S 2015 02 12

44 Dear K.J.: A LOVE LETTER

30 Cajun-Asian mashups?

Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly

|

Volume 26, iSSue 43

|

thurSday, february 12, 2015

2

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

February 12, 2015 | vol. 26, issue 43

23

Equal Internet for all I spent this past weekend in San Francisco, holed up at a digital media conference. There, we talked effective online reporting, social-media engagement, resources and more.

There were interesting ideas, big and small. Thoughtful discussions and insightful tips. It didn’t take long to be reminded, however, that none of it really matters if we don’t first talk improved access.

Access to fast, reliable Internet is a significant issue in lower-income neighborhoods and schools. President Barack Obama addressed the topic during his January 20 State of the Union address. Then, the president vowed “to protect a free and open Internet, extend its reach to every classroom, and every community.”

More importantly, he tasked the Federal Communications Commission with challenging state laws that block the construction of municipal broadband networks—high-speed, community-run Internet services.

The president’s proposal would require the Internet be treated like any other utility—electricity, water, et al. Translated, that means the same standards would apply regardless of what platform (desktop, tablet, smartphone) consumers used.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler agreed, at least in part. He’s endorsing the implementation of net neutrality, the idea that all Internet traffic be treated equally, thus making it illegal for service providers to favor some sites in exchange for higher fees.

The FCC is scheduled to vote on this on February 26. A yes vote is the only right vote. Net neutrality doesn’t just mean a cheaper price tag and faster speeds for binge-watching, it means everyone is guaranteed speedy and reliable access.

It’s time for the Internet to be treated as less of a plaything, as just another luxury. The Internet is an important resource and utility. It’s a modern survival tool.

12

32 Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Junior Art Director Brian Breneman Production Coordinator Skyler Smith Designers Melissa Bernard, Brad Coates, Kyle Shine Contributing Photographers Lisa Baetz, Steven Chea, Evan Duran, Wes Davis, Luke Fitz, Taras Garcia, Michael Miller, Bobby Mull, Shoka, Darin Smith, Lauran Worthy

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 Assistant Editor Anthony Siino Entertainment Editor Jonathan Mendick Editorial Coordinator Becca Costello Contributing Editor Cosmo Garvin Editor-at-large Melinda Welsh Contributors Ngaio Bealum, Daniel Barnes, Rob Brezsny, Jim Carnes, Cody Drabble, Deena Drewis, Joey Garcia, Blake Gillespie, Becky Grunewald, Lovelle Harris, Jeff Hudson, Jim Lane,

rac hell@ n ews r ev i ew . com

OPINION + letters gREENLIgHT SCOREKEEPER + bites NEWS FEATuRE STORy ARTS&CuLTuRE SECOND SATuRDAy NIgHT&DAy DISH STAgE FILM MuSIC + sound Advice ASK JOEy THE 420 15 MINuTES

33

Garrett McCord, Kel Munger, Kate Paloy, Patti Roberts, Ann Martin Rolke, Steph Rodriguez, Shoka

—Rachel Leibrock

STREETALK

05 06 09 10 12 14 20 23 27 29 33 34 36 44 47 59

Chief Marketing Officer Rick Brown Advertising Manager Corey Gerhard Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Joy Webber, Kelsi White Advertising Consultants Joseph Barcelon, Meghan Bingen, Lee Craft, Teri Gorman, Dusty Hamilton, Dave Nettles, Matt Richter, Lee Roberts, Julie Sherry Senior Inside Sales Consultant Olla Ubay Sales Assistant Matt Kjar Ad Services Specialist Jovi Radtke Director of Et Cetera Will Niespodzinski Custom Publications Editor Michelle Carl

COVER dEsign BY HAYLEY dOsHAY COVER iLLUsTRATiOn BY Miss LOTiOn

Custom Publications Managing Editor Shannon Springmeyer Custom Publications Writer/Copy Editor Mike Blount Custom Publications Writer Brittany Wesely Executive Coordinator Jessica Takehara Director of First Impressions David Lindsay 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, Lolu Sholotan President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resources Manager Tanja Poley Business Manager Grant Rosenquist Accounting Specialist Nicole Jackson Accounts Receivable Specialist Kortnee Angel Sweetdeals Coordinator Courtney DeShields Nuts & Bolts Ninja Christina Wukmir Lead Technology Synthesist Jonathan Schultz Senior Support Tech Joe Kakacek

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.

FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR STYLE AGAIN 2101 L Street Sacramento 916.441.3733

6412 Tupelo Drive Citrus Heights 916.725.3733

BUY / SELL / TRADE MEN’S & WOMEN’S FASHION BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

850 E Bidwell, Folsom (next to Trader Joes) 916.985.3733

• |

1107 Rosevillllee Squ uar aree Roseville 916.773.37333

FREESTYLECLOTHING.COM A RT S & C U LT U R E

|

•

FACEBOOK.COM/FREESTYLECLOTHING

AFTER

|

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

3

a Jackson Rancheria at

SALT-N-PEPA JUNE 20 at 7 P.M. GRAND OAK BALLROOM

800-822-WINN 800-822-WINN JACKSONCASINO.COM 800-822-WINN ••• JACKSONCASINO.COM JACKSONCASINO.COM

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW at the Casino Cashier’s Cage or JacksonCasino.com.

Management reserves the right to modify or cancel any promotion or event.

4

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

“Really, I just pick up my guitar when I am in the mood.”

Asked at Dimple Records in Elk Grove:

What music sets the scene for romance?

Patrick O’Neill

Jordan Greendahl

Austin Tackett

accounting clerk

manual laborer

Van Morrison. Yeah.

“Tupelo Honey” is one of my wife’s favorites. I also like a song by him called “Coney Island.” My wife is a bigger fan than I am, but we both like him. For Valentine’s Day, I can put his music on. We have both albums and CDs.

Really, I just pick up my guitar when I am in the mood. Mumford & Sons is really good. I think they do a lot of romantic stuff. They are not that old. Acoustically, [it’s] done with a lot of string instruments. They have a kind of classical feel with bluegrass.

David LaFleur

Kayla Schaeffer

attendant

caregiver

George Strait, Chris LeDoux, Johnny Cash. A favorite song by George Strait would be “I Can Still Make Cheyenne” or “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” It came out in the ’80s. Chris LeDoux has one that is not really a love song, called “Photo Finish.” My romantic music choice would be country.

Barbara Alves

payroll

Lucero, because my fiancé plays it to me all the time.

They do a lot of love songs.

It is guitar music, usually acoustic but sometimes electric, depending on the song. I prefer the acoustic more than the electric. It is soothing and, depending on the song, it can be extremely romantic.

It is not really romantic, but more of the modern metal. A favorite artist would be a band called The Used from Orem, Utah. Their first CD, which was released in 2002, has some really good songs on there. I actually know a lot of females that like their songs as well. ... It has set the mood those times.

analyst

Frank Sinatra. Anything Frank Sinatra does is great, through the years. I love nostalgic music. He sings and sometimes makes it very personal. I still feel those feelings when I play him. I play it when I am in the mood.

Join our team and create an inspiring career with the company that meets every day with one question: “What do we want to build next?”

Opportunities currently exist in the Sacramento area for: INBOUND SALES AGENT – JOB ID # 369939 RETAIL SALES SOLUTIONS SPECIALIST – JOB ID # 368352 CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE – JOB ID # 364965 Enjoy benefits worthy of the name Total Rewards including: • Medical, dental and vision from day one • Career advancement opportunities • Tuition assistance up to $8,000 annually • Employee discounts on services and devices • Bonus earning potential Apply online today: verizon.com/jobs Verizon is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer M/F/Disability/Vet.

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

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

|

AFTER

| 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

5

AT 3 F I R E S

DRINK, DINE, RELAX

1501 L STREET | SACRAMENTO, CA 916.443.0500 | www.3FIRESLOUNGE.com

1121 15TH STREET | SACRAMENTO 95814 | 916.443.0500

VOTE NOW!

Valentine’s

Eastlake

|

1420 Lake Blvd

|

Davis, CA 95616

|

(530) 758-5253

SACRAMENTO AREA MUSIC AWARDS

Call & schedule a tour today!

Cats & large dogs welcome!

No breed restrictions!

2015

Welcome Home!

SPONSORED BY:

Greystone

2505 5th St. Davis, CA 95618 (530) 758-2200

Stonegate Village 2950 Portage Bay W Davis, CA 95616 (530) 756-2950

6 | SN&R | 02.12.15

Riverview Ranch

2763 River Plaza Dr Sacramento, CA 95833 (916) 923-6300

Lakeshore

1175 Lake Blvd Davis, CA 95616 (530) 757-7926

Get with the herd Mary Mallon didn’t believe that public-health officials could be trusted—after all, governments are corrupt—and she certainly didn’t think scientists were always right or always honest. So, she decided to ignore their recommendations. History remembers her as “Typhoid Mary.”

Readers may think the example of Mallon, the infamous cook who insisted on working in kitchens even after the reality of her status as an asymptomatic typhoid carrier was explained to her by doctors and scientists, is too extreme to draw similarities to today’s anti-vaccination arguments.

They’d be wrong.

The only difference is that today’s science deniers can reinforce each other’s beliefs via the Internet.

The underlying problem—the belief that one’s own intellect, hobbled as all personal intellects are by bias, fear and superstition, is superior to the overwhelming aggregate We cannot continue of scientific opinion—is exactly the same. to allow everyone’s Mallon didn’t “believe” that health to be germs cause disease. It didn’t endangered by make sense to her that something she couldn’t see could make some- those who would one sick. It was her right to refuse deny reality. to wash her hands, and it was the government’s right to refuse to allow her to work as a cook.

Vaccination is every bit as soundly anchored in science as germ theory. The fraudulent paper that connected vaccination to autism has been thoroughly disproven, retracted, and its con-man author has been stripped of his medical license in Great Britain.

The “mercury” that’s supposedly in vaccines, a preservative called thimerosal, is only used for the influenza vaccination, and there are non-preservative versions available. “Herd immunity” is a real thing— which is why two generations of Americans have never seen polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough or mumps—and it is endangered by failure to vaccinate.

Wait. Everyone who’s paying attention already knows this, and it hasn’t done any good. We could just wait for an epidemic resurgence of measles or polio—whooping cough is already making a comeback—or we could try something new.

That’s precisely why we wholeheartedly endorse the bill introduced last week by Sacramento-area state Sen. Richard Pan. This bill would remove the “personal belief” exemption altogether and allow vaccinations prior to school enrollment to be mandatory in all cases except those where the objection is specifically religious or related to the child’s health.

Already, Pan’s 2013 legislation, Assembly Bill 2109, which required parents to receive vaccine education from a physician before opting out, has reduced the number of unvaccinated children by 20 percent.

It’s time—especially in light of the ongoing outbreak of whooping cough in the Sacramento area and the current outbreak of measles—to make sure that the only children exempted from vaccinations are those who are too young or sick to be vaccinated or those whose religion forbids it.

We have a responsibility—not just to our own children, but to all children—to see that they have a fighting chance to grow up healthy. This is a clear and inarguable principal. We cannot continue to allow everyone’s health to be endangered by those who would deny reality. Ω

Re “Fake golden age� by Nick Miller (SN&R Editor’s Note, February 5): Human-induced climate change is a serious issue, but apparently Nick Miller has never paid heed to the January warm-up that I’ve observed in all the temperate climes I’ve lived in in my 63 years. A few warm days in late January is the norm, and pointing to such a thing as letter of a harbinger of climate change is inane and not helpful the week and provides fodder for the skeptics. There are real phenomena, like the recently observed changing northward distribution of nudibranchs (sea slugs), or the offshore movement into colder water of prey for sea lions, that are so much more important to take note of. Stop being silly, and make it real and make it count.

Doug Downie

S a c ra m e nt o

Thanks, K.J.

Re “Triple Vision� by Nick Miller (SN&R News, February 5): Mayor Kevin Johnson’s vision for Sacramento is the right one to overcome the cow-town stereotype we have developed. Whatever criticism there is of the arena, it is clear that there were no other alternatives.

Downtown is a wasteland of unused and empty buildings, and no one had any idea of how to develop the area. An MLS soccer franchise for Sacramento Republic FC will bring infinitely more business and recognition for Sacramento, thus luring more businesses here.

I remember once my business was representing a company that planned to be based here. They rented office space in Roseville as headquarters, but used an address in San Diego. I asked the CEOs why he was using a San Diego address.  online buzz He told me that if they used an address in Sacramento or Roseville, On laSt week’S feature StOry they would not be considered a Subject, @ShOckthOmaS and serious and viable business. The @beabOvethefray: company has since moved to Important work that needs to Southern California. Here’s to the be seen. day when companies will be proud to be here. Mayor Johnson is lead@SACSCIP ing us in that direction. Thank you, K.J., for a job well done.

I can’t wait to pick Gonzalo Vergara up a copy. Very cool Sacramento Thomas. How much will

|

NEWS

Online Buzz contributions are not edited for grammar, spelling or clarity.

@SacAppraiser

Re “Tax the rich� (SN&R Editorial, January 29): You are wrong, wrong again!

When I was growing up, I remember when the tax rates were very high, but you could deduct damn near everything if you were a business owner. One-hundred percent of meals, business lunches, cars, gas—25 cents or so a gallon, cigs

BEFORE

Email your letters to sactoletters@ newsreview.com.

an autographed copy be worth?

View from the right

@shockthomas Thinking about live-tweeting my reading of your cover story in @sacnewsreview.

@SacNewsReview

@TheLizArmy Nice article, including the cover, of the latest @SacNewsReview, @shockthomas #TheSocialNetworker @midtownsac

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

*ZERO BROKER FEES! *Applies to branded prodTitan ucts

‡Accidents /Tickets ts ‡SR-22s / DUI ‡Low Downpayment ‡0RWRUF\FOH ‡ %RDW ‡ 5HQWHUV ‡Commercial Vehicle ‡Major Credit Cards Accepted ‡Open Evenings & Weekends ‡(DV\ 3URFHVVLQJ %\ 3KRQH

Lic. 0E86569

cheap, etc. You could buy a new car for $3,000, a house for $10,000 or so. President Kennedy dropped the tax rates, but then the damn government started expanding! And Obama wants to continue expanding the thumb of government with our tax money. Wait and see if he will do anything about really helping the “middle� class 90-plus million Americans that are not working.

Government produces nothing for a profit. They just spend and piss it away! By the way, how many of those “kids� that came across the border last year had diseases, spoke English, had any education?

How many are ready for the gangs, etc.? And have you yourself taken any in? Probably not. You really endorsed them coming in. Bad idea.

Nick Schrier Sacramento

Titan Insurance Tit n Sales, supe perhero ro bobbleh b ead and desi sign gn aree sservi ervice marks ar of THI Hooldings (Delawa ela re), Inc. Naation tionwide de Insuran Insurance ce is is a serv s ice ce mark of Nationwi n de Mutual Insurance Company. Price based on March 20 2010 10 analysis of available national data for liability-only policies. e Subject to underwriting guidelines, review and approval.

We are licensed W s to provide de vehicle hic regis eg tration service ce to the public, but oour companyy is not a branch nch of o the Department ment of Moto Mot r Vehic icles.

You give climate change a bad name

Facebook.com/ SacNewsReview

@SacNewsReview

|

107 S. Harding Blvd., Suite 1, Roseville 3475 Sunset Blvd, Rocklin 7300 Fair Oaks Blvd, Carmichael 2701 East Hammer Lane, Stockton 5591 Sky Parkway #405, Sacramento 3DFLĂ€F $YH 6XLWH % 6WRFNWRQ 3645 Northgate Blvd, Suite D-1, Sacramento 5411 Florin Road, Sacramento 825 East Street, Sacramento CALL TO REACH YOUR LOCAL OFFICE

1-800-Titan-Up

A RT S & C U LT U R E

1-800-848-2687

ÂŽ

|

AFTER

|

02.12.15

|

Sn&r

|

7

Complete Pair of

Eyeglasses

100

off

$

Plus, 2nd Pair FREE*

Sacramento

2563 Fair Oaks Blvd., (Loehmann’s Plaza) 916-480-9985

FREE LASER HAIR REMOVAL BUY ONE GET ONE BUY 1 LASER HAIR REMOVAL (LHR) Package at regular price, get 2ND LHR PACKAGE, of equal or lesser value

Auburn

12124 New Airport Rd., (Next to Walgreens) 530-889-9985

FREE

SiteforSoreEyes.com *Offer valid on the purchase of frames and lenses. Free second pair of prescription eyeglasses can be chosen from our large special frame selection with single-vision clear plastic lenses.

See store for details. Not combinable with insurance.

Some restrictions may apply. Offer expires 3/31/15.

THE EYECARE STORE NEXT DOOR.

Must mention ad. Offer Expires 2.28.15

59 COMPREHENSIVE EYE EXAM

$

(\H ([DPV DYDLODEOH E\ 6WHUOLQJ 9LVLRQ&DUH 2SWRPHWULVW D &$ OLFHQVHG 9LVLRQ +HDOWK &DUH VHUYLFH SODQ FRQYHQLHQWO\ ORFDWHG QH[W WR 6LWH IRU 6RUH (\HV 6LWH IRU 6RUH (\HV GRHV QRW HPSOR\ WKH RSWRPHWULVW QRU GR WKH\ SURYLGH H\H H[DPV

Perceptions Image Boutique & Skin 8525 MADISON AVE #144 | FAIR OAKS

916.844.0155 | PERCEPTIONSIMAGE.COM

Site for Sore Eyes • Sacramento News and Review • Job# 012143 • 4C, 4.9� x 5.67�

Runs: Feb • EGC Group 516.935.4944

2015 SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

LAKE TAHOE OUTDOOR ARENA AT HARVEYS A VERY SPECIAL EVENING WITH

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 TICKETS ON SALE FEBRUARY 13

DIERKS BENTLEY KIP MOORE MADDIE & TAE CANAAN SMITH SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 TICKETS ON SALE FEBRUARY 14

PURCHASE TICKETS AT TICKETMASTER.COM OR APECONCERTS.COM

#TahoeConcerts Shows subject to change or cancellation. Must be 21 or older to gamble. Know When To Stop Before You Start.Ž Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700. Š2015, Caesars License Company, LLC.

