolls)—a specialty of northern China—and the ones at Yang’s hit the spot. This is basically the Chinese version of a burrito: meat (thinly sliced beef marinated in soy

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West Sacramento Wicked West Pizza & BBQ This popular destination for kids’ sports teams and birthday parties also caters to adult diners with good food and healthy options, such as organic whole-wheat crusts.

Gluten-free and vegan choices are also available. With a texture closer to Chicago style than New York style, the pizzas are tasty but quite filling. Choose from house-made sauces and fresh toppings, or pick from one of the inventively named presets. The Old Lady is especially good, with pesto, potatoes, spinach, lots of veggies and a zingy balsamic drizzle. The biggest secret here, though, is the barbecue.

Wicked West delivers with shredded, tender meat that’s lightly smoky and tossed with a vinegar-based sauce. The pork ribs are dry-rubbed and toothsome, while the tri-tip is well cooked but leans toward a dry texture. Pizza/ Barbecue. 3160 Jefferson Blvd. in West Sacramento,

crust is chewy, but ultimately lacking in flavor. However, the tomato sauce makes up for the dough with a nice, spicy kick, and Roma’s doesn’t skimp on the toppings. The thin-crust pizza impresses: It’s light and crispy like a cracker and clearly is the superior option.

Italian. 6530 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Carmichael, (916) 488-9800.

Dinner for one: $10-$20.

HHH J.M.

(916) 572-0572. Dinner for one: $5-$10. HHH AMR

Arden/ Carmichael FreshMed Mediterranean Cuisine This restaurant broadens the definition of “Mediterranean.”

In addition to the usual options—gyros, hummus, falafel, etc.—it also serves dishes from a wide range of cultures. For example, FreshMed offers a $6 Indian and Pakistani lunch buffet.

Selections include stir-fried eggplant; curried chickpeas, lentils; and a creamy, spicy and hearty chicken tikka masala. The Mediterranean Nacho and chicken panini are examples of what the restaurant does well: culinary mashups that aren’t derivative, but instead rely heavily on flavor and innovation. The paninis are standouts: The bread is sweet, thicker than one might expect, and pressed nicely on a grill, with char marks on both sides. Mediterranean.

1120 Fulton Ave., Ste. I; (916) 486-1140. Dinner for one: $10-$20. HHH1/2 J.M.

Stirling Bridges Restaurant and Pub This British- and Scottishthemed gastropub offers an adequate beer selection and an extensive menu that goes beyond standard deep-fried pub fare. Try the Irish onion soup, a French onion-styled soup kicked up with Irish whiskey and Guinness beer. Or order the house-made veggie burger—it’s one of the tastiest black-bean patties around. The most unusual dish on the menu is the Scottish Mafia Pizza. Topped with turkey pastrami, potatoes, cabbage and Swiss cheese, it falls short with its too many flat flavors to actually benefit from their unusual pairing. Thankfully, there’s Tabasco sauce on the table. Pub. 5220 Manzanita Ave. in Carmichael, (916) 331-2337.

Dinner for one: $10-$20.

HHH1/2 J.M.

Roma’s Pizza & Pasta This eatery claims to serve “authentic Italian-style” food, but that’s only partially true when it comes to its pizza. That’s because it actually serves two types: one with the kind of thick, doughy crust usually found on an American-styled pizza, and another with a thinner crust, resembling a pie one might actually have in Italy. The thicker

North Highlands Kim Son Mongolian BBQ Vietnamese & Chinese Food It’s difficult to rate Mongolian barbecue by regular reviewing standards, because it’s the diner who chooses the ingredients and

IllustratIon by Mark stIvers

sauce) plus veggies (diced green onion, cucumber and cilantro) wrapped in a large, flat carbohydrate crepe (a thin pancake made out of flour, water and green onion).

Elsewhere on the menu, Yang’s eponymous noodles are homemade, alkaline and chewy. Chinese.

5860 Stockton Blvd., (916) 392-9988. Dinner for one: $10-$15. HHHH J.M.

seasoning and then gives them to the chef to prepare. But here’s what Kim Son does well: It stocks plenty of fresh veggies; thin slices of meat; thick, chewy chow mein noodles; about a dozen sauces (including cooking wine, ginger, teriyaki, and Sriracha sauces); and additional toppings (sesame seeds, minced garlic). Want to stick to the menu? Try the Kim Son Spicy Beef, seasoned with sha cha jiang, a sauce composed of minced garlic, chili, shrimp and other seasonings: It’s the best dish from an otherwise lackluster menu of Chinese food.

Chinese. 4980 Watt Ave. in North Highlands, (916) 331-8188. Dinner for one: $10-$15. HHH1/2 J.M.

Davis

Pizza for brunch

Raja’s Tandoor This place has long

Last month, I was eating a pizza somewhere on a patio Rome.

However, the reality of the present situation is I’m not on vacation anymore, and I need to reconcile the fact that I’m back in Sacramento with a newfound craving to eat pizza and drink beer for lunch every day. Well, thanks to Hot Italian (1627 16th Street), I can now at least eat authentic Italianstyle pizza and have a beer for brunch on weekends. Recently, I ordered a pretty amazing pizza off the brunch menu that very closely resembled one I ate in Italy: The Nibali—to which I added the suggested prosciutto di Parma—features eggs, mushrooms, spinach, mozzarella, crescenza cheese and Bariani truffle oil. I recommend asking for the eggs to be cooked over easy rather than scrambled just to make it seem a little more Roman. A presto, springtime brunch.

been a favorite with the area’s student population, thanks to its lunch buffet featuring multiple vegan and vegetarian options (dinner at Raja’s also won’t disappoint, by the way). The potato-and-pea samosas are a meal in and of themselves. It is highly recommended that you slather these with spicy chutney and seasoned raita. The chana masala here is one of the best dishes by far. It usually tends to feature a strong butter taste but is actually cooked with canola oil here—it’s vegan—and the tenderness of the chickpeas as well as the punch of the ginger and coriander makes it worth returning for. Indian.

207 Third St. in Davis, (530) 753-9664. Dinner for one: Less than $10. HHH1/2 G.M.

—Jonathan Mendick

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Theâ&#x20AC;&#x192;alternative-weeklyâ&#x20AC;&#x192;newspaperâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Bostonâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Phoenixâ&#x20AC;&#x192;onceâ&#x20AC;&#x192;praisedâ&#x20AC;&#x192; theâ&#x20AC;&#x192;groupâ&#x20AC;&#x192;asâ&#x20AC;&#x192;â&#x20AC;&#x153;theâ&#x20AC;&#x192;coolestâ&#x20AC;&#x192;(andâ&#x20AC;&#x192; cutest)â&#x20AC;&#x192; PERFORMANCE line-upâ&#x20AC;&#x192; ofâ&#x20AC;&#x192;talented,â&#x20AC;&#x192;tattooed,â&#x20AC;&#x192;pierced,â&#x20AC;&#x192;andâ&#x20AC;&#x192; purple-pigtailedâ&#x20AC;&#x192;performanceâ&#x20AC;&#x192;artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x192;theâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Bayâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Areaâ&#x20AC;&#x192;hasâ&#x20AC;&#x192;toâ&#x20AC;&#x192;offer.â&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x192; OK,â&#x20AC;&#x192;sure,â&#x20AC;&#x192;butâ&#x20AC;&#x192;thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sâ&#x20AC;&#x192;kindâ&#x20AC;&#x192;ofâ&#x20AC;&#x192; missingâ&#x20AC;&#x192;theâ&#x20AC;&#x192;point.

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Andâ&#x20AC;&#x192;nowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sâ&#x20AC;&#x192;yourâ&#x20AC;&#x192;chance.â&#x20AC;&#x192; Sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Spit:â&#x20AC;&#x192;Theâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Nextâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Generation,â&#x20AC;&#x192; whichâ&#x20AC;&#x192;formedâ&#x20AC;&#x192;inâ&#x20AC;&#x192;2007â&#x20AC;&#x192;afterâ&#x20AC;&#x192;theâ&#x20AC;&#x192; initialâ&#x20AC;&#x192;groupâ&#x20AC;&#x192;disbandedâ&#x20AC;&#x192;inâ&#x20AC;&#x192;2006,â&#x20AC;&#x192; justâ&#x20AC;&#x192;hitâ&#x20AC;&#x192;theâ&#x20AC;&#x192;roadâ&#x20AC;&#x192;forâ&#x20AC;&#x192;aâ&#x20AC;&#x192;tourâ&#x20AC;&#x192;thatâ&#x20AC;&#x192; includesâ&#x20AC;&#x192;stopsâ&#x20AC;&#x192;atâ&#x20AC;&#x192;variousâ&#x20AC;&#x192;indieâ&#x20AC;&#x192; artâ&#x20AC;&#x192;spacesâ&#x20AC;&#x192;andâ&#x20AC;&#x192;colleges,â&#x20AC;&#x192;includingâ&#x20AC;&#x192; Sacramentoâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x192;onâ&#x20AC;&#x192; Thursday,â&#x20AC;&#x192;Aprilâ&#x20AC;&#x192;3.

Performersâ&#x20AC;&#x192;includeâ&#x20AC;&#x192;authorâ&#x20AC;&#x192;andâ&#x20AC;&#x192; Sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Spitâ&#x20AC;&#x192;co-founderâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Michelleâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Tea,â&#x20AC;&#x192; fatâ&#x20AC;&#x192;activistâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Virgieâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Tovarâ&#x20AC;&#x192;andâ&#x20AC;&#x192;playwrightâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Chinakaâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Hodgeâ&#x20AC;&#x192;(pictured).â&#x20AC;&#x192; Writer-filmmaker-musicianâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Bethâ&#x20AC;&#x192; Lisickâ&#x20AC;&#x192;hosts.â&#x20AC;&#x192; Expectâ&#x20AC;&#x192;theâ&#x20AC;&#x192;showâ&#x20AC;&#x192;toâ&#x20AC;&#x192;touchâ&#x20AC;&#x192;onâ&#x20AC;&#x192; topicsâ&#x20AC;&#x192;suchâ&#x20AC;&#x192;asâ&#x20AC;&#x192;sexuality,â&#x20AC;&#x192;genderâ&#x20AC;&#x192; politics,â&#x20AC;&#x192;bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x192;imageâ&#x20AC;&#x192;andâ&#x20AC;&#x192;race.â&#x20AC;&#x192; Youâ&#x20AC;&#x192;know,â&#x20AC;&#x192;justâ&#x20AC;&#x192;theâ&#x20AC;&#x192;usualâ&#x20AC;&#x192;smallâ&#x20AC;&#x192; talk.â&#x20AC;&#x192;Noâ&#x20AC;&#x192;cover,â&#x20AC;&#x192;7:30â&#x20AC;&#x192;p.m.â&#x20AC;&#x192;atâ&#x20AC;&#x192;â&#x20AC;&#x192; Sacramentoâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x192; Unionâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Ballroom,â&#x20AC;&#x192;6000â&#x20AC;&#x192;Jâ&#x20AC;&#x192;Street;â&#x20AC;&#x192; www.facebook.com/sisterspit. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Rachel Leibrock

Everybody’s trash-talking Family gatherings are ruined, and it’s entirely the fault of my cousin. She hijacks every conversation to complain about her husband. We warned her about this man while they were dating, and she married him anyway.