8 

| 

SN&R   |  02.12.15

222965_10x5.67_4c_SacramentoNewsAndReviews_Ad_V3.indd 1

2/5/15 1:32 PM

Sacramento Urban Debate League students score a win

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

YOU’RE WELCOME, NATURE.

High-school competitions belong in a world of their own. You’ll find hundreds of young people, some who look like they’ve come straight from elementary school and others who had to shave in the morning. These young people dream big, and their dreams are not encumbered by future obstacles.

Excitement, nervousness and hormones abound. And, of course, there’s an array of snack foods for sale, all to raise money for some worthy school projects.

My previous experiences of daylong highschool competitions involved high-school swim team, followed many years later by my kids’ drum l

by Jeff VonkAene line competitions. So I felt right at home attending the j ef f v@ ne wsreview.c om recent National Catholic Forensic League speech and debate national qualifier competition held at McClatchy High School.

There were some differences, however, between today and when I was young. For example, the uniforms. Instead of high-school-issued swimsuits or band gear, the young male debaters were wearing very traditional business suits, and the female debaters the equivalent of traditional What the Sacramento clothing for women. It was Urban Debate League definitely a dress-for-success debate. does for students is not If you have never been to a debatable. The kids win. high-school competition, then you might think that anywhere you find a few hundred high-school kids together there would be trouble. You would be wrong. The young debaters, swimmers or drum line competitors are incredibly focused on their upcoming performance.

The 2015 I was invited to this debate competition by the National Catholic Sacramento Urban Debate League President Stephen Forensic League Goldberg and Executive Director Mark Hernandez. Like Grand National Tournament will be all the best coaches, Mark and Stephen have an incredible on Memorial Day love for both the sport and the students. But they have weekend in Fort something else.

Lauderdale, Fla. In They have a desire to bring the debate experience, 2016, it will be held in Sacramento. For generally only found in elite, wealthy schools, to more more information, urban, less wealthy schools, such as Monterey Trail, go to ncfl.org/gnt. Rosemont and Cordova high schools.

I watched their students in the policy debate competition. This year’s topic was whether the United States federal government should substantially increase its nonmilitary exploration or development of the Earth’s oceans.

To learn more In the competition, the debaters are each assigned an about the affirmative or negative side of the topic. They debate Sacramento Urban each other in eight- and five-minute segments. In the next Debate League, go to www.sudl.org. round, they take the opposite position, debating different contestants.

When asked what it was like learning how to debate both sides of a policy position, Cordova High School sophomore Gina Spikes told me that it helped her think better and also “made my opinions broader.”

Jeff vonkaenel It appears so. It would be hard to debate even one side is the president, of an issue at the level I saw during the policy debate. The CEO and well-dressed kids were inspiring. And it was a good day for majority owner of the News & Review the Sacramento Urban Debate League. A very happy Mark newspapers in emailed me later to tell me that their students “took four of Sacramento, Chico the five speakers awards and had two of the four teams in and Reno. the final four.”

While many policy issues were debated that day, what the Sacramento Urban Debate League does for students is not debatable. The kids win. Ω

RECYCLE THIS PAPER.

A good argument

|

A RT S & C U LT U R E

|

AFTER

|

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

9

To be pre-qualified for this study, you must be A female at least 18 years of age that has a diagnosis of IBS-D, with: - Onset of symptoms of IBS-D at least 6 months ago - Recurrent abdominal pain or discomfort for at least 3 days per month in the last 3 months - Loose or watery stools sometimes or most of the time / always in the last 3 months - More than 3 bowel movements per day sometimes or most of the time / always in the last 3 months

Gift certificates to local merchants for up to 50% off

If you’ve been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Diarrhea (IBS-D), you can help local doctors evaluate an investigational medication as part of the IRIS study.

w w w. n e w s r e v i e w. c o m

916.281.2262

INVENTORY YEAR END

70% OFF SELECTED JEWELRY

UP TO 2 YEARS INTEREST FREE FINANCING!

199

SIMON G | MONT BLANC TACORI | PANDORA VEPRAGIO | CARO 74 & MORE! PRE OWNED ROLEXES

FREE JEWELRY CLEAN & INSPECTION | FREE VERBAL APPRAISALS (LIMIT 3)

10 | SN&R | 02.12.15

Stay classy, Sacramento

Rite raid

NBC anchorman-in-chief Brian Williams can’t remember if he got shot in a helicopter or not— and now Sacramento State alumnus and city native Lester Holt is taking over (temporarily, in all likelihood) the NBC Nightly News telecast. Holt usually anchors the weekend versions of Today and NBC Nightly News.

+ 916

It’s Friday night, just before 5:30 p.m., at a drugstore on F and 22nd streets.

A white male in his late 30s passes a note to a pharmacists. He wants drugs. The clerk abides, delivers the narcotics and the man flees the scene.

No one is hurt. City police are looking into it. Midtown drugstore cowboy, anyone?

- 26

It’s fair that DeMarcus Cousins is pissed about rumors that he and his agents have been the biggest obstacles to the Kings hiring George Karl to replace Tyrone Corbin. But it’s not fair for Cousins to blame “this city” for all the grief he’s experiencing. Hey man, that’s on your bosses, Vivek and Co. Sacramento the city hasn’t done anything—oh, except buy you a new arena. Choose your words wisely.

- 15 Homicide help Police need assistance with a Sunday morning shooting. Just after 2:19 a.m., law enforcement got a call about gunfire in the Meadowview area of south Sacramento. “Responding officers searched the area only to locate a possible scene and evidence someone had been injured,” the police crime log read. They did not find any victims—until a 2:43 a.m. call from a hospital.

A young male arrived suffering from a gunshot wound. He soon died at the hospital. “The investigation is ongoing … detectives do not believe this was a random act,” the crime log read. Anyone with info on this crime can call (916) 443-HELP or text tips to 274637. Tips can be anonymous; there is a possible $1,000 reward.

- 187 Coup de foie gras That hurrah from local foodies over the return of foie gras came to a slight, unsure halt last week. Attorney General Kamala Harris gave notice that she will appeal the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision to overturn the state’s ban. In essence, she wants no more foie. It’s unclear how serious the appeal actually is, but it’ll take months to resolve the matter regardless. Until then, foodies stock up—and Scorekeeper still is keeping neutral on this one.

FOR VALENTINE’S DAY, OR ANY OCCASION!

SACRAMENTO 1338 HOWE AVE FOLSOM 341 IRON POINT RD (916) 927-0542 (916) 353-1982

SN&R

DIAMOND STUD EARRINGS AS LOW AS

$

Sacramento’s winners and losers—with arbitrary points

photoillustration by hayley doshay

To see if you qualify, call Allied Clinical Research:

SALE

SCORE KEEPER

Run (your mouth) DMC

All study-related visits, tests, and medications will be provided at no cost.

In addition, reimbursement for travel-related expenses may be provided.

UP TO

Gift certificates to local merchants for up to 50% off

Your anxiety grows when the bathroom is

by SN&R staff

SACRAMENTO 9001 K ST (916) 330-1977

even

OPEN HOUSE FEB. 18 • 10am - 1pm

Ethically deficient

DON’T MISS OUT ON YOUR CHANCE

to make a difference in your community, earn money from home, and enhance your family’s awareness about alternative living options for adults with special needs.

Activist groups launch series of meetings in hopes of making Sacramento government more open and honest

This event will explain our program’s services, and also provide an opportunity to meet individuals who create change in the lives of adults with disabilities.

Open House February 18th • 10am - 1pm at 7801 Folsom Blvd # 375, Sacramento 95826 We hope to see you at California MENTOR for this exciting & informational event!

Sacramento’s politics are as money-soaked and special-interest driven as those in any big city. But Sacramento is behind major metros in California when it comes to enforcing political ethics and campaignfinance rules.

Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland all have independent ethics commissions to keep an eye on local arvIn G politicians. Sacramento and Fresno are o SM Co by the only big California cities without any cosmog@ newsrev iew.c om sort of ethics commission.

“When you have a lot of money and power concentrated into a few hands, it makes sense to have a watchdog,” says attorney Nicolas Heidorn, who has been working with a coalition of community groups to create that watchdog.

It’s a project of the Sacramento chapter of the League of Women Voters and the City Hall monitors Eye on Sacramento, along with other local groups. Their effort is in some ways a reaction to Mayor Kevin Johnson’s ill-fated Measure L, the strong-mayor ballot measure.

But the “lengthy and intense” process of public vetting that they are planning is pretty much the opposite of Johnson’s backroom special.

“We are finding that there are a great The League of Women Voters and Eye on number of people who care very deeply about Sacramento have making city government open, honest and scheduled several ethical. We believe we will craft a package community meetings of reforms that will help restore citizen trust to gather public input on potential ethics in government and make Sacramentans reforms at City Hall. very proud,” says Craig Powell with Eye on All meetings Sacramento. start at 6:30 p.m.

The first public meeting on ethics reform The dates are: February 19 at Clunie will be held at 6:30 p.m. on February 19 at Community Center the Clunie Community Center. Special guests (601 Alhambra Blvd.); include District 3 City Councilman Jeff Harris February 26 at and Kimberly Nalder, who directs the Project Artisan Building (1901 Del Paso Blvd.); for an Informed Electorate at Sacramento March 12 at State. More meetings will follow in each city South Natomas Library council district.

(2901 Truxel Rd.); March 25 at Robbie Waters PocketGreenhaven Library (7335 Gloria Dr.); April 8 at North Natomas Library (4660 Via Ingoglia); and April 23 at Belle Cooledge Library (5600 South Land Park Dr.).

BEFORE

The ethics commissions in California’s other big cities differ in their particulars, but as a group they offer some ideas about reforms in Sacramento.

All five commissions have subpoena power, and the ability to hold hearings and conduct investigations. All are charged with enforcing campaign finance, lobbying and conflict-of-interest laws. All five have enforcement power, and the ability to impose fines, of up to $5,000 per violation.

Other powers are more particular to each city. The Oakland ethics commission has the power to set the salaries of city council members. In Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, the ethics commission can adopt new ethics rules. In Oakland and San Jose, they can only recommend such legislation.

One of the big differences, and perhaps the biggest potential stumbling block for

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

Make a Difference in Someone’s Life!

Sacramento, is in how each city provides staff and gives resources to its ethics commission.

In Los Angeles, the commission boasts a staff of 23 people, including an executive director.

At the other end of the spectrum is San Jose, where the city clerk is responsible for staffing ethics-commission meetings.

GET IN, OUT, & CLEAN.

Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland all have independent ethics commissions to keep an eye on local politicians.

Without language guaranteeing some adequate level of funding and staff, it would be easy enough to neuter an ethics commission in Sacramento. That’s essentially what happened here with the position of independent budget analyst, which was approved by city council years ago but never funded. Only in the last few weeks has the council finally moved to fill the position.

The League and Eye on Sacramento also want to explore new rules on government transparency and how the city provides public information, as well as creation of an independent commission to redraw city council districts every 10 years.

ONL9Y9* $19.

17.99 8.00 4.00 5.00 1.00 5.00

Full Service Wash Triple Foam Wax Underbody Rust Inhibitor Shield Renew Clear Coat Air Freshener Sealant

$40.99 VALUE

Expires 02/28/15 • Coupon Code 158

1901 L Street

*additional fee for car size & condition

(on the corner of 19th and L)

916.446.0129 www.harvscarwash.com

Your Downtown Service Shop

SMOG CHECK

3175

$

It remains to be seen whether the current city council will be helpful or hostile to the ethics-reform effort. Johnson has said that ethics reform should be handled by the ad hoc committee of council members he convened to implement Measure L. That committee has so far issued one mostly substance-free report on ethics. Its meetings are closed to the public, and it only includes council members who supported strong mayor. And Bites hasn’t heard anything from any of those council members (Johnson, Allen Warren, Jay Schenirer and Angelique Ashby) suggesting they would support the creation of an ethics commission with teeth. But Warren has at least agreed to participate in the League/ Eye on Sacramento meeting in his district on February 26.

Councilman Steve Hansen, who led the No on Measure L campaign, has already gone on the record in support of an ethics commission with enforcement power, and an open public process to get there. And Councilman Harris also said he supported an ethics commission during his council race last year. Hopefully the strong-mayor bloc on the council will join them in supporting citizen-driven reform at City Hall.

Or, at least, they won’t work against it. Ω

STORY

SPECIAL

LUE 9 VA $40.9

OIL

$60

CHANGE

EMISSIONS DIAGNOSTIC

2699

$

(reg 49.75) most cars.

Call for details. Same day.

Fast In/Out $

w/repairs at time of service. (reg $120) most cars.

For renewal reg. only.

Call for details.

Call for details.

Use your smart phone QR reader for more specials

916 554-6471 2000 16th St Sacramento M-F 7:30 -5:30 Sat 8 -4 sacsmog.com

Bring in any competitor’s smog check coupon and we will match it - plus give you an additional $5 OFF

econo lube n’ tune & brakes We offer complete automotive service & repairs

Lube, Oil & Filter

$

15

Brake Special

98

$

$3 addition for multi-grade oil Good at Fulton location only Most vehicles savings of $7

3000 off Call for details Good at Fulton location only

1700 Fulton at Arden Way, Sacramento • 481-1192 OPEN MON-SAT 8-6 • SUN 9-4 • www.ardeneconolube.com

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

|

AFTER

| 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

11

SN&R READERS SAVE ON cONcERt tIcKEtS upcOmINg EVENtS 02/20

marley’s ghost @ Auburn placer performing Arts center: $25 tix for $12.50

02/27

Herman’s Hermits starring peter Noone @ thunder Valley casino Resort: $42.95 tix for $21.48

03/24

Johnny Lang @ the crest theatre: $39 tix for $23.40 ONLY 9 LEFT

03/28

moonwalker: the Reflection of michael @ thunder Valley casino Resort: $32.65 tix for $16.32

We have more great deals on concert tickets at Ace of Spades and goldfield trading post on our website, be sure to check them out.

NO SERVICE FEES!

w w w. n e w s r e v i e w.c o m 12 | SN&R | 02.12.15

The shame game Union pickets popular downtown restaurant and coffeehouse. Loyal customers fight back.

Starting in late December and continuing this past week, a 15-foot-tall Grim Reaper has been visiting by Sacramento businesses. Death is bringing his Jordan Venema friends, who in turn bring a banner shaming businesses for hurting workers and families.

Two men typically pass out fliers while Death stoically looks on.

In recent weeks, Grim has appeared in front of the offices of D&S Development and Tricorp Hearn Construction. But he’s gotten a lot more attention for showing up outside businesses that will be moving into the newest D&S Midtown project: Magpie Café on R Street and at Insight Coffee Roasters’ multiple central-city locations.

This robed reaper is theatrical, but his message is very serious: The picketers argue that Magpie and Insight are hurting labor workers and the Sacramento community. A banner drives the message home in red caps, “Shame on them.”

But is it all true? Customers see the reaper standing out front of Insight on Eighth Street, pointing a bony finger. If Death likes his coffee black, he’s probably not getting it here, so why are these union workers targeting local businesses?

“We’re not protesting. We’re passing out information,” one picketer told SN&R. “It’s all on the flier.”

The flier claims that the general contractor building the new Insight location at 16 Powerhouse, a mixed-use apartment building near P and 16th streets, “isn’t paying Carpenter Area Standard wages and benefits on all jobs, all the time.”

The personal mobile-phone number of Chris Ryan, president of Insight, was included on one of the picketing fliers. He was happy to talk about the protest.

Ryan says Insight intends to lease a space in 16 Powerhouse, but that his business has “no control whatsoever over the construction of the building.”

“We are a small local business with strong community support that is not a primary party to the issue,” he explained.

Tony Moayed, CEO of Tricorp, which is overseeing the construction of 16 Powerhouse, says the demonstrations began the day after Local 46 arrived at his office claiming employees weren’t getting paid.

An email from the state Department of Industrial Relations explains that Pacific Wallboard, which Moayed said was one of about 40 other subcontractors on the Powerhouse site,

had failed to pay its employees. Tricorp then terminated its contract with Pacific Wallboard and assumed responsibility to compensate the wages, even though Tricorp had already paid the subcontractor in full, Moayed claims.

But the Local 46 carpenters union representatives who came to Tricorp wanted $57,000 for the workers, Moayed added. Tricorp opted to settle through the state DIR and ultimately paid $43,437.16 in unpaid wages from September 15 to October 7, 2014, according to DIR records.

“Throughout this process, Tricorp has been extremely cooperative,” DIR spokesman Peter Melton wrote in an email.

So, if the issue was settled in early January, why is the carpenters union continuing to demonstrate in front of Magpie and Insight?

Local 46 spokesperson Scott Littlehale said the bigger issue is that his union wants “businesses to be sure that the buildings they occupy are built by contractors that meet area wage and benefit standards, and employ highly trained craft-persons on all their jobs, all the time.”

Tricorp hasn’t employed unionized subcontractors for the 16 Powerhouse project, but Moayed insisted his company offers “the same benefits as any union contractor.”

PHOTO BY NGAIO BEALUM

BEATS

U win Remember when voters passed a short-term half-cent sales tax in 2012? It was called Measure U, and it came with the promise of generating some $25 million annually to restore police and fire services that were lost during recession cuts, and to help out parks and libraries.

Anyway, about that $25 million number: A staff update scheduled to be presented to city council this past Tuesday estimated a cool $41.5 million from Measure U, far exceeding last fiscal year’s $27 million.

Hello reserve funds!

Yes, the new Measure U bonanza will allow council to stash away $11.4 million this year. Or at least that is what staff is recommending for now; council will meet this month to discuss other ways to spend the extra cash.

Measure U is set to expire at the end of fiscal year 2019.

(Nick Miller)

Fight goes on

Nicholas Wray holds a sign proclaiming support for Insight Coffee Roasters, which he says has been unfairly targeted by union picketers. The Local 46 carpenters union says construction wages at a building project that will house a future Insight location aren’t up to snuff.

“We pay according to the market and experience [and] if I don’t pay people enough, they’ll leave and work for somebody else,” he said.