It’s bad enough that she complains about him to us in a voice loud enough for him to hear, but she also complains in front of their three kids. I am sick of it, but

by Joey ga if I speak out, I’ll say somercia thing that will make her hate me forever. What should I do? a s kj oey @ ne wsreview.c om Close your eyes and invite your mind to drift back to your cousin’s wedding day. You were sitting among the honored guests, or maybe you were standing and servJoey blogs about conscious ing as a bridesmaid. Your presence uncoupling at at the wedding signified your responwww.joeygarcia.com. sibility to protect the hearts of the two people whose lives were being unified. Many people prefer to think of a wedding as a couple’s once-in-alifetime fete, but it’s also a spiritual commitment for every person attending. Yes, that means you must clear the emotional obstacles within that prevent you from speaking compassionately to your cousin.

Don’t say, “I told you so!” because that’s just annoying.

When our advice is solicited but neglected, our egos take it personally.

That’s unfortunate. Advice is only an opinion. In life, everyone is entitled to proceed, fail, stop or succeed at her or his own pace. Failure builds character, eventually. Without failure, most people never learn how to manage their emotions, belongings, finances, creativity or potential. So don’t be angry at your cousin for ignoring warnings about her husband.

Don’t say, “I told you so!” because that’s just annoying. After all, she didn’t break the law; she just chose her own advice instead of yours.

Here’s a starting point for transformation: Find a time in your own life when you failed to take advice that might have saved you some heartache. Connecting with your own experience is humbling.

It can inspire the compassion necessary for a loving conversation with your cousin. Is that conversation necessary? Absolutely. Her

Got a problem?

Write, email or leave a message for Joey at the News & Review.

Give your name, telephone number (for verification purposes only) and question—all correspondence will be kept strictly confidential.

Write Joey, 1124 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95815; call (916) 498-1234, ext. 3206; or email askjoey@ newsreview.com.

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children deserve to witness a healthy relationship between their parents. It helps to remember this: Marriage is not the culmination of a loving relationship. It’s a living workshop in which two people gradually discover how to love and be loved. Most of us need help to grow in love, and not just from a partner.

If your cousin is trash-talking her husband because she needs to process her feelings and fears, that’s understandable. Listen to her without interrupting. Then, offer guidance in the form of questions that direct her toward self-reflection. You can also suggest that she see a psychologist, with or without her husband. If she gripes about her man to intimidate him, that’s a serious matter, and you must intervene. Otherwise, your nieces and nephews are being schooled in the basics of bullying, and that’s dangerous for everyone.

My problem involves a friend who seriously limits the time we spend together. When we hang out, it’s great, but not often enough for me. She doesn’t want to talk on the phone, ever. I know she has an intense career and is an introvert, but I would love to get closer and hang out more. I don’t want to bring this up when we’re having fun, because I don’t want to be a buzzkill.

What can I say to change things?

Not a word. Adjust your expectations instead. You have a good friend who cherishes her time alone. Yet, when she does socialize, you top her list of people to hang with. Can you let that be enough? If so, that’s love.

It’s sweeter than trying to force her to give you more than she can comfortably give. Ω

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Meditation of the Week “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within,” wrote psychiatrist Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Discover how to lighten your heart during a free presentation based on my book, When Your Heart Breaks, It’s Opening to Love: Healing and Finding Love After an Affair, Heartbreak or Divorce, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, at the Avid Reader at Tower (1600 Broadway).

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4

4000 Miles

The Vanishing Point You have to admire a new play that successfully knits together science, geography, family dynamics and more. And in The Vanishing Point by Jeff Hudson (making its premiere at California Stage), disappearing lowlands in coastal Louisiana (triggered by shortsighted government channelization), combined with shifting economic fortunes (high-paying jobs on offshore oil platforms vs. low-paying jobs on shrimp boats), are seen through the viewpoint of a Cajun family caught up in an intergenerational struggle. There’s plenty going on, and playwright Nedra Pezold Roberts manages to combine it all into a tasty gumbo.

4

simmering. (Alas, the show misses an opportunity to allude to dramatic changes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that are underway, but that’s a quibble.) Ω

4

W 7pm; Th, F, Sa 8pm; Su 2pm.

Through 4/13. $24-$36. Capital

Visiting Mr. Green

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

When an actor can convincingly portray a conniving Wall Street asshole and then turn around and give a credible performance as a vulnerable elderly New Yorker, that’s an impressive acting range. Last year, Gary S. Martinez portrayed the corrupt Ken Lay in Capital Stage’s production of Enron and now wins us over as a cantankerous Jewish widower in Sacramento Theatre Company’s current show, Visiting Mr. Green.

Martinez depicts the title character in Visiting Mr. Green, and the first time he hobbles across the stage to answer a knocking door, he appears so weak, you want to jump out of your chair and help him as he stumbles along. But help is on the other side of the door in the form of a young Ross Gardiner (nicely portrayed by Ryan Blanning). Both are reluctant participants in this forced relationship: Ross is ordered by the court to make weekly visits to Mr. Green after a reckless driving conviction that involved the elderly man.

The visits don’t start out well, as the young, arrogant corporate executive clearly just wants to fulfill his probation requirement, while Mr. Green resents the intrusion and the unveiling of his loneliness and helplessness. But it’s evident that these two will slowly appreciate each other, though they have traveled in different worlds in different eras.

The strength in the play is that this relationship is not an easy one, and both bring baggage to the journey while obviously filling a need for each other. While the play at times can seem a bit contrived and dated, there are enough twists to keep it interesting and enough warmth to keep you caring. And under the delicate thumb of director Marie Bain, the empathetic performances keep you rooting for this unusual friendship and ultimate resolution.

5

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

B Street Theatre’s Family Series is reviving its very successful comedy-mysteryadventure of the legendary deducing detective, his sidekick Dr. Watson and his nemesis Dr. Moriarty. Good choice, since the adaptation gives us everything you want in good children’s theater: engaging actors, fun characters, funny bits, suspenseful story, exotic locations (moors, parlors, pubs and underground Druid caves), clever scenery, beautiful costumes, and a production adults can fully engage in as well. Sa, Su 1 & 4 pm. Through 4/13. $15-$20. B Street Theatre, Family Series Stage, 2711 B St.; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreet theatre.org. P.R.

PHoTo by NedRA Pezold RobeRTS

The Vanishing Point, 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; $12-$20.

California Stage in the R25 Arts Complex, 2509 R Street; (916) 451-5822; www.calstage.org.

Through April 27.

BEFORE

At the center is salty Paul St. Pé, a barely literate old shrimper on the edge of poverty who clings to his independence, and is deeply disappointed that neither of his sons will work with him on his boat. The oversized role is a plum part for Richard Winters, a veteran we saw pretty regularly in decades past in shows at the Sacramento Theatre Company; B Street Theatre; and the late, lamented Foothill Theatre Company.

Winters opted some years ago for a steadier paycheck teaching, but the urge to act is still in his blood, and it’s a treat to see him again, now that he’s moved into the silverfox category.

The two sons—college-educated Pierre (Jeremy Minagro, who’s clearly studied acting somewhere) and younger brother T-Paul (Nick Lunetta), who’s taken a dangerous job on an oil platform—clash periodically with each other and the old man. The two brothers also contend, to a degree, for hometown sweetheart Jolie (Emily Kentta, a Sacramento State University student who did Hurricane Katrina relief in 2009). Director Ray Tatar, working on a shoestring budget, makes effective use of his mixed professional and community cast, and keeps the narrative |

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

3

Immigrants

An original work by Sacramento playwright Alan Truax, Immigrants is the inaugural show for Genesis Productions. Directed by Leo McElroy, it tells the story of two immigrant families’ struggles to make a home in California, similar but

A RT S & C U LT U R E

FoUl

5

The Train Driver

2

Athol Fugard’s The Train Driver is a powerful play that explores white guilt and the legacies of South African apartheid through the story of one black woman’s act of hopelessness and its traumatizing effect on one white man’s psychological well-being. Inspired by an actual event and written with compassion and understanding, The Train Driver is devastating. Chris Lamb delivers an intense performance as the title character, while James Wheatley (who also directs) gives a subtly nuanced physical performance. Th, F, Sa 8pm; Su 2pm.

Through 4/13. $8-$15. Celebration Arts Theatre, 4469 D St.; (916) 455-2787; www.celebration arts.net. J.C.

FAIR

3 Good

4 Well-doNe

5

4

SUblIMe–doN’T MISS

Wrong for Each Other

Melinda Parrett and Kurt Johnson star in Norm Foster’s heartwarming comedy about a couple who met, married, got divorced then meet by chance some years later and review some of the highs and lows of their relationship. The actors do a sterling job throughout this now-and-then adventure, shy and flirty upon first meeting, gradually becoming comfortably at ease and then on edge. Tu 6:30pm; W 2 & 6pm; Th,

F 8pm; Sa 5 & 9pm; Su 2pm. Through 4/13. $33-$35. B Street Theatre,

2711 B St.; (916) 443-5300, www.bstreettheatre.org. J.C.

Short reviews by Jim Carnes, Kel Munger and Patti Roberts.

Magical science University of California, Santa Barbara graduate Jason Latimer isn’t a normal magician. The 33-year-old illusionist earned a degree in economics and mathematics, but was more interested in attending applied physics and perceptual psychology classes to further his budding magic career. His versatile science-backed style was reflected in his haul of awards from the 2003 International Federation of Magic Societies World Championships: Grand Prix for close-up magic, Invention (first place) and Micromagic (first place). More recently, the magician won the second season of British reality show The Magicians in 2012. He’s also known for inventing a magic trick where he appears to manipulate a laser as a solid object. That’s right, a laser. And you don’t even have to drive all the way down to Vegas to see him. Jason Latimer, $20; 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at Cache Creek Casino Resort, 14455 Highway 16 in Brooks; (530) 796-3118; www.cachecreek.com.

Visiting Mr. Green, 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; 6:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; $12-$35. Pollock Stage at Wells Fargo Pavilion, 1419 H Street; (916) 443-6722; www.sactheatre.org. Through May 4. |

1

No, this look’s not an illusion. It just requires a lot of hair gel.

—Patti Roberts

STORY

Th, F, Sa 8pm; Su 2pm. Through 4/6. $20. Genesis Productions in the William J. Geery Theatre, 2130 L St.; (916) 821-0932; www.face book.com/genesisprods. K.M.