Bay Miry, partner of 16 Powerhouse Investors LLC, pointed out that the state had “determined our project was not subject to prevailing wage or union wages, and that basically it was a market-rate project.”

Regardless of the wage debate, Magpie and Insight “have absolutely nothing to do with the case,” Miry argued. “This really has nothing to do with our tenants, and we and our contractor have been proactive in resolving this from the first day we even heard about this.”

Local 46 wouldn’t elaborate on why it is zeroing in on tenants in the 16 Powerhouse building, though Littlehale widened the issue. “It’s common knowledge that the American middle class is embattled and has been eroded,” he wrote in a statement. “A healthy middle class is key to a healthy community.” With that in mind, Littlehale insisted that local businesses “have a moral and economic responsibility to require [area wage and benefit standards].”

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

It is questionable whether or not the Local 46 demonstrations effectively communicate the wider issue, let alone the issue at hand, which involves 16 Powerhouse. When Local 46 claims that businesses like Insight and Magpie are morally and economically responsible for contractors to provide standard area wages, it raises the question: What are the degrees of separation between a business and its responsibility for standard area wages?

“How is Insight hurting workers or the community?”

Chris Ryan president, Insight Coffee Roasters Because Magpie and Insight are popular locally owned businesses, images of the Grim Reaper picketing their storefronts began showing up on Facebook and Twitter last week. “There is a court of public opinion, and we

F E AT U R E

STORY

believe that 98 percent of people are in our camp,” Ryan said of the conversation on social media.

Employees at Magpie also took to counter-protesting the carpenters union last Friday.

When picketers showed up that morning with a sign shaming the restaurant, nine of its workers stepped in front of Local 46 protester’s sign. They held a banner, which read “Magpie is not a crime,” and gave the union picketers a thumbs-down sign.

A few blocks away on Tenth Street, local photographer and downtown Insight regular Nicholas Wray stood out front with union protesters for hours last week, holding a sign that read “I [heart] Insight.”

Insight’s Ryan says he remains confused by the protests. “How is Insight hurting workers or the community?”

Many other Sacramentans are asking the same thing. Ω

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

|

AFTER

Homeless-rights advocates were disappointed this past Friday when an appeals court upheld the constitutionality of Sacramento’s camping ordinance, which prohibits all public camping, even on private property for more than one night with owner’s permission.

“I don’t understand it,” said Paula Lomazzi, director at Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee. “Judges weren’t able to protect homeless people from the city’s bad laws.”

The original case refers back to 2009, when dozens of homeless individuals were arrested, and their belongings confiscated, for camping with permission by the owner on private property. The plaintiffs and the appellants in the appeals case came back to the courts last month, arguing again that the camping ordinance is unconstitutional, among other reasons, as it is unfairly applied to homeless individuals.

The appeals court upheld the decision of the lower court on all points but one. The portion of the lower court’s judgment concerning the challenge based on equal protection was reversed. Justices agreed that if the ordinance is being enforced unevenly, or that if it is targeted toward homeless persons in particular, there is a claim.

“What’s great about this is that we can go back and force the city to … give us more information,” said attorney Mark Merin, who owned the property at the heart of the claim.

Merin says he’ll now be able to request and present police documents concerning enforcement, statistics on who and how many have been cited or arrested under the ordinance, and other city information to prove that the city was acting with malicious intent by targeting homeless individuals.

So while advocates might be temporarily down, they’re definitely not out.

“It’s not over by a long shot,” Lomazzi said. (Brooke Purves)

Beer to beer Farm-to-Fork is ready to brew down.

The California Craft Brewers Association announced on Tuesday plans for the inaugural California Craft Beer Summit, which will be held in Sacramento in September during the Farm-to-Fork Celebration. The plan is for some 200 breweries to converge on this city for two days of industry events and seminars. And, of course, a big-ass beer fest.

Keep an eye out for ticket sales and more at www.cacraftbeersummit.com. (SN&R staff)

| 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

13

A

n obscenely thin girl who looks like linguine in high heels smiles at me with jagged teeth.

Strippers are always giving that look—it’s how they hook you, how they get your wallet open—but this girl seems weary behind those penetrating stares.

Not that I blame her. I’m at Pure Gold Showgirls, off of Sunrise Boulevard. I don’t want to call this spot seedy, because that’s unfair, puritanical and frankly a little sexist. (Is it seedy because someone maybe forgot to vacuum, or because the women are naked?) Anyway, let’s just say it’s the kind of strip club where there’s a self-serve soda machine, like you’d find at AM-PM, and they give you a red Solo cup with admission.

A mishmash of leather and upholstered chairs surround three stages. The feng shui includes mirrors and blazing white lights and signs in English and Spanish reminding you to tip the dancers. I’m convinced every strip-club scene from every hip-hop video in the history of MTV was filmed here.

Three friends accompany me, and I comment to them about this skinny stripper and her skyscraper heels. They must be, like, 6 inches tall. “They’re actually 9,” the stripper interjects. There you go.

14 | SN&R | 02.12.15

She high-wire dances in those 9-inchers on the stage, decent by only a threadbare G-string. After a while, she falls to her knees right in front of me, flashes those teeth, then reaches to my face and pulls the glasses off my nose. Folds them up, breathes on and fogs up the lenses.

And then she starts rubbing my glasses against her crotch.

Never seen that move before. And at this precise moment I realize that Rancho Cordova is the perfect anti-Valentine’s Day destination.

Keep with me here. We all know Valentine’s Day is the worst. Hating on the holiday is banal, but indulge me: the prix-fixe dinners even chefs hate, Shari and her damn berries, Hallmark, having to landscape your genital fuzz in hopes of saucy Hollywood coitus (which never goes down, because you stuffed yourself with too much rib-eye and buttercream).

So why not embrace Valentine’s Day’s mindless capitalism and shameless honeypotting? Instead of Ella, Grange or Mulvaney’s, what’s wrong with The Old Spaghetti Factory? And then, for dessert, a night of strip-club hopping in beautiful industrial suburbia. Forget Fifty Shades of Grey on February 14: Be Rancho Cordova’s naughty valentine.

Dinner

(but no damn movie( I like to tell a story about eating dinner at Spaghetti Factory with my family. This was maybe 20 years ago. I blurted out the F-word, or something, in front of my

mom. This set her off, and she grabbed the remaining bread on the table, cocked her arm and chucked it at me. But she airmailed it. Or I dodged it; can’t remember, it happened suddenly. Anyway, she missed and hit an older man with a comb-over in the back of the head.

My girlfriend hears this story and agrees to return to the scene of the crime.

It will be an ironic date night at Spag, as they call it. Saturday night in Rancho Cordova—and maybe someone will toss a loaf?

It takes a few minutes of maze navigation to land a parking spot at Nimbus Winery, which houses the Spaghetti Factory in Rancho. Waiting area is busier than a Kaiser emergency room. There are three hostesses, and I believe it, because a trio seems insufficient to handle the crowd.

None of the hostesses look older than 21, but the bartender also IDs my girlfriend, so age is a funky beast at Spag. It’s an hour wait to sit in the trolley—devastating!—and 35 minutes otherwise, which is surprising.

The bar top is sticky with years of syrupy drinks. Girlfriend orders a glass of pinot noir, golfer Greg Norman’s vintage, for $7.50. I order the libation of choice of my 7-year-old self, a Shirley Temple, no ID needed. A bronze lamp with a red-velvet shade lights our conversation. I ask my girlfriend if the ambience sets a romantic mood. “If the décor of a whorehouse turns you on,” she says.

A quick food-critic rundown of the night: an appetizer, Twinkie-sized slabs of garlicky cheese bread surrounding a lukewarm dipping bowl of marinara, scares. The

side salad’s iceberg needs to be crisper if it wants to shine with the too-piquant pesto dressing. Sadly, no one shot-puts the too-hotto-handle bread loaf. The flagship spaghetti is all about dense noodles that could sink a canoe. The red sauce has the runs. And the mizithra comes with the promise of writing chops—the menu says Homer noshed on the brown butter and cheese pasta while busting out the Iliad—yet the pasta proffers no such inspiration for this writer. (Clearly.)

The spumoni, however, remains epic.

Our waitress is unmemorable, and that’s a good thing. The busboy, however, has a cold—coughing into his shoulder, using his fingers to scrape scum from a fork. We fear the measles.

My girlfriend points out that the couple in the booth next to us are seated side by side. We agree that there’s something very wrong with couples who don’t dine facing each other. She says that if I’d taken her to Spag on a first date eight years ago and maneuvered to sit side by side, there never would’ve been a second.

Servers sing “Happy Birthday” for a fourth time as we leave.

You’d think the ironic date night was a flop, but the girlfriend raves about our

“LOVE, SEX &

RANCHO CORDOVA” continued on page 17

The women of Gold Club Centerfolds look nothing like how this story’s illustrator, Miss Lotion, imagined them.

But if they did ...

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

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

|

AFTER

| 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

15

Cash Cab’s

Ben Bailey Live COMEDY February 27th Doors at 7pm • Show at 8pm $20 General Admission Tickets Available in the Gift Shop or at colusacasino.com Must be 21+ to attend. Management Reserves All Rights ©2015.

3770 Hwy 45 • Colusa, CA • 530.458.8844 • ColusaCasino.com 16

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

“LOVE, SEX &

RANCHO CORDOVA”

continued from page 15

anti-Valentine’s evening later in the week. “When are we going back?” she asks, joking. Kind of. I agree that the no-expectations evening out (and sans a damn movie!) is a relief from the wallet-busting, first-world problem of traditional date nights.

Score one point for Ranch Cordova—but would the girlfriend be down for a strip-club crawl next?

Lap dance à trois

A woman who goes by the name Thor raises her eyebrow at me, like Skyler would to Walter White. The pissed-off Skyler. Thor is a blonde in a T-shirt and cutoff jean shorts. I’ve explained to her that I’m a reporter working on a story about strip clubs for Valentine’s Day, and it’s clear she thinks I’m bullshitting. I don’t blame her. Perhaps that’s even one of the oldest tricks in the book: Yeah, I’m working on a novel about strippers. Can we hang out?

Eventually, Thor at least pretends to believe me. She points to the whiteboard at Gold Club Centerfolds’ entrance. There are names written on it in blue pen: Trinity, Alexandria, Cherry and two-dozen other monikers for the strippers working on a recent weekday night. I exchange a couple 20s for $1 bills, then Thor warns me: “I’m not going to protect you.”

What does that mean? I’ve been to strip clubs before. I’ve even heard that new Usher song. The one that goes, “Shorty, I don’t mind if you dance on a pole / That don’t make you a ho.”

It’s actually this gentle ballad, albeit an homage to the virtues of dating a stripper (in and of itself sexist and patriarchal, as if strippers need a man’s validation, never mind Usher’s nonchalant bitch-and-ho vernacular).

But that’s hip-hop. I mean, one of the most popular songs for today’s youth has Lil Wayne rapping about eating truffle butter off of Nicki Minaj’s vagina. And parents used to freak out about Madonna.

But I digress: If Usher says strip clubs are innocuous, what could possibly go wrong? Why do I need to be protected?

A dancer sits at the bar (there’s no alcohol served at all Sacramento-area strip clubs, just FYI). I tell the her that I’m doing this story, then ask her what she would write if she were in my shoes. “Write nice things,” she says.

Not helpful. She jokes that I should call her Chocolate Thunder and her friend, who just walked over, Chiquita Banana, instead of their real names.

I’ll abide.

A 27-year-old video-game addict, Chocolate says she’s been dancing for three years, or “too long.” This is the second time I’ve heard someone say “too long” when describing the tenure of their strip-club employment.

She’s wearing a black two-piece that shows off her willowy curves, and her peacock-tail eyelashes are fake but real flirty. Chiquita is more casual. Her tank top, which says “Relax Bitch,” barely covers her profoundly huge breasts.

She’s no-nonsense. For instance, when I ask her about the kind of guys that

THE

BEER ISSUE

ON

STANDS

2/26

to advertise in sn&r’s Beer issue, please call 916-498-1234

“Some guyS, you want to punch them. and Some guyS, you want to Stuff them in your vagina. ” “chiquita Banana” stripper at Gold Club Centerfolds

“LOVE, SEX &

RANCHO CORDOVA” continued on page 19

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

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

|

AFTER

| 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

17

18

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

“LOVE, SEX &

RANCHO CORDOVA” continued from page 17

frequent the club, she gives me a “What do you think, reporter dude?” look.

“The guys don’t change just because it’s here,” she says. “Some guys, you want to punch them. And some guys, you want to stuff them in your vagina.”

I’m neither. Thankfully. (P.S. That is the quote of the damn year.)

The two dancers say you have to spend “at least $200” to have a really good time at Centerfolds. But of course they’re going to say that. I don’t disagree: Cash equals king at Sacramento strip clubs, what with their $20 cover charges and private dances. Bring at least $100. If you can’t afford this, that’s why Al Gore invented the Internet, I guess.

At Centerfolds, a lap dance in the main room runs you $10 per song. It’s “proper etiquette,” their words, to leave a dollar or more on the stage during each stripper’s performance. The dancers are always trying to squeeze money out of you. The club’s waitress, Megan—who says she makes enough serving drinks two days a week to live off—calls the dancers “closers.”

Case in point: After about 20 minutes of chat, Chocolate and Chiquita ask if I’m going to buy a dance “or what?” (This is the point in the story where I’d like to disclose that I’ve never had a lap dance from a source.) But these dancers are persistent— “We could be making money, but we’re talking with you”—so I hand them $40 and direct them to my friend.

And now I know what Thor was trying to protect me from: overdraft charges.

I’ve invited three friends, 30-something men and a woman, to join me on this evening’s Rancho Cordova strip-club getaway. That’s right: one night, three strip clubs, all located within a couple of miles of each other in this small industrial burg.

The Rancho lap-dance triptych, were it a Hieronymus Bosch painting. My girlfriend passes in favor of a night at home with Netflix.

The friends are seated at one of Centerfolds’ two stages. Two-dozen men slouch in teal and orchid chairs that look like they were upholstered by Stevie Wonder. A mirror ball illuminates the room.

A stripper tells the crowd, “You don’t have to sit back and worship from afar.” This is the same stripper who later will bend over, showing her smooth, white ass, and then simulate inserting a vibrator into her vagina before finally making a splash gesture with her hand. It’s like Shamu at SeaWorld, but with imaginary dildos—and no one gets wet if you sit in the first three rows.

All four of us agree that Centerfolds is the “nicest” strip club we visit this night. As a Yelper put it, “Sacramento BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

has beautiful girls and they seem to work here.” (P.S. I highly recommend reading strip-club Yelp reviews.) Like all local clubs, the girls disrobe completely when performing. That means vagina. One dancer tells me that they pay a monthly fee to work at the club, just like a hairstylist rents out a chair at a salon. Centerfolds is the only joint in town where strippers pay to play, she says. The club’s main room is cleaner than probably 90 percent of Midtown apartments.

A dancer named Malia slips out onto the stage in 8-inch heels. “You guys been

The groping of Allison continues all night long. Later, at Pure Gold Showgirls, a young, curvaceous Latina stripper asks Allison if she is bisexual. “I like girls,” the stripper whispers before smothering Allison’s breasts. “I’m going to come play with you later,” she promises. (Allison insists we leave immediately.)

Perhaps she’d have stayed if she knew that, later at Déjà Vu Showgirls, the dancers would drag her onto the main stage, lay her on the floor, expose her breasts and pile on top of her.

“There have been worse things in my life than getting felt up by a stripper,” Allison

says that a dancer can make at least $800 during a Saturday-night shift—“but you have to work.” The manager at Centerfolds says that “at least 20 percent” of his customers are couples. And Tyler at Centerfolds tells my friend that she prefers working in Sacramento over Las Vegas, because in Sin City, “You’re competing with chicks who are down for anything.” Yes, that means Chris Rock is full of crap: There is sex in the champagne room. At least in Vegas.

Not here in Sacramento. At Centerfolds, private dances go down in the Platinum Room and start at $20. Both my friends who experienced dances back there kept most of their clothes on (one lost his belt; the other says, “She used her knee a lot,” whatever that means).

Bobby at Déjà Vu—perhaps the most genial strip-club manager in the history of the world—gives me the grand tour of his club, which is tucked away among industrial buildings just off Sunrise Boulevard. The private VIP back room is best described as a series of dimly lit Macy’s dressing rooms, painted all black and with couches inside each. There are machines that accept cash in each room, and it’s pretty clean. Ruby at Déjà Vu says the rooms and main floor are packed on weekend nights. They also offer vaporizer hookah pipes; we smoke the Jolly Rancher flavor.

The front doorman at Pure Gold says his club is “where people go after the bar.”

Fifteen dollars gets you admission—and don’t forget that red Solo cup for the selfserve Pepsi machine.

Our night fades into dawn at Déjà Vu just after 2 a.m. A 20-something boy

The flagship spagheTTi is all abouT dense noodles ThaT could sink a canoe.

It’s your birthday? Keep your pants on—otherwise the strippers at Déjà Vu Showgirls might snatch ’em and make you chase them up the pole.

here before?” she asks me. I tell her about my reporter thing. “You’re full of shit,” she responds. She then proceeds to push her breasts into my face as punishment.

But the girl in our group—let’s call her Allison—gets the royal treatment: Malia grabs her by the head, bends her over, puts Allison’s head between her legs, then slaps her ass. And then she puts her hands up her shirt.

F E AT U R E

STORY

says at the night’s end. None of this will ever manifest on Instagram, sadly, because smartphones are against the rules at all clubs.

Please allow me to spit some newly acquired strip-club knowledge: Chocolate at Centerfolds says “30 is old” for a stripper and that one should be wary of the 18-year-olds dancing (she implies this is because they will take all of your money, a bad thing, and because they have no moral compass, no comment). Ruby at Déjà Vu

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

|

AFTER

wearing only blue boxers is tied to a chair while a parade of dancers have their way with him. The birthday boy is all smiles as a procession of breasts and ass smash into his face, which just might be permanently stuck with a grin after tonight. That is, until he has to climb a pole (unusually high at this club, at least 13 feet) to retrieve his pants, which the strippers affixed to the ceiling.

Minutes later, a guy in the 20-something’s entourage puts a stack of dollars onto his open palm, then one by one floats them over the naked stripper in front of him.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone “making it rain” in real life.

Later, the deejay announces that it’s time for a game of “sexual Simon Says.”

And that’s our cue to leave. Simon says Valentine’s Day is over. Phew. Ω

| 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

19

Nevada City’s Lasher Keen takes the stage with a new musical that takes the band back to the 12th century while moving its sound across the globe

A

KINGDOM KINGDOM FO R T H E I R

S ON G S

BY AaRoN caRnES

I

n an eerie fog-filled room, a tribal, tranceinducing beat erupts.

A man emerges from beyond the mist. He’s clad in a handmade animal-skin cape and holding an exotic horn.

At the other side of the room a woman throws fruit and flower petals at the audience as the man reads from an ancient scroll.

Upon closer inspection, the man is revealed to be a withered old tree-man—he even has a mossy, mushroom-filled beard.

This goes on for 10 minutes. It isn’t a religious ceremony, but rather a performance by Nevada City band Lasher Keen. They call it the opening ritual and as elaborate as it is on this particular night, the band members change it up with every batch of shows.

Its purpose is to clear the space, draw the audience in and gain their undivided attention. Some fans have said the ritual induces incredible visions. Some swear it’s made them even see their spirit animal.

The scene is also not unlike what audience members will experience as part of the band’s new musical, The Middle Kingdom. The new production, scheduled to debut Thursday, February 19, at the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley, is an epic ode to Lasher Keen’s rich, varied sound.

20 | SN&R | 02.12.15

Singer-and-multi-instrumentalist Dylan Sheets founded the three-piece psychedelic-folk group in 2006. He and wife Bluebird Gaia, who joined in 2007, now remain its only constants. Gaia also sings, plays various instruments and even sews all of their outfits. The band’s current percussionist, James Word, joined in September of 2014, replacing 28-yearold Broughty Cole, who drowned in the Sacramento River last March on his way to a gig.

Cole’s death, Sheets says now, was “one of the greatest shocks I ever had.”

“There was so much concentrated magic centered around his time with us that still permeates though Lasher Keen today,” he says.

Although Cole’s death marked the end of one chapter and the start of another for Lasher Keen, the band’s approach and sound remain as wildly eclectic as ever.

On stage, the transition from opening rituals to music is seamless. Here, modern avant-garde sounds are mixed with elements of archaic Celtic, Middle Eastern, Balkan and Nordic music.

They wear medieval costumes and play antiquated instruments unfamiliar to most Western rock audiences (the bouzouki, a gut-string harp, and the doumbek, for instance). Throughout, they sing old tales, some of which date back from before the written word.

“We want to transport the listener.

Our music has always been a harkening back to a more ancient time,” Sheets says. “I’ve always been obsessed with pre-Christian, pagan revelry.”

It’s not just about the music, of course. Every aspect of the stage show is purposeful, Sheets says.

“We try and use our costumes, props, lights and smoke to convey to the viewer an ancient world, like you’re entering a space where time has no meaning,” he says.

Such a world is nothing new to the band; in fact they’ve been putting on these elaborate performances at venues and house shows since their inception.

The latest endeavor simply moves it beyond the ordinary, taking what they do as a band and flushing it out into a fullscale theatrical production.

Here, instead of spending the night telling several stories, Sheets has written a single tale that spans across the entire set of songs. He’s also directing the production while Gaia serves as art director.

Sara Zahn, the program associate for Center for the Arts, says the show’s scope doesn’t surprise her.

“When Dylan told me that he wrote a play, I was like, ‘Of course you did,’” says Zahn, who is also producing Middle Kingdom. “Their performances are very theatrical. The music is theatrical in and of itself [and] Bluebird and Dylan are this endless well of creativity. It feels like a natural progression.”

A world reborn The musical’s story is based on the story of Midhir and Etain from the 12th-century Irish manuscript Lebor na hUidre.

Etain is a goddess from another world reborn into human form. Unaware of her

previous life, she marries a king. Midhir is her husband from the other world, who appears one day and tries to get her to return with him.

For the production, Lasher Keen has expanded the band’s three-piece lineup into a 12-piece that includes a choir and a cast of actors. The stage will be divided in half with the band on one side and the actors on the other. Sheets and Gaia will perform on the band side, playing songs, but Sheets will also function as the play’s narrator. While he’ll sing some of the songs, the actors will also sing.

Sheets says it’s unlike anything he’s ever done—or seen.

“It has musicians on stage with the actors commanding equal attention from the audience,” he says. “I have tried to combine storytelling, music, acting and dancing into a pleasurable, palatable mixture for all the senses.”

When Sheets began writing it two years ago, his original idea was for something small in scale. Just him and Gaia.

They had just seen a one-man musical, storytelling production, and wanted to do something similar, but the more Sheets wrote, the more ambitious his vision became. Since then, the couple has let their imaginations run wild. Gaia has a big say in the look of the production, and has gathered props and sewn dresses.

“What I want to create is something otherworldly, like something people dream about, that they’ve seen in art but have never experienced live,” she says. “I want to make something that will make you cry because it’s so beautiful.”

French-Fry heaven

goodbye, oscar?

See FILM

34

PhoTo by JeSSiCA henry

See OFF MENU

29

44

happy valentine’s, k.J. See ASK JOEY

skateboarding For your liFe See 15 MINUTES

The play’s music comprises an entirely new score that Lasher Keen will release as a soundtrack on vinyl and CD on the play’s opening night.

This will mark the band’s sixth album, one that’s bigger and more dynamic than previous records. The entire album was recorded live, with few overdubs.

The sound rises and falls with greater moods and emotions, and the songwriting exhibits an overall cinematic quality, which works well for the group’s already hard-to-define sound.

It’s a sound that has been evolving since Sheets formed the group with a friend, Richard O’Connell. The musical partnership didn’t last long, and Sheets continued solo for a while. Then, in 2007, he found himself playing music at a party, and that’s where he met Gaia.

“I heard him singing and playing guitar. I didn’t really know where it was coming from. I was thinking to myself, ‘Who is that?’ His voice is so unique. I was instantly charmed,” Gaia says.

Gaie joined Sheets, playing the bodhran, a traditional Celtic drum, but eventually moved to cello.

The two married in 2012. Over the years as the members have come

PhoTo by bLuebird GAiA

59

and gone, the band has expanded and shrunk in size. At times it’s been only the two of them.

During their entire run, they’ve always played an assortment of lesser known, globally diverse instruments.

Now with use of a 12-piece band for the production, the couple is glad for the chance to incorporate even more such instruments, including the talharpa, which is used widely in Scandinavia; the lyre, which was popular in ancient Greece; and the jing, which is popular in traditional Korean music.

Sheets says it’s about exploring as much as possible musically.

“It’s just been an evolution of not wanting to be tied down to any culture-specific instrumentation and to use instrumentation from all over the board,” he says. “We live in a time where we have access to so much that I like the idea of not being musically dogmatic.”

“We Want to transport the listener. our music has alWays been a harkening back to a more ancient time.”

Dylan Sheets Singer-songwriter, Lasher Keen

After this initial run, Lasher Keen hopes to take The Middle Kingdom on the road. More than anything, however, after a year of loss and change, they remain a band and just want to play, although with a bit more of a selective focus than before.

“We used to play way more [shows], then we slowly started to realize that the benefits weren’t enough.

We have so many instruments, it’s like they’re props,” Gaia says. “We have this whole thing, we practice for a long time, and then to get shut down after 20 minutes of playing is really not worth it for us. I want to ... have more time.

That would be cool.” Ω

Top: Lasher Keen’s core lineup comprises (from left to right) Bluebird Gaia, Dylan Sheets and James Word.

Fiona Artemis Gaia (left), as Etain, and Elizabeth Grady, as Fuamnach, explore medieval magic.

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

Lasher Keen will perform The Middle Kingdom on February 19-22 at The Center for the Arts in Grass Valley. Tickets cost $17-$20. Showtimes are 8 p.m.

Thursday through Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Learn more at http://lasherkeen.net.

STORY

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

|

AFTER

| 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

21

Saturday - February 28, 2015 Doors -7PM - Show 8PM The Crest Theatre, Sacramento Tickets @ VDaySacramento.org All proceeds benefit:

VOTE NOW!

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Tournée du Chat Noir (Tour of the Chat Noir), 1896. Color lithograph, 55 7/8 x 39 3/8 in. Stichting Het Kattenkabinet, Amsterdam.

!

Y L N O T H ONE NIG

SOME LIKE

cafés-concert, circuses, dancehalls, and brothels. This exhibition celebrates avant-garde artists who offered a new look at modern life in a shifting society. Don’t miss your chance to view world-

$

59

PA C K A G E S 65 MINUTES

THIS VALENTINE’S PACKAGE INCLUDES: SPA ROBES, NECK WRAP & DELUXE LOUNGE SERVICE INCLUDING HAND & FOOT PARAFFIN DIP & MORE. PLUS YOUR CHOICE OF 35 MIN HOT STONE PLACEMENT MASSAGE, FACIAL OR PEDICURE.

❀

SACRAMENTO AREA MUSIC AWARDS

Experience Paris at the turn of the 20th century—cabarets,

2015

it hot!

famous art up close and personal at the Crocker.

SPONSORED BY:

216 O Street • Downtown Sacramento 916.808.7000 • crockerartmuseum.org 22

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

SPA ❤ SALON ❤ WELLNESS CENTER 3421 ARDEN WAY • 916.482.2 SPA • www.MellowMeOut.com CORNER OF WATT & ARDEN BEHIND BURGER KING • OPEN 7 DAYS 9AM-9PM

February picks by Shoka

Aggie legends If you’ve never stopped and thought about how many local art legends have come out of the halls of UC Davis’ art department, now would be an opportune time, since Elliott Fouts Gallery has curated a collection of work from the university’s alumni and faculty. Some of the artists included in the show, called An Eclectic GROUP SHOW Grouping, like Robert Arneson and Wayne Thiebaud, helped influence and shape following generations of locally grown artists under their tutelage, such as René Martucci and Vonn Sumner. Other artwork by Aggies you can expect to see in this grouping include works by Roy De Forest, Tony Natsoulas, Jeff Nebeker, Nathan Oliveira, Roland Petersen, Michael Ramstead, John Tarahteeff, Peter VandenBerge and Camille VandenBerge.

Where: Elliott Fouts Gallery, 1831 P Street; (916) 736-1429; www.efgallery.com.

Second Saturday reception: February 14, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Through March 5.

Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“Roses” by Vonn Sumner, oil on panel, 2013.

Emotional electricity If scientists could record a visual representation of human emotions, it seems plausible that they would look like Kara Maria’s paintings. The San Francisco artist’s nonrepresentational geometric shapes are exuberantly hued, well-defined and sharp-edged, and they are interrupted by PAINTINGS euphoric swirls or by vague, cloudy patches and an occasional flash of a representational item, like a dog or a fly. They’re layered, complicated and electric—just like the workings of the mind. Until scientists figure out how to live stream what human emotions look like and project them on a wall, Maria’s work may be the closest thing we’ve got.

Where: B. Sakata Garo, 923 20th Street; (916) 447-4276; www.bsakatagaro.com.

Second Saturday reception: February 14, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Through February 28.

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.

“Material Study #2” by Trent Burkett; oak, found stone, Furnivals blue plateware cups, sewing boxes and knobs; 2014.

Natural control Even though Trent Burkett mostly uses organic, natural materials such as stone, clay and wood in his sculptures, there is a calcuMIXED MEDIA lated application of order and control in his construction and presentation. But these pair well for Burkett, like sweet and sour. His pairings can be unexpected—a teacup buried in pieces of slate like an old artifact, for example—but ultimately result in an intriguing opportunity for visual excavation.

Where: JayJay, 5520 Elvas Avenue; (916) 453-2999; http://jayjayart.com.

Second Saturday reception: February 14, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Through March 28.

Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; or by appointment.

“Anthropocene Shuffle” by Kara Maria, acrylic on canvas, 2014.

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

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

|

AFTER

| 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

23

OUR SMOKES ARE ONLY

A CARTON OF SMOKES?!?

28CA5RR7 Y WE

$

22ND ST.

PLUS TAKE AN ADDITIONAL

18TH ST.

17TH ST.

916.469.9300 www.KissMyAsh.net

14TH ST.

(Next to Lucky Cafe)

13TH ST.

VAPES & E-CIGS!

TO MY

1115 21st St • Sac

30

11TH ST.

KISS ASH!!

A CARTON

12TH ST.

BIG TOBACCO

TELL

23

3OFF

$

3

Tue-Sat 11am-7pm with mention of SNR. Sun 12pm-6pm New Customers Only. (closed Mondays) Exp. 2/25/15. must be 18+ to purchase

33 27

Membership required. Member RYO of Nevada Assoc. Inc./a Chumash Owl Clan Native American Group

21 5 24

32 25

2

18 11

12 16 10 1 1713 22 6

15

SIXTH ST.

THIRD ST.

5 29

4

Diamond & Gold Vault is Sacramento’s

8

jewelry brokerage. We provide our clients with diamonds and fine jewelry at significant savings below retail stores.

We provide FREE Custom Design to create your dream ring. ON YOUR BUDGET.

26

Shop Diamond & Gold Vault - where you will get More Diamond for your Dollar.

50 BROADWAY

9

FREEPORT BLVD.

31

Every Friday 7:00 - 8:30 pm · Free admission Sacramento Yoga Center @ Sierra 2 Community Center, Room 6 2791 24th Street, Sacramento The whole world is your own.

— Sri Sarada Devi Parking in back

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

13 MIDTOWN FRAMING & GALLERY

For more information please see www.SacVRG.org

1005 22nd St., (916) 447-7558, www.midtownframing.com

14 MY STUDIO 2325 J St., (916) 476-4121, www.mystudiosacramento.com

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

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

17 SACRAMENTO ART COMPLEX

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

THINK .

FREE

2 ART OF TOYS 1126 18th St., (916) 446-0673, www.artoftoys.com

3 ART STUDIOS 1727 I St., behind Easy on I; (916) 444-2233

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

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

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

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

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

9 EN EM ART SPACE 1714 Broadway, (916) 905-4368, www.enemspace.com

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

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

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

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

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

20 SPARROW GALLERY 2418 K St., (916) 382-4894, www.sparrowgallery. squarespace.com

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

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

23 THE URBAN HIVE 1931 H St., (916) 585-4483, www.theurbanhive.com

24

|

SN&R

|

02.12.15

21ST ST.

19TH ST.

80

16TH ST.

Sacramento Vedanta Reading Group

15TH ST.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

1750 Howe Ave. Ste. 270 | Sacramento, CA 95825 | 916.920.4988

10TH ST.

NINTH ST.

DIAMOND & GOLD VAULT

28 34

Don’t miss E ST.

41

23RD ST.

22ND ST.

40

H ST.

23

18 11

I ST. J ST.

12 16 14 10 1 1713 22 6

7

ALHAMBRA BLVD.

21 5 24

36

K ST. 20

L ST. CAPITOL AVE.

4

42

35

37

N ST. O ST. P ST.

19

STO C

38

KTO

Q ST. R ST.

N

39

FOLSOM BLVD.

OFF

BLV

D.

21ST ST.

19TH ST.

ReadyReadyMade Made & Photo Photo Frames F rames

35

S ST.

BUS

80 19

OA DW AY

FRAN

FREEPORT BLVD.

BR KLIN .

BLVD

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

IX

34 VERGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS 625 S St., (916) 448-2985, www.vergeart.com

25 WKI 2 STUDIO GALLERY 1614 K St., Ste. 2; (916) 955-6986; www.weskosimages.com

Downtown/olD Sac 26 ARTHOUSE ON R 1021 R St., second floor; (916) 455-4988; www.arthouseonr.com

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

28 AXIS GALLERY 625 S St., (916) 443-9900, www.axisgallery.org

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

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

EaSt Sac

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

35 ARCHIVAL FRAMING 3223 Folsom Blvd., (916) 923-6204, www.archivalframe.com

36 CAPITOL FOLK GALLERY 887 57th St., Ste. 1; (916) 996-8411

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

33 TEMPLE COFFEE 1010 Ninth St., (916) 443-4960, www.templecoffee.com

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

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

nEWs

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

2837 36th St., (916) 457-1240, www.thebrickhouseartgallery.com 1001 Del Paso Blvd.

VI DELTA WORKSHOP 2598 21st St., (916) 455-1125, www.deltaworkshopsac.com

VII EVOLVE THE GALLERY 3428 Third Ave.,

(530) 406-4844, www.yoloarts.org

(916) 600-4428, http://inkoff.me

UArt Sacramento 2601J Street

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

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

42 WHITE BUFFALO GALLERY 3671 J St., (916)

916-443-5721

X GALLERY 2110 1023 Del Paso Blvd., (916) 476-5500, www.gallery2110.com

XI PATRIS STUDIO AND ART GALLERY

Also in San Jose & Sacramento UniversityArt.com

3460 Second Ave., (916) 397-8958, http://artist-patris.com

off map

XII RECLAMARE GALLERY & CUSTOM TATTOO

I ARTSPACE1616 1616 Del Paso Blvd.,

F E At U R E

IV THE BRICKHOUSE ART GALLERY

VIII GALLERY 625 625 Court St. in Woodland,

40 INKOFF.ME 5534 Elvas Ave.,

|

Blvd., (916) 400-3008, www.facebook. com/lebonvida

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

39 GALLERY 14 3960 60th St.,

(916) 849-1127, www.facebook.com/ artspace1616

|

Feb 1st – Feb 28th

Ste. 100 in Roseville; (916) 783-4117; www.bluelinearts.org

V DEL PASO WORKS BUILDING GALLERIES

37 CAPITAL PUBLIC RADIO 7055 Folsom Blvd.,

752-3014, www.white-buffalo-gallery.com

32 SMITH GALLERY 1020 11th St.,

February Frame Sale

II BLUE LINE GALLERY 405 Vernon St.,

III BON VIDA ART GALLERY 4429 Franklin

41 JAYJAY 5520 Elvas Ave.,

31 LA RAZA GALERíA POSADA

BEFoRE

I Was

!