PHoTo CoURTeSy oF JASoN lATIMeR

“Come on, son: I’ll be the shrimp-boat captain, and you be the first mate.”

separated by nearly a century.

Twenty-something Leo (Teddy Spencer) shows up at the door of his grandmother’s (Dee Maaske) New York apartment at 3 in the morning after a cross-country bicycle trip for an unexpected, extended visit. Family dynamics and history, new-left vs. traditional communist politics, aging and grief form the terrain they traverse in this critically acclaimed play by Amy Herzog.

|

AFTER

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04.03.14

—Jonathan Mendick |

Sn&R

|

31

Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday Through April 13 2014 Season

Celebration on Art Artss Thea TTheatre h tre Prese Presents ents

by Athol Fugard Directed byy James Wheatley A Powerful Drama in Post-Apartheid South Africa A slow burning exploration of conscience when a train driver seeks relief from his sorrow and guilt. Fugard continues his masterful storytelling about relations between whites and blacks in his beloved South Africa.

Chris Lamb and James Wheatley comprise the dynamic cast.

Celebration Arts Theatre 4469 D Street, East Sacramento 95819 www.celebrationarts.net 916/455-2787 Thurs, Fri & Sat at 8pm, Sun at 2pm Gen $15 Students, Seniors & SARTA $13 Thurs $8

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Red, white and blooey Captain America: The Winter Soldier Today’s comic-book movies are like low-budget Westerns back in the days of Poverty Row studios like Republic Pictures and Monogram Pictures, by Jim Lane despite the vast difference in the money involved. They have millions of loyal fans, and (like those Westerns) they’re never as good as their fans think they are.

2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger was by far the best of the bunch. Now, the Captain, a.k.a. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), is back in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

It’s a letdown from the first movie, and even from the Captain’s appearance in 2012’s The Avengers, but it’s still diverting enough, and all those fans will gobble it up.

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have you ever dreamt about food from your favorite movie?

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1 Poor

2 Fair

3 Good

4 Very Good

enjoy the movie goodfellas while you dine on a three-course italian meal! sunday, april 27th | 7:30pm | tickets: $25 (price includes three course meal + movie)

1615 J Street | Sacramento | 916.669.5300 tickets available at lucca or brownpapertickets.com

32 | SN&R | 04.03.14

5 excellent

Origin stories are always more interesting than new adventures (last year’s The Lone Ranger notwithstanding), and Captain America’s origins were well-told by director Joe Johnston and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley. The writers are back this time, but the underrated Johnston has been replaced as director by brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, veterans of numerous sitcoms and a sprinkling of forgettable features.

They’re out of their depth here, even in a shallow comic-book movie, but Markus and McFeeley are similarly at loose ends. For all three, the motto seems to be “When in doubt, start a fight.” And there are CGI fights galore.

Also missing this time out is the supporting cast from the first Captain America, since it was set in World War II and most of the characters died either in combat or during the Captain’s 70-year hibernation.

There is a brief cameo by Hayley Atwell as the nonagenarian Peggy Carter, and a couple of others return—but it would be spoiling the new movie’s few surprises to specify who, and how. By way of compensation, Samuel L. Jackson is on hand as Col. Nick Fury, Captain America’s superior at the secret agency SHIELD. Even better, we get Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. Black Widow), a

partner-cum-sidekick for Steve Rogers. Also along is Robert Redford as a special-guest villain—and that’s hardly a spoiler. A star like Redford isn’t going to sign on to a movie like this to play a nice guy.

(Here’s another nonspoiler: Nick Fury’s death in the first half-hour is greatly exaggerated.)

Captain America originally fought Nazis, but that score is long settled. His new enemies are fellow Americans working for HYDRA, the catch-all terrorist group in the so-called Marvel Universe (a sort of mental theme park for adolescent boys of all ages). These fifthcolumnists, led by Redford’s Alexander Pierce, have subverted SHIELD and plan to deploy awesome new technology to kill everybody they don’t like. They figure without Captain America and Black Widow, the Nick and Nora Charles of superheroes. Johansson remains a sexy treat no matter what she does, and here she does well.

As weakling-turned-super-soldier Steve Rogers, Evans remains the best reason to see any movie with Captain America in it. He embodies all the Captain’s virtues without irony, the virtues most Americans once found in themselves. Now that the Dark Knight movies have turned Batman into an icy, misanthropic vigilante; and Spider-Man has been demoted from a likeable highschool outcast to a hostile, mumbling little creep; and even Superman has devolved into a tortured, alienated misfit and cold-blooded killer; Captain America may be the last superhero that filmgoers really like to spend personal time with, who actually shoulders freely and cheerfully the neverending battle for truth and justice.

Captain America may be the last superhero that filmgoers really like to spend personal time with.

Maybe it’s only a matter of time before Captain America, like Superman, outlives the time that spawned him and is kept going only by some comic-book empire’s drive to make another billion bucks. He’s already gone from fighting Nazis to a rogue U.S. government (maybe that’s why The Winter Soldier opened in Europe a week ahead of the States). Will there perhaps come a time when Captain America turns against the country for which he’s named?

With American movies making most of their money overseas (and with the overmatched Russo brothers already gearing up for Captain America 3), it may be inevitable.

Maybe, at least, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson will be back. Ω

by daniel barnes & JiM lane

2

300: Rise of an Empire

•

2508 LAND PARK DRIVE LAND PARK & BROADWAY FREE PARKING ADJACENT TO THEATRE

One of the best moments of unintentional hilarity in Noam Murro’s noisy and stupid 300: Rise of an Empire is almost a throwaway line. As an Athenian general surveys his chiseled and battle-worn troops, all of whom appear to have wandered out of a 1980s Bowflex commercial and into a gladiator-themed stag film, he remarks with a straight face, “Not bad for a bunch of farmers, poets and sculptors.” OK, so 300: Rise of an Empire isn’t exactly Double Indemnity in terms of snappy dialogue and complex characters, but that’s not the problem here. The problem is that in terms of being a hyperstylized, dreamily captivating, deliriously homophobic-homoerotic bit of action kink, it’s not exactly Zack Snyder’s original 300, either.

Only French actress Eva Green transcends the cartoonish mayhem, savoring every word of the dopey screenplay as though they were stuck between her teeth. D.B.

3

“WISTFUL, ELEGANT LOVE STORY.” “FRENCH TWIST ON A CLASSIC TALE.” - Fionnuala Halligan, SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

LunchBOX

The

STARTS FRI., 4/4

FRI-TUES: 12:10, 2:30, 4:50, 7:15, 9:40PM

Nope, no drought here.

Bad Words

3

4

Diego Luna’s straightforward biopic Cesar Chavez may have a bright future as a high-school history-class movie-day selection, but the filmmaking is merely serviceable.

Luna is even less successful at fleshing out his farm-workers’ rights activist subject into a fully realized human being. Michael Peña plays Chavez, and while he makes for a compelling centerpiece of quiet decency and moral resolve, he doesn’t get to step out from under the halo often enough to make Chavez into a person. Cesar Chavez is presented as a mix of scripted and documentary film, with dramatic recreations of protests, marches and fasts punctuated with real-life footage. That Sunday-morning-civicslesson approach is very well-intentioned, but it just further dilutes the human drama, and Luna can’t resist stacking the deck by making all the central California grape growers sound like Confederate plantation owners. D.B.

3

4

The Grand Budapest Hotel

NEWS

The Lego Movie

3

The Lunchbox

The Lunchbox is writer-director Ritesh Batra’s feature debut, and while it is a minor effort, he displays an economical style and emotional generosity that demand further exploration. This Love Letters-like epistolary follows two lonely souls in overcrowded Mumbai who began a correspondence due to a wrongly delivered lunchbox. Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi) plays Saajan, a brittle and withdrawn widower nearing retirement, while Nimrat Kaur’s Ila is a housewife who expresses her emotions through cooking. When the “perfect recipe” that Ila prepared for her neglectful husband accidentally goes to Saajan, they begin trading letters through the lunchbox, gradually opening up to reveal their fears and desires. Khan is one of the only living actors with enough gravitas to sell a character this contrived, and there is an interesting portrait of Indian working life on the fringes, but it’s all too quaint. D.B.

In an Eastern European country between the World Wars, a meticulously correct concierge at a gleaming luxury hotel (Ralph Fiennes) basks in the crisp stylishness of his position—until he runs afoul of the heirs to one of his richest and most besotted customers (Tilda Swinton plays the old woman under pounds of hilarious age makeup; Adrien Brody and Willem Dafoe lead her cabal of greedy relatives). Director and co-writer (with Hugo Guinness) Wes Anderson begins in the present day, moving back to the 1930s in stages, like a time traveler, and his movie overflows with endearing comic invention, countered by an undercurrent of melancholy nostalgia for a lost (and maybe imaginary) elegance. It’s a funny, sad movie and a rueful delight. Tony Revolori is fun as Fiennes’ adoring sidekick. J.L.

|

Noah

Given the many cinematic atrocities that have been produced by Hasbro in recent years, it is completely understandable to approach The Lego Movie with a certain amount of suspicion and dread. However, this is as wildly imaginative and fun as any film you’re likely to see this year, even if it is based entirely on corporate synergy. Written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs), The Lego Movie concerns a lonely conformist (Chris Pratt, extremely personable) mistaken for a prophecy-fulfilling rebel savior. The film never takes its mumbo-jumbo seriously, opting instead to focus on giddily anarchic comedy, a childlike sense of visual invention, and a copyright-protected wet dream of supporting players. The only missteps are made in the third act, as that childlike wonder is literalized, and madness is sacrificed at the altar of lesson-learning. D.B.

In the Chicago of a distant future, when society is divided into five factions based on perceived virtues, a teenager (Shailene Woodley) learns that she’s Divergent, not fully fit for any faction. She must keep it a secret and trust no one, but she doesn’t know why.

Writers Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor and director Neil Burger adapt the first novel of Veronica Roth’s trilogy (an obvious imitation of The Hunger Games) and do a creditable job.

Woodley may not have the stunning versatility of Jennifer Lawrence, but she has a sensitive, appealing presence and carries this big movie well. The supporting cast is also a plus (Theo James, Miles Teller, Kate Winslet, etc.), as are the movie’s sweeping yet believably lived-in look and Burger’s brisk pacing. It all bodes well for the next installment. J.L.

BEFORE

FRI-TUES: 10:00AM

STARTS FRI., 4/4

“APPEALING.”

GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Bad Words - Manohla Dargis, NEW YORK TIMES

WED/THUR: 10:45AM, 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10:00PM FRI-TUES: 12:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00PM NO PASSES

WED/THUR: 10:15AM, 11:00AM, 12:15, 1:15, 2:30, 3:30, 4:45, 5:45, 7:00, 8:00, 9:20, 10:15PM FRI-TUES: 10:15AM, 12:30, 2:50, 5:10, 7:30, 9:55PM NO PASSES • NO WED 5:45, 8:00, 10:15PM

MOZART’S DON GIOVANNI WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2 @ 7:00PM

“A SUMPTUOUS TREAT. ONE OF THE FINEST ACTORS OF OUR TIME, IRRFAN KHAN IS THE FILM’S HEART AND SOUL. NIMRAT KAUR IS DELICIOUSLY FUNNY.”

The great flood of Genesis gets a typically idiosyncratic retelling from director and co-writer (with Ari Handel) Darren Aronofsky, as Noah (Russell Crowe), his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly) and eldest son Ham (Logan Lerman) prepare for rain, while Noah’s grandfather Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins) kibitzes from a distance and some rocklike fallen angels called Watchers help build the Ark. Not everything works—those Watchers seem to have beamed in from one of Lerman’s Percy Jackson pictures—but the movie often has the raw energy of a primitive legend handed down from the prehistoric, torch-lit past. Crowe’s Noah is more tortured prophet than white-bearded patriarch; it’s a bold concept, and it works. Emma Watson plays an orphan adopted by Noah’s family, while Ray Winstone plays a savage, sinful king. J.L.

Cesar Chavez

Divergent

FRI-TUES: 10:05AM

TRACKS

- Joginder Tuteja, INDIA GLITZ

FOR ADVANCE TICKETS CALL FANDANGO @ 1-800-FANDANGO #2721

A middle-aged man (Jason Bateman, who also directed, and smoothly) uses a loophole in the rules to enter a national spelling bee for junior-high students, and he advances easily up the tournament levels, making a mockery of the whole process, to the frustrated rage of students, parents and administrators— except for one youngster (Rohan Chand, very likable) who somehow wants to be his friend.

Andrew Dodge’s script is raunchy, profane and definitely not for kids. Bateman’s character is (mostly) bitter and unlikable. Still, the movie is funny in a quirky I-can’t-believe-he-just-didthat way, and unpredictable enough to pull us in despite ourselves. Kathryn Hahn is hilarious as Bateman’s neurotic novice lawyer, and old pros Allison Janney and Philip Baker Hall are along as the bee’s exasperated bigwigs. J.L.

3

PLAYERS

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE

“VIBRANT AND IMAGINATIVE.” - Justin Chang, VARIETY

THE

“FANTASTIC.”

STARTS FRI., 4/4

- Ziyad Saadi, INDIE WIRE

2

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Director Rob Minkoff and writer Craig Wright (with additional dialogue by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon) demonstrate yet again—as if we needed more proof—the folly of turning six-minute cartoons into 92-minute features. The old “Peabody’s Improbable History” segments of The Bullwinkle Show had lousy animation but clever writing; the movie reverses the equation, and it’s not a fair trade.

In an apparent nod to animal-rights advocates, Sherman is promoted from Peabody’s “pet boy” to his “adopted son,” and that’s all Minkoff and Wright need to turn the movie into a maudlin wallow on the meaning of parenthood. Along the way, they cluck their tongues over that other family issue, school bullies. Ty Burrell and Max Charles provide the voices of Peabody and Sherman, and they’re all wrong. J.L.

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

5

-Joe Morgenstern, WALL STREET JOURNAL

IRRFAN KHAN

a film by Ritesh BATRA WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM

STARTS FRIDAY, APRIL 4

The reunited Muppets set off on a world tour, never suspecting that their new manager (Ricky Gervais) is using the tour as cover for a crime spree masterminded by an escapee from a Russian gulag, “the world’s most dangerous frog”—a near-perfect double for Kermit. The movie opens with one of many clever songs by Bret McKenzie, “We’re Doing a Sequel,” frankly admitting that “the sequel’s never quite as good.” Happily, the movie belies that truism. It’s not only even better than 2011’s The Muppets, it’s the best Muppets movie since the first one in 1979. Nicholas Stoller and director James Bobin’s script is a riot of groan-andguffaw jokes, and Bobin’s pacing is sprightly and joyous. Gervais, Tina Fey (as a gulag guard) and Ty Burrell (a French cop) head the customary all-star supporting cast. Pure fun. J.L.

Need for Speed

1

Sabotage

TOWER THEATRE 2508 Land Park Dr, Sacramento (916) 442-4700

VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.THELUNCHBOXMOVIE.COM

Muppets Most Wanted

1

NIMRAT KAUR

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As the listless lead of this dim-witted video-game adaptation, Aaron Paul already seems decades removed from his days of winning awards for Breaking Bad. Here he plays street racer Tobey Marshall, who, after winning a street race, is wrongfully blamed for the death of his friend in a different street race, leaving only one way to clear his name—a street race! For some reason, director Scott Waugh (Act of Valor) and screenwriter George Gatins felt that this single-celled Fast and the Furious clone demanded a leisurely 130 minutes of handme-down characters and monosyllabic dialogue.

There is an argument that this sort of cinematic twaddle “isn’t hurting anyone,” but then, illiteracy isn’t technically hurting anyone, either.

If you find this sort of vroom-fetish nonsense irresistible, go ahead and turn off your brain, but just know that it may never turn back on. D.B.

An elite Drug Enforcement Administration task force (led by Arnold Schwarzenegger and including Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard and Mireille Enos) steals $10 million from a drug cartel, but the money disappears, and the other feds no longer trust them, even though they can’t prove anything—and now they’re being murdered one by one. The crimes are investigated by two local cops (Olivia Williams, Harold Perrineau). David Ayer’s movie (written by Skip Woods) opens with a woman being tortured to death—and goes downhill from there. Its only reason for being is apparently blood and guts (literally—it’s like watching a snuff movie), and the testosterone is so thick that even the women are macho (except that hapless torture victim). The title is as meaningless as the script: The only things being sabotaged here are everybody’s careers. J.L.

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A RT S & C U LT U R E

NOW PLAYING

CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATRES & SHOWTIMES

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AFTER

|

04.03.14

|

SN&R

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33

RESTAURANT ss BAR BAR CLUB ss RESTAURANT COMEDY COMEDY CLUB

VOTED BEST COMEDY CLUB BY THE SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW!

thu 04/03

bri

THURSDAY 4/3 - SUNDAY 4/6 FROM NIKKI & SARA LIVE AND @MIDNIGHT!

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NIKKI GLASER

9pm // $5

FORREST SHAW, CASEY LEY

Fri 04/04

THURSDAY 4/9

you front band the live karaoke // 9pm // Free

THURSDAY 4/10 MONDAY MORNING PODCAST PRESENTS:

JOE BARTNICK, PAUL VIRZI & JASON LAWHEAD

bonnie and the bang bang 9pm

FRIDAY 4/11 - SUNDAY 4/13 FROM LAST COMIC STANDING!

JOHN HEFFRON

sun 04/06

STEVE MAZAN, RACHEL MCDOWELL

showcase sunday open mic 9-12am // Free

THURSDAY 4/17 - SATURDAY 4/19 FROM CONAN & FOX SPORTS NETWORK!

comedy 7-9pm // talent

THURSDAY 5/1 - SUNDAY 5/4 FROM CHELSEA LATELY AND THE HEAT!

tues 04/08

noise agency

ADAM RAY

marry me band told // 8pm // $5

GREG EDWARDS, MARK SERRITELLA

greatest stories ever

FRIDAY 5/16 - SUNDAY 5/18 FROM MADTV AND CHELSEA LATELY!

Wed 04/09

04/11 eli and the sound cult sun valley gun club

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34 | SN&R | 04.03.14

Casket makes for a vivid, multigenre experience. “Put the Gun Down” is hip-shaking, piano-tinged hip-hop at its finest. “Cryin Wolf” strolls into five-alarm-fire-style R&B with a cameo from Kendrick Lamar; “365 Days” is a danceable mashup of Motown soul and rock ’n’ roll; and “Lil Darlin” is a bluesy, jazzy number that sounds like it should be sung in a smoke-filled nightclub with a spotlight on Ward behind her piano.

Throughout it all, Ward leads with her distinct vocals, sounding at times like a sultry chanteuse (“Criminal”) and at other times proudly defiant (“If I Could Be Her”).

Music runs in Ward’s family. Essentially, she was destined to perform. Her father fronts a blues band, and, starting when Ward was 13, sometimes let her perform onstage with him.

From there, Ward carved out a niche in rural Oregon as she combined a love for rock, hip-hop, blues and soul.

PHoTo CourTeSy of HollyWood reCordS

GRANT LYON, LYDIA POPOVICH

karaoke 8pm // Free

UPcOMING sHOWs:

For ZZ Ward, the past two years have been out of control.

Since appearing at South by Southwest in 2012, the singer-songwriter has released by Brian Palmer her debut full-length album (Til the Casket Drops), an EP (365 Days), and headlined or co-headlined several national tours.

MICHAEL KOSTA

mon 04/07

9pm

Singer-songwriter ZZ Ward on losing control and other good times

JHP SHOWCASE

sat 04/05

brian buckley band, for sayle

Just roll with it

ZZ Ward performs at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, at Assembly Music Hall, located at 1000 K Street. Tickets cost $17.50. Check out www.zzward.com for more info.

Ward’s first single, “Put the Gun Down,” landed in the top 10 on AAA—or adult album alternative—radio, and she is currently touring on the strength of her latest single, “Last Love Song.”

Despite such successes, Ward knows there can (and will) be hiccups—you just have to learn how to roll with the punches.

“You never know how things are going to come off onstage; you can’t control the electricity,” Ward said with a laugh during a recent phone interview. “You can’t control the sound. But you can try and make sure everyone has a good time when they’re there, so that’s what I try to focus on.”

And the good times are happening for Ward and her fans.

The singer’s latest tour has given Ward her largest audiences yet, and the accolades continue to pour in.

The craziest part? Ward, born Zsuzsanna Eva Ward, is still just getting started.

“I’m a new artist, so I think the beauty to that is that it’s not like people were waiting for this record,” Ward says. “They didn’t know who I was, so people are still finding out about me, and that’s a great journey to be on.”

“ People are still finding out about me, and that’s a great journey to be on.”

ZZ Ward singer-songwriter Now, although she jokes that she’s planning to retire soon, the reality is anything but. Later this spring, in fact, Ward will play a string of dates opening for Eric Clapton.

“There’s nothing else I really felt like I was put on Earth to do,” Ward said.

“I felt like this was my calling, to sing, to play music and share my songs with people.

I grew up admiring artists like Etta James, Muddy Waters, David Bowie, Tom Petty, Neil Young—people who just really played music all the time,” she said. “It is a really surreal feeling. I am very thankful for my life and getting to do what I love.” Ω

NEWS

BURBS

LANDS ON STANDS 05.15.14

OF THE

LANDS ON STANDS 05.15.14

|

BEST

—Janelle Bitker

SN&R

BURBS

BEFORE

Not witch house: With a name like †††, or Crosses, you might expect some supercreepy, occult-themed music. With a band that includes Chino Moreno of the Deftones and Shaun Lopez of Far, you might expect some Sacto-influenced alternative metal.