D E M FR A

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

stoRY

|

A Rt s & C U Lt U R E

|

AFtER

|

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

25

MAKE IT A DATE NIGHT

W h e n yo u

u s e th e

DAT E N I G

HT promo co de, a d d it io n a yo u ’l l s ave a n l 20% of f yo u r e n ti r e p u rchase.

Valid until 2/28/15.

VALENTINE’S DAY SWEETDEALS GIFT CERTIFICATES TO LOCAL RESTAURANTS, RETAIL SHOPS AND BOUTIQUES FOR UP TO 50% OFF 3 Fires: $25.00 for $12.50 Alley Katz: $20.00 for $10.00 Baguettes Deli: $15.00 for $7.50 Beauty by Thread: $20.00 for $10.00 Blue Lamp: $20.00 for $10.00 Brookside Restaurant & Bar: $25.00 for $12.50 Cafe Napoli: $10.00 for $3.50 Cupcake Craving: $10.00 for $5.00 Cali Slice: $25.00 for $12.50 Deli Delicious: $25.00 for $12.50

Don Quixote’s Mexican Grill: $25.00 for $12.50 El Jardin Mexican Restaurant: $20.00 for $10.00 Fivestar: $25.00 for $12.50 Graciano’s Chicago Deep Dish Pizza & Speakeasy: $25.00 for $12.50 Green Thumb Deli: $20.00 for $10.00 Iceland Skating Rink: $25.00 for $8.75 NXNW Vapor: $20.00 for $10.00 Residence Inn – Downtown at Capital Park: $500.00 for $175.00

AND MORE...

Check out our website to get great deals on concerts at Ace of Spades, Goldfield Trading Post and Harlow’s.

26

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

NO SERVICE FEES!

Sacramento Pipeworks: $100.00 for $60.00 Vallejo’s: $20.00 for $9.00 La Terraza – Old Sacramento: $20.00 for $8.00 Baker’s Donuts: $10.00 for $5.00 El Papagayo Mexican Restaurant: $20.00 for $10.00 French Cuff Consignment: $25.00 for $6.25 Game-Fit: $720.00 for $180.00 Jimmy’s Barber Garage: $20.00 for $10.00 M.A.R.K. Vintage: $40.00 for $10.00

SN&R

W W W. N E W S R E V I E W. C O M

For the week of February 12

wEEkLY PICkS

Amélie

V

alentine’s Day has meant many things to me over the years. When I was a single man, it was a day that always reminded me I was alone and made me feel like a loser. Then, when I had a girlfriend, it felt like a good excuse to try to impress her by buying her presents. Now that I’m married, Valentine’s Day still reminds me of both those feelings—in addition to making me think about how commercialized love and romance seems to have become these days.

This year, V-Day’s on a Saturday, so there a bunch of events happening for everybody— romantic or not.

People who’d like to feel a bit safer before heading out on the dating scene should check out Robinson’s Taekwondo’s Valentine’s Singles Safety and Self-Defense Clinic. The free clinic for men and women happens at various Robinson’s locations throughout Sacramento (head to www.robinsonstkd.com for a list of locations) at 6:30 p.m on Friday, February 13.

Friday, February 13 Films initially lauded for their abundant quirkiness don’t always hold up as the years pile on. Amélie—the FILM 2001 charmer from French director JeanPierre Jeunet, starring Audrey Tautou—is an exception. The funny, endearing, visually pleasing story of a reclusive young Parisian woman orchestrating the lives of those around her is guaranteed to get even the most anti-Valentine’s Day grump to smile. $7.50-$9.50, 6:30 p.m. at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K Street; www.crestsacramento.com.

—Deena Drewis

Lunar Flower Fest Saturday, February 14, through Sunday, February 15 Sacramento’s inaugural Lunar Flower Fest opens with a traditional lion dance on Saturday and continues through Sunday with music, muscle cars, flowers, crafts, candies and Vietnamese food. The FESTIVAL Vietnamese Historical Society will provide educational displays. Free, 10 a.m. daily at Little Saigon Plaza, 6820 Stockton Boulevard; www.gsvacc.org.

—Trina L. Drotar

Puss in Boots Saturday, February 14 The character Puss in Boots got a hilarious revamping in 2004’s Shrek 2 (as well as the 2011 spin-off Puss In Boots). But even outside of the surreal, fairy-tale world of Shrek, Puss In Boots is a great character.

His original backstory of helping his young PLAY penniless master win the affection of a beautiful maiden is a classic. $8-$15, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at Harris Center for the Arts, 10 College Parkway in Folsom; www.harriscenter.net.

A Valentine’s Day pub crawl (5 p.m. on Saturday, February 14) organized by Xoso Sports looks to bring together single people, couples and “undecided”—whatever that means—for a night of drinking. The crawl stops at venues including Blue Cue, Alley Katz and Kupros Craft House. Tickets cost $25 at the door (or $20 in advance) and include six drink tickets (one each at six different bars).

Head to www.xososports.com for more details.

People who want to dress up in red and wear heart-print shirts can register for the 12th Annual Valentine Run/Walk. Signing up is also a sign of large metaphorical heart, because proceeds go to Legal Services of Northern California, which helps low-income families secure access to health care and housing. It happens at 8 a.m. on Saturday, February 14, at Country Club Plaza, 2310 Watt Avenue; more info is at http://lsncrun.info.

For a bunch of Valentine’s Day live music, head to Eight Gigs (page 36) and Nightbeat (page 38).

—Aaron Carnes

Valentine’s Show and Crafting Day Saturday, February 14 Since 1991, Women’s Wisdom Art (a.k.a. the Women’s Wisdom Project) has been empowering women through offering a safe haven during the daytime to practice art. Attend this day of crafting and explore the many healing ways ARTS & CRAFTS in which art can help one overcome any personal misfortunes. It’s open to all who’d like to see the art or make some on site. Free, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Sacramento Poetry Center, 1719 25th Street; www.womenswisdomart.org.

—Eddie Jorgensen

—Jonathan Mendick

Black History Month Celebration Sunday, February 15 This family-friendly event features performing, literary and visual arts from Malia in Motion Contemporary Dance Company, Mahogany Urban Poetry and the Sojourner Truth CELEBRATION Multicultural Art Museum.

Additional highlights include freedom songs, a photo exhibition showing life in public housing through teens’ eyes, and the Black and Beautiful Community Marketplace. Free, noon to 4 p.m. at the Crocker Art Museum, 216 O Street; www.crockerartmuseum.org.

—Trina L. Drotar BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

|

A RT S & C U LT U R E

|

AFTER

|

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

27

thank you!

BUY 1 GET 1 1/2 OFF EXP 02/25/15

Buy any dinner entree at regular price, get the second for 1/2 OFF! Must present coupon, cannot combine with other discounts.

ONE PER TABLE - VALID MON-THURS ONLY

Pictured: Ube Cake & Ube Raised Donuts

FOR G CHOOSIN UTS N O D S BAKER

for the past 30 years!

Happy Hour

Voted “Best of Sacramento�

3 years in a row!

Monday – Friday 3–6pm

5880 Florin road • Sacramento, ca 95825 • 916-392-8466

1315 21st Street, Sacramento 916.441.7100

’14

K N I H T .

FREE

Sacramento’s Best Since 1940

)UDQNOLQ %OYG ‡ www.gunthersicecream.com SATURDAY & SUNDAY

Kick-off the weekend Friday night from 7-9 p.m. at the STAR WINEMAKER RECEPTION An intimate evening Behind the Cellar Doors at Terra’ d’Oro winery.

Meet Amador’s “star� winemakers and the “star� student chefs of American River College’s Culinary Arts Program.

A star-studded menu, specially created

by ARC to pair with Amador’s amazing and diverse varietals.

Don’t miss out‌ tickets are limited!

AMADORWINE.COM

M A RC H

7 8 2 O 1 5 FROM

11 AM TO 4

PM

BEHINDTHECELLARDO $50 SATURDAY (which includes Sunday admission) | $35 SUNDAY | $10 DESIGNATED DRIVERS Presale tickets available at AMADORWINE.COM until March 3 or during the event for an additional $5 $60 FRIDAY 7 - 9 P.M. STAR WINEMAKER RECEPTION (presale tickets only) 42 PARTICIPATING WINERIES | 35 MILES EAST OF SACRAMENTO | (888) 655-8614

S TA R W I N E M A K E R R E C E P T I O N |

28 

| 

SN&R   |  02.12.15

SEMINARS |

B A R R E L TA S T I N G

|

LIVE MUSIC

|

F O O D PA I R I N G S

R

illustrations by Hayley DosHay

Calm that craving GAlBi coMBinAtion, AurA koreAn & JAPAneSe reStAurAnt Korean food on the grid is next to nonexistent. And though I’m always skeptical of restaurants that tout multiple Asian cuisines, Aura’s spread will calm any Korean craving in a pinch. The big steal on the menu is the Galbi Combination—combined with the free pickled and fermented ban chan, it’s easily enough for two people at just shy of $25. Pair the pile of sweet, bone-in short ribs with Soon Doo Boo, a spicy tofu stew with ground beef, squid and mussels. The tofu is soft, creamy. Spoon it all over rice for the ideal cozy winter meal—and don’t forget about the egg yolk slowly cooking underneath. It’s the grand prize.

1401 G Street, (916) 930-9988, http://eataura.com.

—JAnelle Bitker

Whatever the weather SAlty leMonAde, Pho BAc hoA Viet Salt’s all the rage these days, especially in desserts and drinks. But Vietnamese salty lemonade (chanh ´ is an old favorite. The one at Pho Bac Hoa Viet is muôi) a perfectly simple blend of salted preserved lemon, water and sugar. It’s great in summer, when you’re parched and need salt, but it’s also great in winter, when you’re sniffling. In fact, it’s sometimes served hot as a cold remedy. I like it best iced and served in the old-fashioned soda fountain glasses used at the Broadway location, slurped with a straw any time of year. 1827 Broadway, (916) 443-7888.

llustration by Mark stivers

Goin’ down to Burger Town

By JAnelle Bitker

Same address, different bites: It’s difficult to keep track of 1930 K Street, what was once Headhunters and is now Mango’s Antro. And Burger Town.

While the nightclub aspect has always been the focus—the spot transforms into bass-blasting Mango’s in the evening—the daytime restaurant concept has shifted from upscale dining to Mexican eats to, now, burgers. Lots of burgers—14, to be exact.

Apart from one veggie option, each burger boasts a half-pound of meat and various accoutrements in the $7 to $10 range. Intriguing options include the Cilantro Cheese Burger, with a beef patty, six kinds of cheese, BEFORE

|

NEWS

JAnelleB@newSreView.coM

avocado, cilantro garlic aioli and tortilla chips; and the Lamb Burger, with feta, roasted garlic, arugula and tzatziki sauce. Burger Town also offers salads, sandwiches and soups; crepes and omelets at brunch; sliders and wings at the bar; and a full-fledged, seven-item fry menu. As in, fries served with grilled chicken, garlic, Parmesan, feta and Caesar dressing; or fries under cheddar, bacon and fried eggs.

Brunch all day erry day: Lines for Sunday brunch at Sacramento mainstays like Tower Cafe and Bacon & Butter prove there’s plenty of local love for lazy, late-morning French toast, eggs Benedict and sides of sausage. |

F E AT U R E

STORY

But is there demand for brunch every single day? With no mimosas?

Charlie Cardona and Kevin Hardekopf think so. The pair launched the Brunch Boys food truck late last month, touting creative—and relatively portable—brunch fare.

Think fried chicken and waffles, but in sandwich form, with a fried egg, provolone and spicy bacon aioli. And no knife required.

Cardona is classically trained—Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco—with stints at a few Los Angeles fine-dining restaurants under his belt. But he’s never actually cooked brunch—professionally—before the truck. Instead, he was inspired by the rich brunch culture of San Francisco—French bistro Bisous was a personal favorite.

“I just love it,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite sit-down meals. It’s so fun and social, always with friends or family.”

Brunch Boys’ items cost between $4 and $10, and though the menu is pretty short right now, Cardona plans to add as time goes on. His main focus is figuring out a weekly schedule so folks don’t have to look for his location on Twitter every day. But until then, there’s www.twitter.com/ brunchboystruck. Ω |

A RT S & C U LT U R E

—Ann MArtin rolke

Roadside treat Fennel F is for fennel, specifically Florence fennel, a plant so ubiquitous you can find it by roadsides all over Northern California. It’s in farmers markets from fall through spring, but wild bulbs abound since it’s an invasive perennial plant. Choose heavy, bright white bulbs with feathery leaves attached. Thinly sliced and dressed with Meyer lemon juice and a pinch of salt, fennel makes for an ideal, quick salad alongside grilled fish. It’s also fantastic halved and roasted alongside chicken for a subtly sweet veg. Don’t discard those fronds—they can be used as a garnish or tossed into green salads.

—Ann MArtin rolke |

AFTER

|

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

29

Visit newsreView.com/sacramento/dining/more to search sn&r’s dining directory to find local restaurants by name or by type of food.

Awesome sauce

by Jonathan Mendick

Asian N Cajun

sausage soaked up a little more of the salt than we would’ve hoped.

We also ordered a few extras that are common to several of these mashup joints: 4271 truxel road, suite b1; (916) 514-9028 salt-and-pepper crab, garlic noodles and Dinner for one: $10 - $25 Cajun fries. The crab came deep fried, was Good for: boiled seafood and fried seafood slightly overcooked and didn’t have quite Notable dishes: snow crab, shrimp, cajun fries the moistness that the boiled crab did. For something called “garlic noodles,” our bowl of noodles could’ve used some more garlic and maybe a little black pepper to spice it up, too. On the other hand, the Cajun fries tasted great: salty, spicy and crunchy.

On a different visit, we switched over For whatever reason, in recent years, there to the pan-Asian lunch menu with an order seems to be a growing fondness among the of chicken pad Thai, house fried rice and members of Sacramento’s Asian-American a pork-chop rice plate. The pad Thai, with community for Cajun food. A handful of its copious chunks of chewy fried tofu, soft Asian-owned places in town now serve chunks of chicken and a nice smoky wok some sort of Cajun-Asian culinary mash-up: flavor, was the best of the three. Neither the Firehouse Crawfish (6519 Savings Plaza, fried rice nor the pork chop (which seemed Suite 205), Crab City Restaurant & Desserts to be glazed with a sweet teriyaki sauce) (7837 Stockton Boulevard, Suite 500) really stood out, but it was nice to have all and The Boiling Crab (6910 65th Street) the choices. in South Sacramento; and Chason’s Crab A few side notes: Normally, one Stadium (8839 Sheldon Road) in should order boiled crawfish at Elk Grove. Asian N Cajun in these types of restaurants. But Natomas is one of the latest we abstained because it’s not additions to the trend.

The quite crawfish season yet, In order to sample nearly and according to a server, Cajun fries all of the Cajun part of the the crawfish stock ANC menu, we started off with tasted great: has right now is frozen. the Combo #4, a combinaHopefully, when the season tion of boiled shrimp, salty, spicy and comes around, most of mussels, clams, snow crab, these Asian-Cajun places crunchy. corn, white potatoes and can find locally sourced sausage. There were a couple crawfish, because Northern more choices to be made after California’s delta region is known that. First, we settled on a medium to be relatively rich with them. level of spice (rather than extra hot, hot There are also vegetables on the menu or mild), and asked for “Flavor Fusion” (veggie egg rolls, a salad, and Vietnamese (a combination of all three of the sauce bun), but we didn’t quite make it that far flavors: Raging Cajun, Garlic Sauce and into the menu.

Lemon Pepper). A few minutes later, after We’re not sure if this is the best example ordering off a small drink menu featuring of the Asian-Cajun genre in Sacramento, but beer and sake, a waiter placed a bagful of it’s a good start. While it’s a great spot for assorted seafood sitting in a reddish brown some salty, fried comfort food, it doesn’t sauce onto our table. quite have the range of flavors that several One thing that turned us off right from of the other spots in South Sacramento do the start was the sheer saltiness of the sauce.

(Firehouse and Crab City in particular seem It could’ve used maybe a little more Lemon to be doing more fun, inventive stuff). Still, Pepper and less of the other two saltier after a few squirts of lemon, the sauce at sauces. Requesting a few lemon wedges Asian N Cajun is pretty awesome. Ω and squeezing them into the sauce helped

HHH

IF YOU BUY 2 ENTREES, YOU RECEIVE A

FREE

APPETIZER

-RESTAURANT & BAR9819 HORN ROAD, SACRAMENTO • (916) 361-1797 *COUPON NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER PROMOTIONS

30 | SN&R | 02.12.15

JonathanM@newsreview.coM

remedy that a bit. Plus, the snow crab, shrimp, potatoes and corn had a nice natural sweetness to help balance out the saltiness.

Unfortunately, the mussels, clams and

HAPPY HOUR MONDAY - FRIDAY 3:00 - 6:00 P.M.

STONEY'S VALENTINE'S BASH

FS

Semisweet and starchy While they’re eaten by people around the world, sweet potatoes are often regarded as the quintessential Southern food (they’re found in pies, casseroles, bread and more). We’re not Southern by geography, but Sacramento has its own festival to honor the semisweet, delicious and nutritious starch, too. Sponsored by the Sacramento Valley Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (www.svsncnw.org), the 26th annual Sweet Potato Festival (free; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 14, at the Samuel C. Pannell Community Center, 2450 Meadowview Road) will serve up plenty of sweet potatoes, a sweet-potato pie contest, family fun, vendors and a variety of entertainment. Coinciding with Black History Month, the event opens with recitation of the black national anthem and the Star Spangled Banner, then continues with a recitation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Southern Baptist Church Praise Dancers, live jazz and several other performers.

—Jonathan Mendick

Join us in our bar for specials on cheese and chocolate fondues, $3 featured beers, $4 featured wines by the glass and $5 featured cocktails.