But Crosses defies all expectations. And the group didn’t try to set any, either.

Crosses came out of nowhere in 2011 with a free EP of synth-heavy, electronic rock floating online.

Word got out that the music came from Moreno, Lopez and Chuck Doom. Crosses got huge. The band plays Ace of Spades on Saturday, April 5, as part of a tour bridging stints at South by Southwest and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

The band prides itself on its organic formation and growth. It started out as Lopez and Doom writing electronic songs for kicks.

Then, Moreno got involved. Labels weren’t invited. And Crosses was able to slowly write, record and release its self-titled debut in February of this year. All the while, Crosses avoided calling itself a supergroup.

“We made it a point to not sell it that way,” Lopez said. “I think the music is good enough to stand on its own.”

Confused about metalheads turning to programmed beats? Lopez said he’s always loved electronic music—it’s what he would listen to in his Far days. And it’s welldocumented that Moreno is a big Depeche Mode fan.

But that doesn’t explain the dark and eerie vibe that pervades Crosses, or why the band replaces the letter “t” with a cross in everything from song titles to tweets. Spirituality and religion, though not any specific religion, is a present force.

It might be Lopez’s doing. In the studio, he played movies like The Holy Mountain, The Shining and A Clockwork Orange—“beautiful, weird, cinematic masterpieces”—on mute in the background.

“That influenced the music, the look of everything,” Lopez said.

“I’m very proud of the imagery we’ve pulled off.”

After Coachella, Crosses has no concrete plans. But another record might be in the works—Lopez said the trio never really stopped writing and has already finished some new songs. But they won’t play them live yet, so don’t bother praying.

OF THE

Smelly rock stars: I was unusually focused on my nose last Tuesday, nervous as hell that my allergies would act up before the Black Lips show.

The garage-rock band, on tour for its seventh record Underneath the Rainbow, announced that it had acquired a scent machine. And that, yes, the Black Lips’ shows would be scented. Supposedly the machine could emit fragrances as varied as “cedar,” “semen” and “moon.”

But first, I stuck my nose in a beer and watched the Coathangers open the show that evening as Assembly Music Hall quickly filled up. The three Atlanta-based ladies moved through their set with ease— quite literally: They moved a lot.

The punk rockers switched instruments in a couple giant rotations, taking no breaks to sweet talk the crowd or explain themselves. It was rowdy garage punk, with playful lyrics sung in a mix of self-aware squeals and deep-throated yells on doublefisted mics.

Perhaps all you really need to know is that the trio’s fourth album, which dropped just a week earlier, is called Suck My Shirt. And it refers to a favorite tequila-salvaging technique.

And as the crowd buzzed in anticipation of the Black Lips finally taking the stage, I sniffed and sniffed.

I smelled weed. But that could have come from anywhere.

A friendly mosh pit formed as soon as the Lips started their raw, low-fi blend of rock, punk and blues. And their iconic anthem of rebellion “Bad Kids” sent said pit into a wild frenzy.

Sadly, the throwback to old hits didn’t incite a throwback to the crazy onstage antics the Black Lips have become known for. No vomiting, no bleeding, no nudity, no fire. The crude debauchery has dwindled over the years as the band’s gotten more professional in their punkdom.

Instead, I only watched out for a steady stream of crowd surfers who nearly knocked off my glasses, one by one. And knocked off their shoes, apparently. Also one by one.

“What’s the deal, California? You always throw single shoes on the stage,” said bassist Jared Swilley in the middle of the set. Tsk-tsk.

Then he made a comment about barefoot hippies and granola bars, which only reminded me about the smells I was not smelling. Or, wait? Was that smoke? The sweet scent of garbage? Spilled beer?

Body odor?

Right. It smelled like a rock show.

BEST

Scent of a band

2708 J Street Sacramento, CA 916.441.4693 www.harlows.com - April 03 -

branches

the show ponies, the westwards (all ages) 6:30pm • $10

Coming Soon - April 8 -

Joe ely

david ramirez 5:30pm $25adv

- April 10 -

- April 5 -

megan nicole

chuck ragan, The WhiTe buffalo

lia marie Johnson (all ages) 6pm • $12adv

Johnny two Bags 8pm • $20adv

Apr 12 Apr 12 Apr 13 Apr 14 Apr 17 Apr 19 Apr 20 Apr 24 Apr 25 Apr 26 Apr 26 Apr 27 Mar 1 May 2 May 4 May 8 May 9 May 10

Super Huey Hip Service Polyrhythmics / Big Sticky Mess The Colourist / Night Terrors Of 1927 White Lies Katie Knipp Mojo Green Zoso Marsha Ambrosius Cream of Clapton Trentino Matt Anderson Mike E. Winfield David Wilcox Toad the Wet Sprocket Asleep at the Wheel Tainted Love Tycho

follow us

- April 6 -

dylan ‘64

50th anniversary celeBration of BoB dylan’s pre-electric period 5:30pm • $8adv • all ages

- April 11 -

rome

HArLOWSNiTECLuB

9pm $15adv

HArLOWSNiGHTCLuB

jan el l eb @ne w s re v i e w . c o m

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04FRI

04FRI

04FRI

05SAT

Yonder Mountain String Band

Cynthia Dall tribute

Quinn Hedges Band

Nirvana Tribute Show

Ace of Spades, 7 p.m., $25

On the Y, 8 p.m., $5

If you can keep up with the often breakneck speed of its songs, then you must be incredibly fit, because Yonder Mountain String BLUEGRASS Band’s particularly quick brand of folk and bluegrass should wear you out in five minutes, tops. And if you can’t match the pace for long, well, you’ll still have fun trying.

You’ll need a radar gun for the bluegrass dazzler “Fastball” to see if it’s breaking the speed limit, and “Sidewalk Stars” should have you dancing a jig in short order.

“Boatman’s Dance” includes awe-inspiring guitar and ukulele parts, and gets you wondering how much longer YMSB will make fans wait for a follow-up to 2009’s The Show.

1417 R Street, www.yondermountain.com.

—Brian Palmer

Torch Club, 9 p.m., $7

It’s been two years since Cynthia Dall’s death. The 41-year-old singer-songwriter (pictured) died in her Sacramento home; the cause of death was never publicly released.

In addition to recording with acclaimed indie artists such as Smog, Dall’s 1996 untitled solo album (released via Drag City) received critical praise for its spare, unflinching honesty and beauty. Now, friends and fans will gather to celebrate Dall’s life and music with a tribute show. Artists include LightSkinned Creole, Murphy Jones, Mr. P Chill POP and Mike Colossal. There’ll also be food, and Thomas Bell, Dall’s roommate at the time of her death, will read poetry. 670 Fulton Avenue, www.facebook. com/ontheysacto.

—Rachel Leibrock

The Center for the Arts, 8 p.m., $12-$15

Delaware transplant Quinn Hedges quickly became a fixture in the local music scene when he started his band in 2009. Together, they play melodic, contemporary rock, blended with elements of jazz, blues and folk.

The band released Step Outside in 2012, perROCK formed some memorable shows at Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub and Concerts in the Park, and expanded from a trio to a quintet, armed with brass instruments. But Hedges said it’s time for a change: He and the band are going their separate ways. Hedges will continue to play solo throughout Sacramento, but Friday is the last chance to experience the whole live band—and nab merchandise for a low, low price. 904 15th Street, www.quinnhedges.com.

It’s been 20 years since Kurt Cobain shocked the world with his death—and still the influence Nirvana has on music and pop culture is as strong as ever. No band has emerged since that has been so unanimously loved by both underground and mainstream music fans. Nirvana seemed to touch everyone. In honor of Cobain and his band, The Center for the Arts is having a tribute show, with several local artists performing renditions of their favorite Nirvana tunes. Some of the GRUNGE performers are: the Devils Train (pictured), the Soft Bombs, the Bleach Boys, Jay Tausig and Ear Wrecked. 314 W. Main Street in Grass Valley, http://thecenterforthearts.org.

—Janelle Bitker

—Aaron Carnes

1000 K Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

FOR TICKETS TO ALL SHOWS VISIT AssemblyMusicHall.com

For Rentals or Private Parties please contact AssemblyMusicHall@gmail.com

apr 05 @ 4:30pm

fri apr 04 @ 7pm

kingdom of giants, ellipsis, awoken shadows, with wowes, before the fall, flub, dead in seconds, shorelines

sun apr 06 @ 7pm

tue apr 08 @ 6:30pm

Upcoming ShowS

wed apr 09 @ 7pm 36 | SN&R |

04.03.14

wed apr 09 @ 10:30pm

fri apr 11 @ 7pm

Apr 12 Apr 13 Apr 18 Apr 19 Apr 23 Apr 24 Apr 25 Apr 26 Apr 27 mAy 02 mAy 05 mAy 08 mAy 09 mAy 11 mAy 16 mAy 17 mAy 20 mAy 23

Jamies elsewhere devil you know dance Gavin dance The siren show ThrouGh The rooTs / new kinGsTon Gondwana drop ciTy yachT club arden park rooTs beware The darkness forTune youTh Gza will hoGe TiG noTaro sTephen raGGa marley upon This drawinG The siren show helloGoodbye / vacaTioner The Green

05SAT

05SAT

06SUN

08TUES

Chuck Ragan and the Camaraderie

Go, Dog. Go!

Dylan ’64

Joe Ely

Old Ironsides, 9 p.m., $7

Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub, 9 p.m., $20-$25 Chuck Ragan is a musical renaissance man who, as he approaches 40, is at the height of his powers. Since 1993, he fronted the catchy impassioned punk group Hot Water Music before taking a break to pursue Americana with his solo debut in 2007. He founded the annual folk-punk Revival Tour a year later.

On his terrific 2014 solo release, Till Midnight, Ragan leaves his earlier campfire PUNK country behind for rousing roots verging on heartland rock. (Think Willie Nile and John Hiatt.) Ragan’s baritone growls like Joe Cocker, while the album crackles with hope and energy, epitomized by the Bossworthy ode, “Something May Catch Fire.”

2708 J Street, www.chuckraganmusic.com.

—Chris Parker

Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub, 5:30 p.m., $8-$10

Go, Dog. Go! formed in the late ’80s and was Sacramento’s answer to grunge. The band consisted of Skid Jones, Timm Freeman and ROCK Paul Niklewicz. Together, they frequented local venues like Club Obsession, which later became the Cattle Club. Later, country star Dwight Yoakam stumbled upon the three-piece group at a live performance with Jane’s Addiction and offered them a development deal. Tours and records (or, rather, cassettes) occurred, but the band ultimately fizzled out in ’94.

Now, bassist Niklewicz turns 50 years old and is getting the band back together with Bill Hunting of ’58 Fury on drums. Go National, I Love Ethyl and the Earwigs will open the show. 1901 10th Street, www.theoldironsides.com.

Behold: It’s another one of those Jerry Perry Presents shows that brings a bunch of local bands to pay musical tribute an important artist. In this case, it’s Dylan ’64, and it celebrates the 50th anniversary of just before Bob Dylan started tinkering with electric guitar and a more rock-influenced style after many prolific years writing folk and country tunes. Sunday, audiences will be treated to local musicians such as Jonah Matranga FOLK (pictured), Alex Nelson (of Walking Spanish) and Parie Wood covering acoustic Dylan classics—pre-1965 material from albums such as The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a-Changin’ and Another Side of Bob Dylan. 2708 J Street, www.facebook.com/jerryperrypresents.

—Jonathan Mendick

—Trina L. Drotar

cocktail lounge & concert hall

Fri April 4 | 8pm | $10 Cover

BoB WAyne, Spillit QuikkerS, Dry County DrinkerS SAt April 5 | 4pm

Dj pumping all the hottest dance mixes

EvEry friday ~ 9pm $10 covEr aftEr 10pm 18 and up - id rEquirEd

APRIL 5TH

Angry SAmoAnS, rAt DAmAge, piSS CAt

APRIL 6TH

Fri April 11 | 8pm | $6 Cover

Six DegreeS oF SperAtion tour – plAyA rAy AnD trey C

soLsa

Latin rhythms, old school, r&B. hosted by Lance Briggs of the chicago Bears

NASCAR HAPPY HOUR

APRIL 7TH ROCK BAND W/ DANIMAL - 8PM

APRIL 8TH OPEN MIC - 7PM

every 2nd SAt April 12 | $5 Cover

rADio rADio 80’S DJ

watch mLB & nBa gamEs hErE

every 2nd & 4th tue | 8-CloSe

Open Mic-nO cOver every Wed | 8-10pm | no Cover

naughty trivia

APRIL 9TH KARAOKE - 8PM

916.652.4007

every thu | 4-7pm | no Cover

happy hOur Blues JaM

11 hd flat screens and our hugE projector screens!

every Sun | 9-CloSe | Free BeFore 10pm

reggae night

1400 Alhambra Blvd 916.455.3400 www.bluelampsacramento.com

3443 Laguna BLvd • ELk grovE facEBook.com/pinsnstrikEs pinsnstrikEs.com • 916.226.2695

NEWS

BOB WOODS - 5PM NO COVER CLUSTERPHUNK - 9PM NO COVER

VINO BANDITOS - 9PM

Funktion W/DJ’S Step roCk & B. VegA

sat 4/5 ~ 9pm ~ $10

|

APRIL 4TH

tipSy HuStlerS & neW pioneerS

thu April 10 | 9pm | $3 Cover

dj supe in the mix playing top 40 hits and interactive videos

COUNTRY THURS - $3 JACK

7pm

ELEvatE friday

BEFORE

sacramento’s premier

APRIL 3RD

rockstar thursdays

Joe Ely’s Western Wind Tour 2014 kicked off in Lubbock, Texas, on March 28, and lands in Sacramento after stops in five states. The 2007 Americana Honors & Awards Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance recipiALT-COUNTRY ent is a troubadour in the truest sense, and he’s got a bit of that Wild West outlaw approach to his music—mixing country with the kind of blues heard in a dusty roadhouse, adding a touch of rock and collaborating with accordionists and flamenco guitarists. On Ely’s 2011 album Satisfied at Last, there’s even a hint of reggae. Joining the genre tinkerer is singer-songwriter David Ramirez from Austin, Texas, who takes folk roots and crafts his own sound.

2708 J Street, www.ely.com.

—Steph Rodriguez

CALENDAR EvEry thursday ~ 9pm $5 covEr BEforE 10:30pm 18 and up - id rEquirEd drEss codE EnforcEd

Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub, 7 p.m., $25-$27.50

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

SIERRA COLLEGE EXIT OFF 80 4007 TAYLOR RD www.COUNTRYCLUBSALOON.net COUNTRYCLUBSALOON

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

cigars | wine | brew 973 Pleasant Grove Blvd | roseville, Ca 95678 | (916) 783-2828 |

AFTER

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NIGHTBEAT

THURSDAY 4/3

ASSEMBLY MUSIC HALL 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

HEADBANG FOR THE HWY, KINGDOM OF CUNNINLYNGUISTS, J LIVE, SADISTIK, GIANTS, BEFORE YOU FALL; 4:30pm, $10 NEMO ACHIDA; 7pm, $15

ZZ WARD, GRIZFOLK; Tu; BEAR HANDS, 7pm W; SCHOOLBOY Q, 10:30pm W, $30 Sonique: house and techno, 10pm Tu, no cover; Mad Mondays, 9pm M

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

Fabulous and Gay Fridays, 9pm, call for cover

Saturday Boom, 9pm, call for cover

BAR 101

Karaoke, 7:30pm, no cover

SEA LEGS, 9:30pm, call for cover

PINE STREET RAMBLERS, 9:30pm, call for cover

BLUE LAMP

Blues jam, 4pm, no cover

BOB WAYNE, THE SPILLIT QUIKKERS, DRY COUNTY DRINKERS; 8pm, $10

ANGRY SAMOANS, RAT DAMAGE, PISS CAT; 7pm, call for cover

THE BOARDWALK

CRAZY DAWG, FILTHPIT, SAGACIOUS

UNDERTOW, SOUL SHINE, KING NEVER, NO WHERE BUT UP; 8pm, call for cover

SMACKOLA DIRTYWORMZ, 51.50, CALI BEAR GANG, BUGZY; 8pm, call for cover

101 Main St., Roseville; (916) 774-0505 1400 Alhambra, (916) 455-3400

9426 Greenback Ln., Orangevale; (916) 988-9247 PAST, VICTORY OR DEATH; 8pm

CENTER FOR THE ARTS THE COZMIC CAFÉ

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

DIVE BAR

1022 K St., (916) 737-5999

Open-mic, 7:30pm, no cover

2000 K St., (916) 448-7798 1001 R St., (916) 443-8825

JONNY MOJO, 8pm, $8

MCCOY TYLER BAND, MERRYGOLD; 8pm, call for cover

DJ Louie Giovanni, 10pm, call for cover

Panic City, 10pm, call for cover

Deuling Pianos, 9pm, no cover

FACES

FOX & GOOSE

MARTY COHEN & THE SIDEKICKS, 8pm, no cover

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

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

THE GOLDEN CADILLACS, 9pm, $5

INFINITE VASTNESS, HANS & THE HOT MESS; 9pm, $5

G STREET WUNDERBAR

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 4/7-4/9

Sin Sunday, 8pm, call for cover

Trivia, 6:30pm M, no cover; Open-mic, 7:30pm W, no cover Get Down to the Champion Sound reggae night, 9pm-2am, $3

HALFTIME BAR & GRILL

FLAT BUSTED, 9pm-midnight, $5

5681 Lonetree Blvd., Rocklin; (916) 626-6366

Community music jam, 6:30pm M, no cover

BRIAN ROGERS, 9pm, no cover

THE CITY OF TREES BRASS BAND, 9pm Tu, no cover

Dragalicious, 9pm, $5

Queer Idol, 9pm M, no cover; Latin night, 9pm Tu, $5; DJ Alazzawi, 9pm W, $3 Open-mic, 7:30pm M, no cover; Pub Quiz, 7pm Tu; Northern Soul, 8pm W, no cover

SKID ROSES, 9pm-midnight, $5

BRANCHES, THE SHOW PONIES, THE WESTWARDS; 7pm, $10

LEVEL UP FOOD & LOUNGE

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

DJ Rock Bottom and The Mookie DJ, 9pm, no cover

Hip-hop and R&B deejay dancing, 9:16pm Tu, no cover

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

MOMO JONES, AMY REED, JAY SHANER, CATCH A KOALA, MICHAEL WILLOUGHBY, EMILY FITZGERALD; 8pm, $15 XOCHITL; 8pm, $15

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

LUNA’S CAFÉ & JUICE BAR 1414 16th St., (916) 441-3931

MARILYN’S ON K

You Front The Band Live Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

908 K St., (916) 446-4361

MIDTOWN BARFLY

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

CHUCK RAGAN, THE WHITE BUFFALO, JOHNNY TWO BAGS; 9pm, $20-$25

Trivia night, 7:30-9pm Tu, no cover

2708 J St., (916) 441-4693 2431 J St., (916) 448-8768

Dubstep, glitch-hop, house, electro-bass Dubstep, glitch-hop and heavy bass deejay, 9pm-2am deejay dancing, 9pm-2am

friday, april 4

YONdEr MOuNtAIN StrINg bANd

DAVID HOUSTON, JONAH MATRANGA, ALEX NELSON, PARIE WOOD; 5:30pm

Showcase Sundays, 7pm, no cover

Karaoke, 9pm M, no cover; Greatest Stories Ever Told, 8pm Tu, no cover

Electronic, house, nudisco, techno and dubstep deejay dancing, 9pm-2am

Goth, darkwave, industrial, electronic deejay dancing, 9pm-3am, call for cover

Swing dancing, 7:30pm Tu; Salsa lessons with Nicole Lazo, 7:30pm-midnight W, $5

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

All Ages Welcome!

saTurday, april 19

JON PArdI

thE brothErs comAtosE

saTurday, april 5

+++ (crOSSES) Kyng - EvE to AdAm - nothing morE

sunday, april 13

MOgWAI mAjEurE

Monday, april 14

tHrEE 6 MAfIA /dA MAfIA 6IX WEddojEnson

Wednesday, april 16

SEvENduSt

Wednesday, april 23

PENNYWISE

Teenage BoTTlerockeT

Thursday, april 24

tHE dANdY WArHOLS friday, april 25

drIvE-bY truckErS

shovels and ropes

sunday, april 27

JuLIEtA vENEgAS

COMING

SOON

05/02 Ty Dolla $ign 05/03 Fallrise 05/07 Suicidal Tendencies 05/08 Chiodos 05/11 Twenty One Pilots 05/12 Riff Raff 05/15 Devin The Dude / Berner 05/16 “One” Metallica Tribute Band 05/17 (Hed) PE 05/20 YG 05/21 Christina Perri 05/30 Black Flag 05/31 Tech N9ne 06/05 Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang 06/13 Mickey Avalon 07/24 Moonshine Bandits 08/23 Y & T

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

SN&R

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04.03.14

JOE ELY, DAVID RAMIREZ; 7pm Tu, $25-$27.50

BONNIE & THE BANG BANG, 9pm, call for cover

AcE Of SPAdES

38

Acoustic open mic, 8pm M, no cover; Naughty Trivia, 8pm W, no cover

BIG STICKY MESS, 9pm, no cover

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

HARLOW’S

SUNDAY 4/6

ACHILLES WHEEL, THE SOFT BOMBS, THE BLEACH BOYS; 8pm, $12-$15

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

1016 K St., (916) 737-5770

Hey local bands!