SATURDAY, FEB. 14TH $50.00 DINNER FOR 2 & BOTTLE OF WINE PRIME RIB/RIBEYE OR JUMBO PRAWNS

814 15TH ST., SACRAMENTO (916) 443-2347 MELTINGPOT.COM/SACRAMENTO

FREE LATE NIGHT CAJUN BOIL TO PROMOTE MARDI GRAS

SATURDAY, FEB. 21ST KEVIN'S BIG BIRTHDAY BASH

FREE PRIME RIB DINNER .50 CENT PBR AND $2 JACK N COKES FROM 6-8PM

50% 0FF Buy Buy 1 1 adult adult BuFFet BuFFet and and 2 2 drinks drinks get get 2nd 2nd adult adult BuFFet BuFFet 50% 50% oFF oFF

$2 THURSDAYS, 2 BANDS, $ 2 WELLS,

original coupon only • no copies

FIREBALL &PBR 8-10PM GET YOUR COUNTRY DANCE ON AT STONEY'S OR KARAOKE IN THE FRONT BAR WED-SUNDAY

1320 DEL PASO BLVD

STONEYINN.COM | 916.927.6023

1 coupon per table. cannot be combined with any other offer. expires 02/26/15

SACRAMENTO

1402 Broadway 916.930.0888

82 BEERS

TAPPED

Authentic Thai Cuisine fit for Royalty

15% OFF Your Total Food Order

Excludes Holidays. Valid for Dinner, Dine-In or Take-Out.

get-together. But since it’s cacao, it’s strong, so it might be a hard sell for some kiddie palates. Perhaps an easier-to-swallow mintchocolate concoction is Emmy’s Organics Mint Chip Macaroons. They are also raw and vegan like the Rau drink, and one of these decadent coconut cookies only has 5 grams of sugar. Surely, Mr. Oliver would approve of these, too.

Would Jamie Oliver approve of Rau’s raw cacao chocolate-mint drink? Why not—the English celebrity chef and food activist is famously against children chugging chocolate-flavored milk because it contains more sugar than soda.

Rau, however, has zero grams of sugar per serving, and no dairy. It comes in plain chocolate, too, but the mint version is as refreshing as your racist uncle not slipping any slurs at the next family

With coupon, one per table. Cannot be combined with other discounts or offers.

Expires 4/30/15 TNS.

Your Midtown Bar

GRAND OPENING 3230 Arena Blvd. #215 (in the Bel Air Shopping Center)

916.696.2195 BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

China Buffet

chinabuffetrestaurant.com

PARTY ROOMS AVAILABLE • NOW SERVING BEER & WINE

CURE YOUR CRAVING

by Shoka

5623 Sunrise Blvd.

916.961.6888

Sun-Thurs 11am -10pm • Fri & Sat 11am -10:30pm

Thai Princess

Fulfill mint

CITRUS HEIGHTS

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

|

AFTER

2019 O ST | 916.442.2682 | 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

31

RECYCLE THIS PAPER.

e

Young contemporary clothing boutiqu Photo by Skyler Smith

clothing boutique

1903 Capitol Avenue Sacramento 916.441.1359

2522 J Street Sacramento www.rireboutique.com

FIND OF THE WEEK

YOU’RE WELCOME, NATURE.

LM A C P E KE HOP &S

DRESS HER UP IN YOUR LOVE

February 12 from 5-9pm: Join us at our POP-UP SHOP at the CROCKER MUSEUM ART MIX/PROM NIGHT

The pain of living Munich airport The title of Greg Baxter’s novel, Munich Airport  (Twelve, $25), is also the setting for this novel-ofmemory, concerned mostly with the pain of living. The  unnamed narrator and his father are waiting in the  Book Munich Airport for the weather to clear so  that they can accompany the body of Miriam, the narrator’s sister, back to the United States.  Miriam’s corpse was found in her Munich apartment,  where she had starved herself to death. Her father  and brother are struggling to come to terms with this  form of suicide, searching unsuccessfully through  what they know of her life to find a reason, but the  narrator is also searching for a way to cope with pain  that he has difficulty expressing. Very much a novel  of the internal, Munich Airport is also a story about  estrangement, whether emotional or geographic. —Kel Munger

Skyline view

FASHION PAYS

SacraMento SKyline print I’m a big fan of vintage thrift store skylines—you know,  those abstract oils that detail a city’s silhouette in  colorful, abstract brush strokes. Now, a New  ARt York-based Etsy printmaker recreates that  effect with skylines of various cities, Sacramento included. Prices start at $11.95 for a 5 x 7-inch print and  go up to $43.95 for one that measures 17 x 22 inches.  Each print features landmarks such as the Tower  Bridge and, of course, canopies of leafy trees.   Ready for framing, thrift store dust not included.   www.etsy.com/shop/inkistprints. —Rachel Leibrock

Choose your word adventure Salvin chahal poetry reading

MORE WAYS TO SELL!

b C !*- ./ ./ 4*0/ b b CONSIGNMENT b š C žš 32   |   SN&R   |   02.12.15

SACRAMENTO: 2935 ARDEN WAY 916.972.9900 ROSEVILLE: 1850 DOUGLAS BLVD. #710 916.781.9900 STOCKTON OUTLET: 5756 PACIFIC AVE. # 26 209.476.1300

crossroadstrading.com

Local emcee Salvin Chahal’s new collection of poetry,  Verses From Above, is unfinished. That was a deliberate choice—blank pages and writing  PoetRy prompts are sprinkled in, giving readers a chance to contribute to Chahal’s narrative.  The experiment in self-exploration moves through  intense issues such as death, social injustice and the  struggle to maintain cultural identity. Find Verses  on most online bookstores or buy it at the official  release party. $5; Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Sol Collective,  2574 21st Street; www.sal-c.tumblr.com.  —Janelle Bitker

Make out on the bleachers Second Saturday KiSS in With 2.5 million views in one day, it  was almost impossible not to catch  the “First Kiss� video of 20 strangers kissing for the first time that  went viral last year (or to avoid  the many, many parodies and think  pieces that it inspired).  Film But surprise, surprise:  Andy Warhol was way ahead of the  curve on this one. His 1963 50-  minute film Kiss features various  couples—man and woman, man  and man, woman and woman— making out for three-and-a-half  minutes at a time (which is essentially an eternity when you’re  watching it on film).

This makes for an especially  apt Valentine’s Day activity for  the artsy set, not only because  you’ll be watching a weird Andy  Warhol film, but because you’ll be  watching it on artist Nate Page’s  “couchbleachers,� which is pretty  much exactly what it sounds like:  bleacher-like seating constructed  out of various couches. The exhibit  is an expression of Page’s interest in “cross-pollinating accessible and inaccessible spaces�  and will be the seating of choice  for numerous activities through  March 22.

Should this be your preferred  V-Day activity, I urge you to keep  the following pro tips in mind:   1. There’s a door at the rear of the  “bleachers� that provides access  to the interior of the structure  so you can hang out under the  bleachers (and make out, obviously). 2. Andy Warhol eventually  followed up Kiss with the 1964  35-minute film Blow Job. Free;   Saturday, 6-9 p.m.; Verge Center  for the Arts, 625 S Street;   http://vergeart.com. —Deena Drewis

SPRING 2015

DONALD KENDRICK | MUSIC DIRECTOR

EUROPEAN MASTERWORKS

Nikki Einfeld

Hold off on that acceptance speech Seventh Son

Magnificat (West Coast Premiere) | Cecilia McDowall Great Mass in C Minor | W. A. Mozart Hailed by Gramophone magazine as the new voice of English composers, McDowall’s evocative and poignant “Magnificat” is the perfect prelude to Mozart’s triumphant masterpiece.

Nikki Einfeld, Soprano Marina Boudart Harris, Soprano Ross Hauck, Tenor Daniel Yoder, Bass

Marina Boudart Harris

Projected supertitle translation s

Saturday, March 14 at 8:00 p.m.

Ross Hauck

7:00 p.m. – Pre-concert talk by Donald Kendrick

Community Center Theater

There has been a lot of talk recently about a possible “Norbit effect” on this year’s Academy Awards race, a reference to the lowbrow 2007 comedy by Daniel Barnes that supposedly killed Eddie Murphy’s shot at an Oscar. Murphy was considered the frontrunner to win the Best Supporting Actor prize for his role in the late 2006 release Dreamgirls, but his stock fell when atrocious-looking advertisements for Norbit flooded television screens in early 2007, and he eventually lost the award to Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine.

2

1301 L Street, Sacramento

Daniel Yoder

Concert Sponsor

CCT BOX OFFICE | 916.808.5181 or TICKETS.COM SACRAMENTOCHORAL.COM

BEAUTIFUL FIRESIDES

450

$

“More blood cakes?”

Instant Rebate*

(While funds are available)

1 Say Goodbye to “No Burn” Days

Poor

2 Fair

450 off gas inserts* 300 off gas logs* $ 300 off electric* $ 250 off pellet* $

*with Air Quality Voucher

$

3 Good

4 Very Good

Sacramento 5545 Auburn Blvd (at Garfield) 916-331-2123

go to www.customfireside.com for details 34 | SN&R | 02.12.15

Elk Grove 9097 Elk Grove Blvd (in Old Town) 916-714-4423

M-Sat 9-5:30

5 excellent

This year, there are a couple of actors whose Oscar aspirations could get Norbit-ed by longshelved duds from their past that have returned to haunt them. Most of the attention has focused on Eddie Redmayne, who was the coolest customer of the year on the festival/critics/press junket/ awards show flesh-press circuit, but whose much-lauded performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything suddenly appears undermined by the derision heaped on his supporting turn in Jupiter Ascending.

Very little “Norbit effect” attention has been paid to Julianne Moore, the Best Actress favorite for her work in Still Alice, and one of the bored and slumming stars of Sergey Bodrov’s clattering fantasy Seventh Son. This is despite the fact that Seventh Son was released on the same day as Jupiter Ascending, took an even more tremendous dump at the box office, and features Moore indifferently executing the same sort of ham-fisted villain part for which Redmayne is garnering raspberries.

Seventh Son offers Moore the kind of overthe-top fantasy character that she has studiously avoided in her career—she plays Malkin, an evil dragon-witch who returns from a long imprisonment intending to take over the world (or destroy the world, or enslave the world, it’s never clear and no one cares). Moore looks amazing, and she gets to wear an oversized cowl, flirt with Olivia Williams, turn into a dragon and cackle maniacally, which is at least fun as novelty. However, it takes a certain type of high theatricality to sell a line like, “Help yourself to the blood cakes,” one that Moore does not possess.

Of course, Moore is not the only current or former Academy Award nominee wondering how they got tricked into making this lousy film.

Two-time nominee Djimon Hounsou appears as one of Moore’s henchmen, and Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, who now specializes in over-the-top character parts, stars as a quirky-crusty spirit hunter named Master Gregory. Bridges does some really awful, hammy acting here, taking over the film as though taking over a child’s birthday party, and lately he seems headed on a dangerously Depp-like path towards irrelevance.

There are countless similarities between this film and 2013’s disastrous R.I.P.D., only here Bridges is given the flavorless Ben Barnes for an apprentice instead of the wisecracking Ryan Reynolds. Credit my preference for this film to my preference for Barnes’ blandness over Reynolds’ archness, and to the fact that the movie just keeps coming and coming. Seventh Son runs a relatively lean 102 minutes, and it feels as though generous chunks of plot and character development have been stripped away in favor of nonstop CGI action and peril.

Jeff Bridges does some really awful, hammy acting here, taking over the film as though taking over a child’s birthday party.

The film is basically a rich man’s Uwe Boll version of Dungeons & Dragons—a lot of tacky visuals, world-building mumbo jumbo and gooey CGI creatures. It has the scale of a nine-figure studio blockbuster, but not the look.

Seventh Son screened for critics at the Esquire IMAX, and while some films play better on the big screen—without the vastness of space in Interstellar, you’re left with the emptiness of its ideas—Seventh Son demands to be seen on the smallest screen possible. An iPhone would be too large.

Shockingly, there are noteworthy people not only in the cast but behind the scenes, including a script co-written by Locke director Steven Knight, production design by Scorsese-favorite Dante Ferretti, costumes by Terrence Malick-regular Jacqueline West, and visual effects designed by industry legend John Dykstra. And yet Seventh Son still feels like a Hollywood blockbuster farmed out to a third-world country—it’s the cinematic equivalent of an American flag manufactured in an overseas sweatshop. Ω

by daniel barnes & JiM lane

5

American Sniper

The last public image that most people have of octogenarian actor/filmmaker Clint Eastwood is him at the 2012 GOP convention, losing an argument with an empty chair.

There was good reason to fear the worst with his adaptation of the Chris Kyle biography American Sniper, so what a surprise that rather than an uncritical testament to the might of the armed forces (Heartbreak Ridge 2, say), Eastwood delivers this complex, conflicted and profoundly moving look at the military machine, and the toll it takes on the soldiers who keep getting shoveled back into the fire. American Sniper possesses the sweep and scope of Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter, but very little of that movie’s romantic grandeur. Eastwood is after something smaller and more personal—while Cimino turned the Vietnam War experience into myth, here Eastwood undermines the legend of a contemporary American warrior even as he is creating it. D.B.

4

Black or White

A well-to-do, high-powered attorney (Kevin Costner), driven to alcoholic grief by the death of his wife, must try to pull himself together to fight for custody of his mixed-race granddaughter (Jillian Estell) against the girl’s African-American grandmother (Octavia Spencer). Writer-director Mike Binder, who drew one of Costner’s best performances in The Upside of Anger, does it again here, and for good measure, he does the same for Spencer. Binder plays with our expectations, setting up clichés of race and class, then undercutting them with surprises. The movie gives us adversaries but no real villains; even the little girl’s wastrel, crackhead father (Andre Holland) is allowed a full measure of complex humanity. Anthony Mackie also shines as Spencer’s lawyer brother, who presses her case in court. J.L.

2

Jupiter Ascending

A Russian immigrant in Chicago (Mila Kunis) learns that she is the genetic reincarnation of a long-dead alien matriarch, and she becomes a pawn in a power struggle among her “children” (Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton). Written and directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski, this delirious sci-fi epic is instant camp, careening in and out of sheer gibberish, as gaudy and flamboyant as a drag-queen fashion show in a Martian whorehouse. Memo to Wachowskis: If you must load your script with bizarre names and concepts, don’t let your actors mumble and whisper, and don’t drown them out with music and explosions. Performances range from decent (Kunis and Channing Tatum as her protector) to wretched (Redmayne is so lousy he deserves to forfeit his Oscar nomination for The Theory of Everything). J.L.

3

The Loft

Five married pals (Karl Urban, James Marsden, Eric Stonestreet, Wentworth Miller, Matthias Schoenaerts) share a secret love nest to which only they have the keys; when a dead woman turns up there, they all claim not to know who she is or what happened. Who’s the liar—or is there more than one of them? Director Erik Van Looy presides over an American remake of his successful 2008 Belgian thriller, with Wesley Strick adapting Bart De Pauw’s original script. It makes an intriguing if far-fetched puzzle, releasing plot twists in little driblets, with a cold and rather repellent cast to the characters and action (Nicolas Karakatsanis provides suitable cinematography, dominated by blues and blacks).

As so often in such locked-room whodunnits, the solution is both simple and complicated, and quite satisfying. J.L.

4

Mommy

Mommy is already the fifth feature from 25-year-old French Canadian auteur Xavier Dolan, and while his latest film still possesses an overeager youthfulness, it’s also a visually tense, emotionally ecstatic and unforgettable experience. Set “in a fictional Canada” (don’t worry, Celine Dion still exists), Mommy stars Dolan regular Anne Dorval as Diane “Die” Despres, a single mother in bedazzled jeans struggling to raise her blonde, tit-squeezing hellcat son. Die is devoted to her boy (an excellent Antoine Olivier-Pilon, loathsome and strangely charming), but also terrified of his violent mood swings and sexually inappropriate behavior. Dolan shoots most of Mommy in a claustrophobic,

BEFORE

|

NEWS

•

2508 LAND PARK DRIVE LAND PARK & BROADWAY FREE PARKING ADJACENT TO THEATRE “DENSELY PACKED WITH SIGNIFICANCE.”

“CAREER-HIGH PERFORMANCE.”

STARTS FRI., 2/13

STILL ALICE

two days, one night - Joe Morgenstern WALL STREET JOURNAL

FRI--TUES: 11:05AM, 1:00, 5:35, 7:40PM NO TUES 11:05AM

- Deborah Young, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

FRI-TUES: 11:00AM, 1:05, 3:20, 7:45, 9:50PM NO WED, THUR, TUES 11:00AM

A MOST THE IMITATION VIOLENT YEAR GAME

“Have you seen me lately?”

“SUSPENSEFUL, SHARPLY WRITTEN.” - Claudia Puig, USA TODAY

“ENGROSSING.” - Lou Lumenick, NEW YORK POST

WED/THUR: 1:35, 4:15, 7:00, 9:35PM FRI-TUES: 3:00, 9:35PM

WED/THUR: 1:45, 4:25, 7:05, 9:40PM FRI-MON: 11:10AM, 1:45, 4:25, 7:05, 9:45PM TUES: 1:45, 4:25PM • NO MON 7:05PM

FOR ADVANCE TICKETS PLEASE VISIT FANDANGO.COM

4

A distinguished Columbia University linguistics professor (Julianne Moore) finds herself suddenly forgetting simple words, getting lost on her own campus and suffering other baffling lapses. At the age of 50, she is developing early-onset Alzheimer’s—worse yet, it’s hereditary, and she may have passed it on to her adult children (Kate Bosworth, Hunter Parrish, Kristen Stewart). Writer-directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland (adapting Lisa Genova’s novel) avoid the weepy melodrama of disease-of-the-week TV movies in favor of low-key naturalism, anchored by Moore’s subtle, textured performance and strong support from her screen family (including Alec Baldwin as her loving but flawed husband). It’s a quietly harrowing portrait of a family losing the woman they know—and a woman losing herself. J.L.

1x1 aspect ratio, emphasizing vertical lines in the framing, and he makes gonzo use of slow motion and 1990s pop songs. But the film’s ostentatiousness never overshadows the brilliantly complex lead performance by Dorval, who runs the gamut from tacky gusto to cynical calculation. D.B.