SATURDAY 4/5

BARCELONA, MAKINTOSH BRAUN; 7pm, $10

2003 K St., (916) 448-8790

DISTRICT 30

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.

FRIDAY 4/4

THURSDAY 4/3

FRIDAY 4/4

SATURDAY 4/5

1111 H St., (916) 443-1927

PANDOVAL, WIVING, JOSIAH GATHING; 8:30pm, $5

SIMPL3JACK, PILGRIM, THE AUXILLARY; 8:30pm, $5

LUCKY LASKOWSKI, THE SWEET BY AND BY, BANJO FIDDLE; 8pm, $5

Jazz session, 8pm M, no cover; RED’S BLUES, 8:30pm W, $5

OLD IRONSIDES

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

The Lipstick Weekender dance night, 9pm, $5

EARWIGS, GO NATIONAL, GO DOG GO, I LOVE ETHYL; 9pm, $7

Karaoke w/ Sac City Entertainment, 9pm Tu; Open-mic, 9pm W, no cover

ON THE Y

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

ODAME SUCKS, LIGHT SKINNED CREOLE, MR. P CHILL; 8-11pm, $5

FOREVER OBSCURED, VIRAL, SPLATTERED, CURSED; 1pm, $10

GURF MORLIX, 8pm, $20

JOHN REISCHMAN & THE JAYBIRDS, 8pm, $20

NAKED LOUNGE DOWNTOWN 1901 10th St., (916) 442-3504 670 Fulton Ave., (916) 487-3731

THE PALMS PLAYHOUSE

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

THE PARK ULTRA LOUNGE

DJ Peeti V, 9pm-2am, $15

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

PARLARE EURO LOUNGE

Top 40, 9pm, no cover

1009 10th St., (916) 448-8960

Top 40, Mashups, 9pm, no cover

PJ’S ROADHOUSE

BO BICE, 10pm, call for cover

THE PRESS CLUB

2030 P St., (916) 444-7914

STARLITE LOUNGE

1517 21st St., (916) 706-0052 1320 Del Paso Blvd., (916) 927-6023

THE CHRIS GARDNER BAND, 9pm, $5

904 15th St., (916) 443-2797

Ballroom dancing with Jim Truesdale, 6:30pm W, no cover

Rock On! live-band karaoke, 8pm Tu; REBEL RADIO, AUXILIARY; 8pm W, $5

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

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

KAZ MIRBLOUK, LUBEC, MEDODORA; 9pm W, $6

HANS AND THE HOT MESS, 9pm, call for cover

SCREATURE, RAZORBLADE MONALISA; 9pm, call for cover

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

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

Country dance party, 8pm, no cover

ROGUE, 2pm, $5

AMANDA GRAY & WHISKEY SAVAGE, BIG TROUBLE, GIBSON & GRAY; 2pm, $5

BRIAN ROGERS, 9pm, $5

Blues jam, 4pm, no cover; SCOTT PEMBERTON, 8pm, $5

5871 Garden Hwy, (916) 920-8088 X TRIO, 5pm, no cover; DOWN NORTH, 9pm, $5

Kaz Mirblouk with Lubec and Medodora 9pm Wednesday, $6.

The Press Club Garage rock

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

HERO’S LAST MISSION, ONCE AN MARION’S KITCHEN, 3pm, call for cover; LANE BALDWIN, 3pm, call for cover EMPIRE, RACE TO THE BOTTOM; 9pm, $10 SUPERLICIOUS, 10pm, call for cover

SWABBIES

TORCH CLUB

Karaoke, 9pm Tu, no cover

FULL FUNKY GORILLA, HAIR OF THE DOG; 9pm, $5

ADONIS DNA, 9pm, $5

5461 Mother Lode, Placerville; (530) 626-0336

STONEY INN/ROCKIN’ RODEO

Open-mic comedy, 9pm, no cover

SOLSA, 9pm, $10

3443 Laguna Blvd., Elk Grove; (916) 226-2625

614 Sutter St., Folsom; (916) 355-8586

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 4/7-4/9

DJ Club mixes, 10pm, no cover

PINS N STRIKES

POWERHOUSE PUB

SUNDAY 4/6

PAILER AND FRATIS, 5:30-7:30pm, no cover; QUINN HEDGES BAND, 9pm, $7

Sunday Night Soul Party, 9pm, $5

Papasote’s Karaoke Explosion, 9pm W, no cover Comedy open-mic, 8pm M; Bluebird Lounge open-mic, 5pm Tu, no cover

Miss Maddy’s F Street Stompers 9pm Wednesday, $5.

Torch Club Ragtime and blues

Open-mic, 5:30pm W; MISS MADDY’S F STREET STOMPERS, 9pm W, $5

All ages, all the time ACE OF SPADES

1417 R St., (916) 448-3300

YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND, THE BROTHERS COMATOSE; 7pm, $25

††† (CROSSES), 7:30pm, $20

LUIGI’S SLICE AND FUN GARDEN

VASAS, PAGEANTRY, DUKE CHEVALIER, MEMORY MOTEL; 8pm, $6

LUMOHS, XOCHITL, JULIET COMPANY; 8:30pm, $5

BACKSEAT LOVERS, HOT HANDS, ONCE AN EMPIRE; 8:30pm, $5

SHINE

FUTUREWANG, CHIKADING!, DELAYED SLEEP, RECONNAISSANCE FLY; 8pm, $5

BE BRAVE BOLD ROBOT, BELLYGUNNER; 8pm, $5

CALLING TEMPO, OF US GIANTS, CASEY GROAT; 8pm, $5

1050 20th St., (916) 552-0317 1400 E St., (916) 551-1400

SCHOOLBOY Q, AUDIO PUSH, ISAIAH RASHAD, VINCE STAPLES; 7pm W, $25

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

a lle y k at z p r e s e n t s

5IVSTEBZ t "QSJM t o 1.

live MuSic

april

0 4USFFU t 4BDSBNFOUP

4th sea legs 5th pine street ramblers

A blowout celebration of the arts, the second annual U-Nite will showcase original works from the nationally celebrated faculty of Sacramento State’s College of Arts and Letters. Collaborations designed to provoke dialogue and unity will fill the galleries with music, dance, theater, photography, design, film, poetry, and prose.

11th rubbidy buppidy 12th james cavern 18th the remedy

The event will be free to students, alumni, staff and faculty with a valid Sacramento State ID.

19th street urchinz 25th the iron hearts 26th jras, massive delicious 101 Main Street, roSeville 916-774-0505 · 9:30pm · 21+ facebook.com/bar101roseville BEFORE

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saturday, april 12 • 6pm

crockerartmuseum.org |

FEATURE STORY

2019 O st | sacramentO | 916.442.2682 |

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what’s on your

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On background I am writing to ask about the 215 card. I have a back/spinal condition, which puts me in a lot of pain. I would like to try the CBD buds, having heard that it helps and doesn’t get you high. The concern I have is that I am applying for fellowship and state jobs. Would my name be put on a list where employers and anyone who does a background check would be able to see that I have a 215 card? I am competing with hundreds of others and do not want to jeopardize my chances. I have heard that no urine test is administered, however, BEALUM I am worried of the background check.

by NGAIO —A. Sorry to hear about your back. It is true that cannabidiol, or CBD, has shown promise as a pain reliever a sk4 2 0 @ n ew s r evi ew . c om and an anti-inflammatory. It is also true that CBD doesn’t have the psychoactive effects of THC. In ’13 fact, CBD can act as a THC inhibitor, preventing you from getting too high.

CBD has been in the news lately, because it has become increasingly popular as a treatment for Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy that causes children to have several seizures a day. Many states are passing legislation aimed at allowing high-CBD strains for medical use, but keeping THC illegal. Sounds kind of dumb to me, but whatever. Weed will be completely legal Cannabidiol can act soon enough.

As to your question as a THC inhibitor, about background checks: preventing you from Don’t worry about it.

California, medicalgetting too high. In cannabis recommendations are between you and your doctor. Medical-privacy laws prevent you from being on any sort of list. So go get signed up. Once you do get your letter and visit a medical-cannabis dispensary, look for high-CBD strains like Cannatonic, Harlequin or Sour Tsunami. They should also have some high-CBD edibles and tinctures if you don’t want to smoke. I hope you feel better.

High, Ngaio. I have been smoking weed on the daily for a long time. I just don’t get as high as I used to get. What should I do?

—Tommy Tolerance You have two choices: Start smoking a bunch of hash, or just quit smoking weed for a while. Hash will get you hella high, but eventually, you will also develop a tolerance to hash as well, and hash gets expensive. Just stop smoking for a while, like a week or two. You may feel weird at first, but you will have vivid dreams and a little extra money. After two weeks, smoke a bowl, and see if you don’t get higher than you’ve been in a while.

I am a grown man, and I still can’t roll a joint to save my life. Any tips?

—Freddy Fumblefingers Practice. That’s really the best way to be better at it. Get a pile of cannabis and a pack of rolling papers (I recommend the one-and-a-quarter size), and get to work. Roll until your fingers hurt. After you have rolled about 50 joints or so, you should have an idea of what it takes to roll a serviceable doobie. Don’t worry too much about a perfect cylinder, just get it so it burns evenly. Of course, the Internet is also full of tips. Have fun! Ω

Ngaio Bealum

is a Sacramento comedian, activist and marijuana expert.

Email him questions at ask420@ newsreview.com.

B BE EF FO OR RE E

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BEFORE

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free gram with purchase of $35 or more

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NEWS

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F E AT U R E

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C a p i ta l C a n n a b i s G u i d e

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offers. One coupon per person, per day. Expires 04/02/14.

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R

yan Landers is perhaps best known for his advocacy work on passing Prop. 215, which gave Californians the right to possess and use cannabis for medicinal purposes. Today, the California state director for the American Alliance for Medical Cannabis shares his thoughts on a few topics in the news.

Should California legalize marijuana for recreational use?

No! It’s truly not legalize, it must be decriminalize.

If possible, you don’t try to regulate any use of a felony substance by using the initiative or legislative processes.

You must remove the felony laws from California Health and Safety Code, then you can try to write fair, safe and acceptable regulations.

After decriminalization we need to reschedule marijuana, both in California and federally. Seriously ill patients, like myself, have used medicinal marijuana every single day with safe and predictable results. You wouldn’t believe the side effects from the nearly 30 different prescription drugs I’m expected to take.

What are your thoughts on Senate Bill 1262, which calls for state oversight of dispensaries, cultivation sites and physicians’ recommendations?