4

A Most Violent Year

Considering that the film is fairly humorless, the funniest aspect of A Most Violent Year might be that killer title. Yes, the film takes place in 1981 NYC, a pre-Giuliani time of astronomic crime rates, but the title tees up expectations of intensity and catharsis that writer-director J.C. Chandor has no intention of swinging at. Cinematically speaking, Chandor keeps a tight strike zone, and the measured, confident, almost chilly tone that permeates the film is largely responsible for the cold shoulder it received throughout the awards season. A Most Violent Year shares some stylistic and narrative DNA with Scorsese’s Goodfellas, but Chandor’s film inherited little of that 1990 classic’s energetic, eager-to-please temperament. Goodfellas is about a man who “always wanted to be a gangster,” while the mostly righteous A Most Violent Year is about a man who wants to walk, talk and dress like a gangster, without actually being a gangster. D.B.

5

Paddington

A rare specimen of intelligent bear from “darkest Peru” (voice by Ben Whishaw) emigrates to London, where he is taken in by an English family—to the delight of the mother (Sally Hawkins) and son (Samuel Joslin), and the exasperation of the father (Hugh Bonneville) and daughter (Madeleine Harris).

Soon, our furry hero attracts the attention of a cold-hearted scientist with a penchant for taxidermy (Nicole Kidman). Writer-director Paul King preserves the charm and sweetness of Michael Bond’s children’s books, while adding a feature-length plot and an opportunity for Kidman to trot out a serving of delicious, lip-smacking villainy. The movie is an irresistible charmer, endearing, family-friendly and hilariously funny. The DVD is sure to sell millions of copies. J.L.

1

Project Almanac

After an overachieving high school scientist fails to secure an MIT scholarship, he discovers a mysterious box in his dead father’s workshop, along with instructions that guide him and his friends toward the construction of a time machine. The easiest and most efficient way to dismiss Dean Israelite’s awful Project Almanac would be to chuck it in the found-footage garbage bin.

Over the last decade, the trendy gimmick of

|

Looking for legal advice?

Still Alice

F E AT U R E

STORY

found-footage films has become synonymous with unimaginative, penny-pinching cynicism, and Project Almanac commits every single sin of the subgenre—inexplicable motives for the characters to continue filming, nonsensical shot-reverse-shots and multi-camera coverage, nauseating mìse-en-scène, people screaming “Are you seeing this?” and “Please tell me you got that!” at the camera. But let’s be honest—no gimmick in cinema past, present or future could make this tripe palatable.

It exists solely to shill Red Bull and other demographic-appropriate products. D.B.

4

Selma

There is such a powerful convergence of hot-button topics in Ava DuVernay’s Selma, from civil rights to voting laws to police brutality to street protests to government surveillance, that even some of the film’s strongest proponents are positioning the film as a good-for-you, syllabus-ready obligation.

That’s an affront to the intelligence, cinematic flexibility and emotional satisfaction of this rousing film, which tracks the involvement of Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) in the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Oyelowo is fantastic as MLK, a perfect mix of humanity and moral authority, and Carmen Ejogo is fine in the underdeveloped role of Coretta Scott King. Enough famous faces ham it up in bit parts that the film threatens to turn into Ava DuVernay’s Lee Daniels’ The Butler (a snarling Tim Roth as George Wallace is particularly distracting), but Oyelowo keeps it grounded and DuVernay keeps it moving. D.B.

4

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

Nickelodeon TV’s dorky hero (voiced by Tom Kenny) ventures onto dry land (and into something vaguely resembling our universe) in search of a stolen sandwich recipe, the loss of which has brought ruin and devastation to his hometown of Bikini Bottom. The script by Glenn Berger and Jonathan Aibel (the guys behind Kung Fu Panda), from a story by director Paul Tibbitt and series creator Stephen Hillenberg, is wacky cubed, with a nonstop stampede of gags as frantic as those in the Rio and Madagascar franchises—only much, much funnier.

Tibbitt and his crew cleverly blend ink-andpaint animation, CGI and live action, and the result is great fun, slyly calculated to convulse the kiddies and keep their parents alternately chuckling and laughing out loud. Antonio Banderas adds to the fun as the pirate villain. J.L.

|

A RT S & C U LT U R E

Sacramento Legal Line

✆

498.7949

and press a 4-digit code

1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015

call night or day

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

EXOTIC

7 days a week

SACRAMENTO

(916) 455.4800 STOCKTON

(209) 473.4800 www.davidallenlaw.com

PLANTS

Plants | Art & Antiques | Maintenance | Event Decor

$10 off when you spend

$30 or more on plants & arrangements ÝŘ˚ǣǼŸNjs ŸŘĶɴʳ ŗŸ _ŸȖEĶs _ÞǣOŸȖŘǼǣʳ rɮƼÞNjsǣ ®sE ˡ˧ʰ ˡ˟ˠˤʳ

Romance is blooming! ˨ˠ˥ʳ˨ˡˡʳˣ˦˥˨ ˠ˧ˢˢ ËŸɠs ɚsʰ Ǣ ONj ŎsŘǼŸ ɠɠɠʳsɮŸǼÞOƼĶ ŘǼǣĶǼ_ʳOŸŎ | AFTER | 02.12.15 | SN&R | 35

Breaking out the quiet After an extended hiatus, William Fitzsimmons returns with a new album, family and outlook William Fitzsimmons didn’t plan it that way, but after the release of his breakthrough 2011 album, Gold in the Shadow and subsequent tours, the singerby Rachel Leibrock songwriter would let several years pass before writing another song. ra c h e l l @ Fitzsimmons, scheduled to perform at ne w s re v i e w . c o m Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub on Thursday, February 12, says there were many reasons why—not the least of which was Gold’s critical and commercial success. That album, which included songs featured on TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice, landed at No. 3 on both Billboard magazine’s Heatseekers and Folk Album charts.

pHoTo by eRiN bRoWN

There were other factors, too. Fitzsimmons and his wife had recently adopted their first child, a daughter birthed by a surrogate. Family life took over.

“There was no motivation, the energy just wasn’t there,” he says. “There was just no ambition.”

Rather, Fitzsimmons says, he isolated himself in his adopted hometown of Jacksonville, Fla. “I just wanted to wait until a song came to me—that’s a wonderful feeling,” he says. “It never feels honest as when you wake up with something in your head, just a little melody. I coveted that feeling.”

It finally arrived one early morning as he sat outside with his daughter, strumming a guitar while she rocked in her baby bouncer.

“Just that beautiful little baby and a nice moment that was removed from playing shows or getting a song on a TV show,” he says. “I was in a very happy place.”

It was his daughter and the family’s relationship with her surrogate, however, that eventually inspired many of Lions’ songs.

The album, produced

by Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, stands as something of a tribute to his family, which now includes a second adopted daughter.

“We had gotten close to the birth mother [of our first daughter] and the feeling that I had when we stood there in the hospital was just ridiculous joy and also sadness for a friend,” Fitzsimmons says.

One man, one guitar, no TV soundtrack needed.

Catch William Fitzsimmons at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 12, at Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub, 2700 J Street.

Cover is $20. http://william fitzsimmons.com.

36 | SN&R | 02.12.15

It also made life a little more difficult, packed with crazy-making decisions and details.

Fitzsimmons’ entry into music had been slow and organic, without any financial goal. Raised by two blind parents who both played various instruments and always had records spinning in the house—James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, etc.— he learned to play at an early age. He didn’t make a serious go of it, however, until much later. On break from grad school as he studied for a Master’s degree in counseling, Fitzsimmons started writing and recording songs in his bedroom. Those songs eventually turned into his debut album, 2005’s Until When We Are Ghosts.

Several years and records later and Fitzsimmons says he realized that making music had become a business. That had its upsides, of course—more money, for one. But more money, of course, comes with more problems. Well, more headaches, at least.

There were bigger tours to figure out, for starters. All those logistics that can get in the way of creating. The effect, he says now, felt claustrophobic.

“Music is a business—most things are, I totally get that,” Fitzsimmons says. “But I knew other people who were doing it in a way where it wasn’t just all overcome by the business aspect, but [for me] it was a real difficult dance. I hit the pause button to start over.”

“ It never feels honest as when you wake up with something in your head, just a little melody. I coveted that feeling.”

William Fitzsimmons singer-songwriter The resulting record is markedly quieter than Gold in the Shadow. While Gold was rich with electronica touches, Lions’ sound is more nuanced and subtle. Both the joy and sadness shine through, in equally quiet measure.

The sonic shift wasn’t intentional—just the opposite, actually.

“I went like I often do, thinking, ‘This is going to be the one, the one where I’m breaking out the loud,’” he says with a laugh. “But I never quite got there.” Ω

Stand up for royalty Soul of the blues: Irma Thomas, the “Soul Queen of New Orleans,” turns 74 in a little over a week—fittingly, during Mardi Gras. For most of the past six decades, her life has been steeped in the musical gumbo of the Big Easy as a staple at Jazz Fest and a regular at New Orleans’ small clubs.

But even with her royal pedigree, she had to reach into her bag of tricks to engage the very polite, but sedate audience at the Mondavi Center during her performance last Wednesday. In defense of the crowd, Mondavi’s seats are quite comfortable.

About four songs into her set, she stopped the show to remind people it’s almost Mardi Gras time back home, and that they needed to get in the spirit. So she whipped out a handkerchief and ordered the crowd to do the same. Soon people were waving hankies, hats or whatever was handy as the soul party resumed onstage.

That was just one fine moment in the great, nationally touring show called “Blues at the Crossroads,” a musical testimony to R&B, soul and blues of the ’50s and ’60s.

New Orleans wasn’t the only great music city represented. The Dynamites from Memphis served as the night’s excellent house band and Soulive’s Eric Krasno played lead guitar. Astonishing young Brooklyn vocalist Alecia Chakour came out early and showed the crowd just why she’s creating such a buzz these days. Her touring history includes Lettuce and the Warren Haynes Band.

And let’s not forget that co-headliner Lee Fields—he’s often called “Little J.B.” due to his compact physique, dance moves and powerful vocals, similar to James Brown—also currently resides in Brooklyn. Fields brought sheer exuberance, style and soul power to the stage. He played a great version of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours” and brought new depth to a passionate “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” During the song, he paused and reminded the men in the audience that, you know, we wouldn’t be nothin’ without a woman. Irma Thomas would probably agree.

code—from years gone by. As luck would have it, Billy Childs and his quartet held court there for a fournight residency last week—just days before the jazz pianist and composer snagged his fourth Grammy Award for arranging “New York Tendaberry.”

On this particular Thursday night, the group dealt a heaping dose of Childs’ own recorded jazz numbers mixed with various bits of improv and personal taste. Steve Wilson (alto, soprano sax), Hans Glawischnig (stand-up bass) and Johnathan Blake (drums and percussion) are all immensely talented musicians.

From the opening number, “Backwards Bop,” through to the group’s splendid rendition of Horace Silver’s “Peace,” no musical stone was left unturned. Each member, as in any good jazz quartet, was able to strut his stuff and display chops—taking turns while never seeming self-indulgent. If anything, we wished some of Childs’ solo anecdotes never ended.

The capacity crowd—ranging from 20-somethings to those leaning toward their 60s—couldn’t have been any more attentive and patient.

Nary a cell phone was seen snapping photos, tweeting or recording during the near-90 minute performance.

Each tune—including two different numbers about Childs’ sons—was met with huge rounds of applause.

Pay close attention when Mondavi does these intimate cabaret shows— you’ll rarely see many of the artists come through again for years. Plus, the sound is flawless, there isn’t a bad seat in the house and there’s a fullystocked bar. Only two more musicians will perform at the Vanderhoef during the remainder of the season: saxophonist Donny McCaslin with his jazz group on March 25-28, and French-Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly, May 16-17.

Sacto Idol: Shout-out to local singer-songwriter Erica Ambrin,who made it on the somehow stillrunning vocal competition show American Idol this season. LowBrau hosted screenings of support—and hooray!—she earned a golden ticket to Hollywood.

Bad news is Ambrin was cut shortly thereafter. Good news is she’s releasing an album, The Art of Falling, later this year and we can all hear more from this soulful talent.

Grammy-worthy jazz: Attending a show at the Mondavi Center’s intimate Vanderhoef Studio Theatre Cabaret is akin to stepping into a different time zone—and zip

|

NEWS

SACRAMENTO AREA MUSIC AWARDS

—Eddie Jorgensen

—Paul Piazza

BEFORE

SAMMIES

—Janelle Bitker

Vote now!

UNKNOWN TOMATOES SAMMIES.COM

sponsored by:

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

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

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

|

AFTER

| 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

37

13FRI

13FRI

13FRI

14SAT

Shanna Sordahl

Terry Hanck

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tribute

Jonny Craig

Gold Lion Arts, 8 p.m., $10-$15

Torch Club, 9 p.m., $10

Cellist extraordinaire Shanna Sordahl will be joining Gold Lion Arts as part of the Ma Series, which highlights female composers, CLASSICAL educators, improvisers and performing artists that largely fly under the radar. For the uninitiated, Sordahl is a skilled artist living in the East Bay who has earned considerable accolades from her alma mater, Mills College.

Additionally, she is a skilled live and studio sound engineer who also teaches a class at Ex’pression College in Emeryville for people looking into learning about interactive audio.

She makes a rare Sacramento appearance alongside Sharmi Basu and Shani Aviram who are also on this bill (which Sordahl will also curate). 2733 Riverside Boulevard, www.shannasordahl.net.

Old Ironsides, 9 p.m., $5

Like Ron Swanson’s Duke Silver alter-ego on Parks and Recreation, Terry Hanck looks like the embodiment of 1980s “cool.” But instead of an awesome mustache, Hanck rocks a full goatee, and, well, he’s actually a good saxophone player. Mirroring his facial hair, Hanck’s tone on the sax is also way fuller than Silver’s—with all the emotive growl, vibrato and edge needed to play blues. Hanck, who’s recently been getting a lot of love from the Blues Music Awards with a number of nominations and wins, also BLUES puts down the horn and sings during shows. It’s basically the perfect Valentine’s Day-eve date to let your significant other know that you’re serious.

904 15th Street, www.terryhanck.net.

Tom Petty is a bit of a phenomenon. While most other artists seem to peak in their early years, and then end their careers by just slogging out the 20-year-old hits, Petty ROCK has only gotten better. His work in the ’70s was good, but 1994’s Wildflowers and 1999’s Echo were mature, classic masterpieces (last year’s Hypnotic Eye wasn’t bad either). This Friday, local musicians honor his legacy, which doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon (see: recent Sam Smith lawsuit). Bands include the Nickel Slots (pictured), 50 Watt Heavy, Sealegs, Bright Faces, Blame the Bishop, Captain Amazing and the OK I Guesses, and more.

1901 10th Street, www.theoldironsides.com.

—Jonathan Mendick

—Aaron Carnes

—Eddie Jorgensen CALIFORNIA STAGE

presents

ITALIAN OPERA OPENING FEB 20

TH

Through Mar 22nd Showtimes: Fri & Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm

Leslie Lewinter-Suskind’s hysterical lampoon Italian Opera roasts the art, the business, and everything in-between.

RESTAURANT •• BAR BAR CLUB •• RESTAURANT COMEDY COMEDY CLUB

VOTED BEST COMEDY CLUB BY THE SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW!

THURSDAY 2/12 - SUNDAY 2/15 FROM THE TONIGHT SHOW AND THE LATE LATE SHOW!

CAR SHOW

THURSDAY 2/19 - SATURDAY 2/21

A VERY SPECIAL EVENT...

VISIT WWW.PUNCHLINESAC.COM FOR INFO!

MARCELLA ARGUELLO, KEON POLEE THURSDAY 3/12 - SATURDAY 3/14 FROM THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE AND THE CHURCH OF WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW PODCAST!

JOEY “COCO” DIAZ

D’AGOSTINO ZOIDA , DREW PLATT THURSDAY 3/19 - SUNDAY 3/22 FROM MTV2’S GUY CODE AND TBS’ VERY FUNNY NEWS!

JULIAN MCCULLOUGH

WEDNESDAY 3/25 WWE HALL OF FAMER AND NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR!

MICK FOLEY

SUNDAY APRIL 26TH 10AM - 3PM LIVE MUSIC FREE • ALL AGES PRE REGISTER ON -$15 ENTRY @ THE SHOW - $20 JUDGED ENTRIES - 60’S - 90’S

TWITTER.COM/PUNCHLINESAC • FACEBOOK.COM/PLSAC

/ STUDIO CE PA S E IC T PRAC AT G IN T STAR TH N O $325/M

CALL CLUB FOR SHOWTIMES: (916) 925-5500

GODLIKE STUDIOS

BRENDON BURNS

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! WWW.PUNCHLINESAC.COM

02.12.15

2ND ANNUAL

MICHAEL PATTEN

GODFREY

38 | SN&R |

—Janelle Bitker

IAN BAGG

THURSDAY 2/26 - SUNDAY 3/1 FROM LOUIE AND BET’S COMIC VIEW!

$20 General, $15 for seniors, military, students & SARTA members, $12 for groups of 6 or more.

Online: www.brownpapertickets.com/1198494

Well-known for once fronting hardcore bands like Dance Gavin Dance, Emarosa and Ghost Runner on Third—and getting kicked out, or dramatically leaving, said bands— Jonny Craig now provides the lead vocals for local post-hardcore band Slaves. Craig is also a complex dude with his own soulful pop solo project, and he’s not afraid to experiment with style. Enter his new collaborative project with Kyle Lucas and Captain POP Midnight. Their first album together, The Blueprint for Going in Circles, dropped in January and features Craig moving into the hip-hop world for the first time. Get ready for a whole new Craig, plus Lucas and Midnight. 9426 Greenback Lane in Orangevale, www.iamjonnycraig.com.

REGGIE STEELE, SHANTI CHARAN WEDNESDAY 2/18 RETROCRUSH PRESENTS:

?

California Stage in the R25 Arts Complex 25th & R St, Midtown • Easy free parking available • 916-451-5822

The Boardwalk, 6:30 p.m., $12

2100 ARDEN WAY • IN THE HOWE ‘BOUT ARDEN SHOPPING CENTER

2 DRINK MINIMUM. 18 & OVER. I.D. REQUIRED.

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE CLUB BOX OFFICE WITH NO SERVICE CHARGE.