Bad laws like SB 1262 do not help the situation at all. Patients whose primary health insurance started refusing all

House of organics 8848 Fruitridge Rd. Sacramento | Open 7 days a week 9am-7p

BEFORE

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S. Watt

*Cannot be combined with other offers. One coupon per person per day. Expires 04/09/14.

Many of our readers are concerned about your health. How are you doing?

My health has not been good. It seems starting a new HIV medication turned my immune system against me, after it had been so suppressed for so long. In my last labs I only had 26 T-cells — a normal adult male should have around 1,600 T-cells. I haven’t been able to keep anything, even water, down. Because of that, I was forced off all my medications and I’ve lost more than 25 pounds over the last four to six weeks. Being this seriously ill makes it extremely difficult for patients like myself to be out fighting to stop these bad laws and protect patients’ rights.

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patients safe access to such a helpful medication must take their medical records to another doctor who will review them and write a recommendation. Under this legislation they would no longer be able to do that. Not all doctors know which strains help which illnesses best.

Lawmakers have no understanding of what patients go through or anything about their needs.

Capital Cannabis Guide coverage is sponsored by its advertisers.

This content was produced by the publications division of News & Review.

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): In his novel

The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera says that the brain has “a special area which we might call poetic memory and which records everything that charms or touches us, that makes our lives beautiful.” In the coming days, it will be especially important for you to tap into this power spot in your own gray matter, Aries. You need to activate and stir up the feelings of enchantment that are stored there. Doing so will make you fully alert and available for the new delights that will be swirling in your vicinity.

The operative principle is like attracts like.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Our

ancestors could see the Milky Way galaxy spread out across the heavens on every clear night. Galileo said it was so bright, it cast a shadow of his body on the ground.

But today, that glorious spectacle is invisible to us city dwellers. The sky after sundown is polluted with artificial light that hides 90 percent of the 2,000 stars we might otherwise see. If you want to bask in the natural illumination, you’ve got to travel to a remote area where the darkness is deeper. Let’s make that your metaphor, Taurus. Proceed on the hypothesis that a luminous source of beauty is concealed from you. To become aware of it, you must seek out a more profound darkness.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “Dear

Gemini: I don’t demand your total attention, and I don’t need your unconditional approval. I will never restrict your freedom or push you to explain yourself.

All I truly want to do is to warm myself in the glow of your intelligence. Can you accept that? I have this theory that your sparkle is contagious—that I’ll get smarter about how to live my own life if I can simply be in your presence. What do you say? In return, I promise to deepen your appreciation for yourself and show you secrets about how best to wield your influence. —Your Secret Admirer.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The

Cancerian artist Rembrandt became one of the world’s greatest painters. It was a struggle. “I can’t paint the way they want me to paint,” he said about those who questioned his innovative approach.

“I have tried and I have tried very hard, but I can’t do it. I just can’t do it!” We should be glad the master failed to meet his critics’ expectations. His work’s unique beauty didn’t get watered down.

But there was a price to pay. “[T]hat is why I am just a little crazy,” Rembrandt concluded. Here’s the moral of the story: To be true to your vision and faithful to your purpose, you may have to deal with being a little crazy. Are you willing to make that trade-off?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The Indian spiritual teacher Nisargadatta Maharaj offered a three-stage fable to symbolize one’s progression toward enlightenment. In the first stage, you are inside a cage located in a forest where a tiger prowls.

You’re protected by the cage, so the tiger can’t hurt you. On the other hand, you’re trapped. In the second stage, the tiger is inside the cage, and you roam freely through the forest. The beautiful animal is trapped. In the third stage, the tiger is out of the cage and you have tamed it.

It’s your ally, and you are riding around on its back. I believe this sequence has resemblances to the story you’ll be living in the coming months. Right now, you’re inside the cage and the tiger is outside.

By mid-May the tiger will be in the cage, and you’ll be outside. By your birthday, I expect you to be riding the tiger.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): What is “soul

work,” anyway? It’s like when you make an unpredictable gift for someone you love. Or when you bravely identify one of your unripe qualities and resolve to use all your willpower and ingenuity to ripen it.

Soul work is when you wade into a party full of rowdy drunks and put your meditation skills to the acid test. It’s like when you teach yourself not merely to tolerate smoldering ambiguity, but to be amused by it and even thrive on it. Can you think of other examples? It’s Soul Work Week for you.

BEFORE

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NEWS

pHoTo BY LiSA BAETz

by ROb

For the week of April 3, 2014

bRezsny

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Are you close

to anyone who is a catalytic listener? Is there a person who tunes in to what you say with such fervent receptivity that you get inspired to reveal truths you didn’t realize you knew? If so, invite this superstar out to a free lunch or two in the coming days. If not, see if you can find one.

Of course, it is always a blessing to have a heart-to-heart talk with a soul friend, but it is even more crucial than usual for you to treat yourself to this luxury now.

Hints of lost magic are near the surface of your awareness. They’re still unconscious, but could emerge into full view during provocative conversations with an empathetic ally.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): On my

blog, I quoted author Ray Bradbury: “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” I asked my readers what word they would use in place of “writing” to describe how they avoided being destroyed by reality. Popular responses were love, music, whiskey, prayer, dreams, gratitude and yoga. One woman testified that she stayed drunk on sexting, while another said “collecting gargoyles from medieval cathedrals,” and a third claimed her secret was “jumping over hurdles while riding a horse.” There was even a rebel who declared she stayed drunk on writing so she could destroy reality. My question is important for you to meditate on, Scorpio. Right now you must do whatever’s necessary to keep from being messed with by reality.

Ben (left) and Gabi Garcia.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Does your mother know what you are up to these days? Let’s hope not. I doubt if she would fully approve, and that might inhibit your enthusiasm for the experiments you are exploring. It’s probably best to keep your father out of the loop as well, along with other honchos, cynics or loved ones who might be upset if you wander outside of your usual boundaries. And as for those clucking voices in your head: Give them milk and cookies, but don’t pay attention to their cautious advice. You need to be free of the past, free of fearful influences, and free of the self you’re in the process of outgrowing.

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

the foreseeable future, I urge you not to spend much time wrangling with bureaucrats and know-it-alls. Avoid frustrating projects that would require meticulous discipline. Don’t even think about catching up on paperwork or organizing your junk drawer or planning the next five years of your career. Instead, focus on taking long meandering walks to nowhere in particular.

Daydream about an epic movie based on your life story. Flirt with being a lazy bum.

Play noncompetitive games with unambitious people. Here’s why: Good ideas and wise decisions are most likely to percolate as you are lounging around doing nothing— and feeling no guilt for doing nothing.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Are you

waiting? Are you wondering and hoping?

Are you calculating whether you are needed, and if so, how much? Do you wish the signs were clearer about how deeply you should commit yourself? Are you on edge as you try to gauge what your exact role is in the grand scheme of things? I’m here to deliver a message from the universe about how you should proceed. It’s a poem

by Emily Dickinson: “They might not need me—yet they might. / I’ll let my Heart be just in sight – / A smile so small as mine might be / Precisely their necessity.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You will soon get a second chance. An opportunity you failed to capitalize on in the past will reemerge in an even more welcoming guise, and you will snag it this time. You weren’t ready for it the first time it came around, but you are ready now! It’s probably a good thing the connection didn’t happen earlier, because at that time the magic wasn’t fully ripe. But the magic is ripe 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. |

F E AT U R E

STORY

The little dive bar on the corner Gabi and Ben Garcia are the new co-owners behind longtime Sacramento bar and music venue Blue Lamp. Married for eight years, the couple jumped at the chance to buy the venue last fall from its previous owners. Ben, a musician and vocalist with more than 10 years as former frontman to the hardcore band Hoods, brings the musicbased expertise to the biz, while Gabi’s 20-plus years of bartending and management experience made for the perfect mix when it came time to revamping the business.

Previously, the Blue Lamp hosted rock bands such as the Business, Black Lips and High on Fire. Now, the Garcias say they aim to embrace a neighborhood-bar feel—but also want the place to double as an intimate club with great sound.

Rock-star attitudes take note: Ben won’t have it. Still, he adds, he’ll do whatever it takes to make musicians feel welcomed, “as long as it’s not too crazy.”

What makes a good neighborhood bar?

Ben: Whiskey. (Laughs.)

Gabi: Good bartenders and good regulars. That’s what makes a good neighborhood bar.

Is this more of a beerand-a-shot kind of bar?

Gabi: I’ve been a bartender for a long time, so I love making cocktails, but we tend to be a beer and shot bar right now.

We are bringing in a lot of local distillers like Tahoe Blue Vodka, and we’re putting

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A RT S & C U LT U R E

all local craft beer on our tap system.

We’ll never be a craft-cocktail bar like Shady Lady [Saloon] or [The Red Rabbit Kitchen and Bar], but we want to make really good products and support our local community.

collect the bar. ... I know what it’s like touring and only getting paid $40 [or] $20, or not getting paid. I know the ups and downs of being in a band and what [musicians] would like, and how they’d like to be treated.

Does new ownership mean the Blue Lamp has a different focus?

What music are you both listening to right now?

Gabi: We definitely want to bring that neighborhood-bar feel to the live-music venue, similar to [what] a lot of the clubs in San Francisco [are doing]. We also want to bring in some different types of music that [the previous owners] didn’t toy with before, like country, hip-hop and reggae. We want to expand the genres of music and allow a lot of the local bands to expand their fan base here. We want to have that little divey bar that has really great sound.

Ben: Hank3, Bob Wayne and Hank [Williams] Sr., all the good ol’ guys, you know?

What’s new during the week?

Gabi: Naughty Trivia on Wednesdays with all its sex orientation, anatomy and fetish-type of questions. We have adult-theme cocktails that are really fruity and yummy. We’ve had a Cherry Popper, a Dirty Whore and every week, we have two new cocktails. We also have penis straws, and if you bring your straw back, you get $1 off your cocktails. It has evolved into its own thing. It’s just dirty trivia, and you can win bar prizes and gift certificates.

What should bands know?

Gabi: We’ve been listening to a lot of oldschool outlaw country, because we have Bob Wayne coming.

What’s the Blue Lamp charm?

Ben: It’s a punk-rock, divey little spot with a small stage. We’re not a very big club.

Instead, we’re real intimate with the bands, and that’s what I like. When playing shows, I hate it when there’s a tall stage and a barrier with 15 guards in front of you. I’m not into the whole rock-star thing. I like being up close and personal with the bands because it makes it better. Growing up as a kid and going to shows, that’s how I grew up in the scene.

Worst job at the bar?

Gabi: It’s [cleaning] the bathrooms—men’s and women’s. Ω Check out a show at the Blue Lamp with Bob Wane, Spillit Quikkers and Dry County Drinkers on Friday, April 4. Showtime is 8 p.m., and admission is $10. Vistit the Blue Lamp at 1400 Alhambra Boulevard or www.bluelamp sacramento.com.

Ben: I don’t want to make money off of bands, because bands don’t make any money. We give them the door, and we

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