916.595.4680 4350 Pell Dr. Ste 170, Sac CA

14SAT

14SAT

16MON

17TUES

Fred Eaglesmith

My Funky Valentine’s Dance Party

Broncho

Wild Child

Palms Playhouse, 8 p.m., $20

G Street Wunderbar, 9:30 p.m., $10-$25

Valentine’s Day is ultimately what you make it. For those who wish to not wallow in their own tears, seeing Canadian singersongwriter Fred Eaglesmith could be the most solid choice you make this year. For nearly 35 years he’s been releasing some of the best alternative country fare in the world. His following spans across the United States and he’s become a household name on the underground country circuit after releasing the highly successful Lipstick, Lies and Gasoline in 1997. Fans of awkward humor ALT COUNTRY alongside courageous, heartfelt ballads and heaping doses of honky-tonk need to see Eaglesmith, since he rarely makes it to these parts. 13 Main Street in Winters, www.fredeaglesmith.com.

Midtown Barfly, 8 p.m., no cover

Swap out the usual V-Day tradition of spending way too much on dinner and listening to Boyz II Men for getting funked FUNK up with all the college kids out in Davis. The Davis Live Music Collective presents the whimsical hodgepodge that is Ronkat Spearman’s Katdelic (pictured), a funky, psychedelic ensemble that comes off like a combination of Blood Orange plus Van Halen, with a pinch of Donovan and Prince thrown in for good measure. Grammy-nominated frontman Spearman is a veteran of George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic, and nine-piece Sacramento band Ideateam opens up, so you can be sure both the noise and the funk will be brought. 228 G Street in Davis, www.ronkat.net.

—Eddie Jorgensen

The early recordings of Oklahoma garage-rock band Broncho were solid.

The band was tight, had the fuzzy guitar, and the hooks were there, but the singer was always a bit disheveled and sang some wandering melodies. The group’s new album Just Enough Hip To Be Woman definitely makes up for that. Broncho’s slowed down the tunes a hair, listened to the Cars a million times and really infused ROCK a stronger pop sensibility into its tunes. It’s still some good old-fashion garage rock, but man, there are some breezy, get-stuck-in-your-headall-day-long melodies being sung now. The Croissants and So Stressed open.

1119 21st Street, www.bronchoband.com.

—Aaron Carnes

—Chris Parker

2708 J Street Sacramento, CA 916.441.4693 www.harlows.com 2/14 9:30PM $12 ADV

Feb 13 ORION WALSH & ANDREW CASTRO

2/12 6PM $20

(VALENTINE'S DAY)

Feb 21 XOCHITL

BIG SMO

HADEN CARPENTER

Feb 27 WHISKY ALLEY & CHICK P'S

WITH NAT BAIMEL

*ACOUSTIC SESSIONS FROM 2-5PM

FRI FEB 27 - SUN MAR 1

CHRIS STORIN

27 BEERS ON DRAFT

WITH MICHAEL CALVIN JR.

2/19 7PM $20 ADV

ALO

THE T SISTERS

2/13 8PM $15

MONOPHONICS IDEATEAM

TRIVIA MONDAYS @ 6:30PM OPEN MIC WEDNESDAYS SIGN-UPS @ 7:30PM KARAOKE THURSDAYS @ 7:30PM

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT:

Laughsunlimited.com Call Club for showtimes, prices and reservation (916) 446-5905 • 446-8128 Two item minimum - 17 and over

101 MAIN STREET, ROSEVILLE 916-774-0505 · LUNCH/DINNER 7 DAYS A WEEK FRI & SAT 9:30PM - CLOSE 21+ FACEBOOK.COM/BAR101ROSEVILLE

1207 Front Street in Old Sacramento

NEWS

2/12 9PM $25

Feb 22 DYLAN CRAWFORD*

TONY DIJAMCO

|

WILD CHILD

DESERT NOISES, GOOD NIGHT TEXAS

Feb 20 ISLAND OF BLACK & WHITE

FRI FEB 20 - SUN FEB 22

2/17 6PM $12 ADV

Feb 15 DENVER SAUNDERS*

WITH KEON POLEE

BEFORE

MIDNIGHT PLAYERS

WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS

Feb 14 BILLY MANZIK

MARK G

|

Wild Child’s gentle, folk-inspired pop-rock combines the fey, understated, orchestral warmth of the Decemberists with the willowy old-timey gypsy-jazz grace of Jolie Holland.

Violinist and singer Kelsey Wilson’s crisp INDIE-POP vibrato’s twists in the winter chill against the earthy baritone of ukulele-playing, harmonizing counterpart Alexander Beggins. The partnership was born in the back of a van touring with other Austin bands. In the last five years the sextet’s blossomed two buzzed-about albums, notably 2013’s The Runaround.

They’re joined by Utah’s Desert Noises, whose meditative folk-psych gets significantly rowdier on its third album, 27 Ways, pulled by an undertow of sun-baked Southwestern blues.

2708 J Street, www.wildchildsounds.com.

—Deena Drewis

LIVE MUSIC

FRI FEB 13 – SUN FEB 15

Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub, 7 p.m., $12-$14

F E AT U R E

STORY

2/14 5:30PM $17.50 ADV

2/20 8:30PM $15 ADV

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

TAINTED LOVE |

AFTER

COMING SOON 2/15 Sac on Fleek 2/22 Crystal Bowersox 2/23 Guttermouth 2/24 Tory Lanez 2/27 Purple Ones (Prince Tribute) 2/28 Nicholas David 2/28 Petty Theft (Tom Petty Tribute) 3/1 Mali Music 3/2 David Cook 3/5 The Outlaws and Blackhawk 3/6 Zepparella (Led Zeppelin Tribute) 3/7 Foreverland (MJ Tribute) 3/10 Hollow Wood 3/11 DJ Premier / Royce Da 5’9 3/12 Country Battle of Bands 3/13 Drop Dead Red (CD Release) 3/14 Cheryl Wheeler 3/14 ZuhG (CD Release) 3/15 Branches 3/16 Trash Talk / Ratking

| 02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

39

NIGHTBEAT

THURSDAY 2/12

FRIDAY 2/13

2003 K St., (916) 448-8790

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

Fabulous and Gay Fridays, 9pm, call for cover

Saturday Boom, 9pm, call for cover

Sin Sunday, 8pm, call for cover

Mad Mondays, 9pm M, call for cover

BAR 101

Karaoke Night, 7:30pm, no cover

ANDREW CASTRO, ORION WALSH; 9:30pm, no cover

BILLY MANZIK, 9:30pm, no cover

DENVER SAUNDERS, 2-5pm, no cover

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

BLUE LAMP

DRU DOWN, 8pm, $15

TELL THE WOLVES, LIFE IN A SPIRAL, VINTAGE SUNS; 6pm, $5

ERASURE-ESQUE, 9pm, $8

Evolution w/ DJ Dark Star & DJ Davie Xander, 8pm, call for cover

Open mic, 8pm M; CANCERSLUG, SINCE WE WERE KIDS, THE MOANS; 8pm Tu, $10

BAEZA, PLAYAH K, REIGN; 7pm, $20-$50

JONNY CRAIG, KYLE LUCAS, CAPTAIN MIDNITE; 6:30pm, $12

SECRET BAND, HAIL THE SUN, STOLAS, SIANVAR, KURT TRAVIS; 6pm, $12

A Night at the Cabaret, 9pm, $25-$35

FRED EAGLESMITH, 7:30pm, $24-$27

BADLANDS 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.

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

THE BOARDWALK

9426 Greenback Ln., Orangevale; (916) 988-9247

CENTER FOR THE ARTS

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

COUNTRY CLUB SALOON

MOJO PROPHETS, 9pm-1am, call for cover

4007 Taylor Rd., Loomis; (916) 652-4007

THE COZMIC CAFÉ

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

Open-mic, 7:30pm, no cover

DISTRICT 30

Hey local bands!

FACES

Kamikaze Karaoke, 9pm-2am, no cover

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

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

FOX & GOOSE

STEVE MCLANE, 8pm, no cover

HANS & THE HOT MESS, ZYAH BELLE & THE FUNKSHUN; 8:30pm, $5

FRIENDS BEATLES TRIBUTE BAND, 9pm, $5

Rock On Live Band Karaoke, 10pm, no cover

DJ Adrian G, 10pm, no cover

KATADELIC, 10pm, no cover

THE GOLDEN BEAR

DJ Crook One, 10pm, no cover

DJ Crook One, 10pm, no cover

GOLDFIELD TRADING POST

COUNTRY STRONG, 9pm, no cover

CRIPPLE CREEK, 9pm, no cover

HALFTIME BAR & GRILL

WONDERBREAD 5, 9pm, $10-$12

Valentine’s Day Dance Party, 9pm, call for cover MUMBO GUMBO, 7pm, $17.50-$20; MIDNIGHT PLAYERS, 10pm, $12

1001 R St., (916) 443-8825

G STREET WUNDERBAR 228 G St., Davis; (530) 756-9227 2326 K St., (916) 441-2252 1603 J St., (916) 476-5076

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

HARLOW’S

2708 J St., (916) 441-4693

WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS, 7pm, $20; BIG SMO, HADEN CARPENTER; 10pm, $25

MONOPHONICS, IDEATEAM; 9pm, $15

THE HIDEAWAY BAR & GRILL

Trash Rock Thursdays, 9pm, no cover

KILL THE PRECEDENT, HORSENECK, ARCH ANGEL, 8pm, no cover

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

ANTON BARBEAU, THE CORNER LAUGHBILLY BUCKMAN, 8pm, $5 ERS, ALLYSON SECONDS; 8pm, $6

2565 Franklin Blvd., (916) 455-1331

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

40

|

SN&R

|

DJ Hypercrush, 10pm, call for cover

Deuling Pianos, 9pm, no cover

2000 K St., (916) 448-7798

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.

COLLEEN HEAUSER, 9pm-1am, call for cover

DIVE BAR

1022 K St., (916) 737-5999

02.12.15

SUNDAY 2/15

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 2/16-2/18

Fat Tuesday Cajun Food and Bead Fest, noon Tu, call for cover

Valentine’s Day Party, 8pm, $5 DJ Miles Medina, 10pm, call for cover

1016 K St., (916) 737-5770

SATURDAY 2/14

DJs Vincent Salas and My Cousin Vinny, 9pm, call for cover MASSIVE DELICIOUS, DRUNKEN KUNG FU; 9pm, no cover

HOT CITY, EMILY KOLLARS; 9pm Tu; ADRIAN BELLUE, JOE KYE; 9pm W

Dragalicious, 9pm, $5

Kamikaze Karaoke, 9pm M; Latin night, 9pm Tu, $5; DJ Alazzawi, 9pm W, $3 Open-mic, 7:30pm M; Pub Quiz, 7pm Tu; Northern Soul and Cornhole, 8pm W

SHAW BANGA, D-LO, SMOOVIE BABY, PRICELESS DA ROC; 7:30pm, $12-$15

WILD CHILD, DESERT NOISES, GOODNIGHT TEXAS; 7pm Tu, $12-$14

Metal Mass Brunch, noon, no cover; Sunday Sinema, 8pm, no cover

Broadway Beat, 9pm M; Cactus Pete, 8pm Tu; Twisted Trivia, 8pm W, no cover Nebraska Mondays, M; Open-mic comedy, 8pm Tu; Comedy night, 8pm W, $5

THURSDAY 2/12 MIDTOWN BARFLY

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

FRIDAY 2/13

SATURDAY 2/14

SUNDAY 2/15

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 2/16-2/18

That Thing on Friday, EDM, 10pm, $5

The Midtown Moxies burlesque, 8pm, $10-$15

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

Swing lessons $6, 7:30pm Tu; Salsa lessons with Nicole Lazo, 7:30pm W, $5

NAKED LOUNGE DOWNTOWN

PETS, SHARKANOID, KEPI GHOULIE; 8:30pm, $6

GIANNA BIAGI, RUBY JAYE FRADKIN, SANDRA DELORES; 8:30pm, $5

ADRIAN BOURGEOIS, RICKY BERGER, JUSTIN FARREN; 8:30pm, $6

Jazz, 8pm M; MAC RUSS, MARTIN PURTILL, JULIET COMPANY; 8:30pm W, $5

OLD IRONSIDES

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

Film screening of Nirvana at the Cattle Club, 8pm, no cover

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers tribute show, 9pm, $5

GHOST TOWN REBELLION, THE 3WAY, UNDER SAGES; 8pm, $6

HEATH WILLIAMSON, 5pm M; Karaoke, 9pm Tu; Open-mic, 9pm W, no cover

ON THE Y

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

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

JON DEE GRAHAM, MIKE JUNE; 8pm, $15

FRED EAGLESMITH, 8pm, $20

PARLARE EURO LOUNGE

Top 40, 9pm, no cover

Top 40, Mashups, 9pm, no cover

DJ Club mixes, 10pm, no cover

PISTOL PETE’S

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

FOXTROT MARY, 9pm, $5

WHISKEY ALLEY, THE CHICK P’S; 8pm, call for cover

1111 H St., (916) 443-1927

670 Fulton Ave., (916) 487-3731

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

140 Harrison Ave., Auburn; (530) 885-5093

PJ’S ROADHOUSE

Karaoke, 9pm Tu, no cover

Karaoke, 9pm Tu, W, no cover

THE THREE WAY, 9pm, $5

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

POWERHOUSE PUB

Open-mic comedy, 9pm, no cover

STEPHEN HOGAN, 10pm, call for cover

CLUSTER PHUNK, 10pm, call for cover

THUNDER COVER, 10pm, call for cover

ROY ROGERS, 3pm, call for cover

THE THREE WAY, ROSWELL, THE SOUL SHINE BAND; 8pm W, call for cover

2030 P St., (916) 444-7914

Heckarap w/ MC Ham, Slapgod and DJ Gourmet, 9pm, no cover

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

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

Sunday Night Soul Party, 9pm, $5

LOVE CRYME, MIRRORGLOSS; 8pm M; Youth Cult dance party, 9pm Tu, no cover

SHADY LADY SALOON

TYSON GRAF TRIO, 9pm, no cover

HUMBLE WOLF, 9pm, no cover

TESSIE MARIE, 9pm, no cover

ALEX JENKINS, 9pm, no cover

Salvin Chahal book launch, 7:30pm, $5

Eugene Puryear, 4pm; QUITAPENAS, THE TENDER SENDERS, 9pm, $10

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

THE PRESS CLUB

1409 R St., (916) 231-9121

SOL COLLECTIVE

2574 21st St., (916) 832-0916

STARLITE LOUNGE

1517 21st St., (916) 704-0711

This Green City w/ DJ Dire DeLoren & DJ Chat Noir, 9pm, no cover

SOME FEAR NONE, SNOW WHITE SMILE, STATIONARY; 9pm, $9

STONEY INN/ROCKIN’ RODEO

THE CHRIS GARDNER BAND, 9pm, $2

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

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

Country dance party, 8pm, no cover

TORCH CLUB

X TRIO, 5pm, no cover; DIPPIN’ SAUCE, 9pm, $5

PAILER AND FRATIS, 5:30-7:30pm, no cover; TERRY HANCK, 9pm, $10

MR. DECEMBER, VAL STARR; 9pm, $10

Blues jam, 4pm, no cover; Acoustic open-mic, 5:30pm W, no cover; JON EMERY, BILLY DON BURNS; 8pm, $5 DELTA CITY RAMBLERS, 9pm W, $5

1320 Del Paso Blvd., (916) 927-6023 904 15th St., (916) 443-2797

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

All ages, all the time ACE OF SPADES

1417 R St., (916) 448-3300

MIGOS, 7pm, $27-$100

SHINE

1400 E St., (916) 551-1400

STICK TO YOUR GUNS, THE AMITY AFFLIC- MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, TION, BEING AS AN OCEAN; 6pm, $15 6:30pm, $20

ZION I, LOS RAKAS; 6:30pm Tu, $15; SUICIDE SILENCE, EMMURE; 5:30pm W, $18

DAVID HOUSTON, AUDRA CONNOLLY, TRAVIS JEAN; 8pm, $5

Open jazz jam w/ Jason Galbraith & Friends, 8pm Tu; Open-mic, 7:30pm W

ACE OF SPADES THE AMITY AFFLICTION - BEING AS AN OCEAN – ‘68 - IN HEARTS WAKE

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14

MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK HELLOGOODBYE – DRIVER FRIENDLY

ALL AGES WELCOME!

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20

NIPSEY HUSSLE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21

BONE THUGSN-HARMONY

SOULJAH SNOOP LOC SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17

ZION I

LOS RAKAS – LOCKSMITH - TEL CAIRO

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18

SUICIDE SILENCE

EMMURE - WITHIN THE RUINS FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY - SALYTHIA THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19

AUGUST BURNS RED

MISS MAY I - NORTHLANE, ERRA

Whiskey Alley with the Chick P’s 8pm Saturday, call for cover.

Pistol Pete’s Country

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

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13

STICK TO YOUR GUNS

Quitapenas with the Tender Senders 9pm Saturday, $10.

Sol Collective World

SPICE1, B LEGIT, RICHIE RICH, CELLY CEL, SAN QUINN, RBL POSSE

GUCE - LEE MAJORS - RAPPIN’ 4 TAY -MARVALESS -T-NUTTY - CALI BEAR GANG

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18

IN FLAMES

ALL THAT REMAINS - WOVENWAR

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9

COAL CHAMBER

FILTERS - COMBICHRIST - AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE

COMING

SOON

03/10 03/11 03/12 03/15 03/17 03/18 03/21 03/22 03/24 03/27 03/28 03/29 04/02 04/09 04/11 04/12 04/13 04/14 04/15 04/16 04/17 04/19 04/20 04/21 04/23 04/25

Motionless In White Flyleaf Secondhand Serenade, Ryan Cabrera Common Kings Walk The Moon J Boog Rebel Souljahz The Devil Wears Prada Dan & Shay Adrian Marcel, Ray Dogg & Netta Brielle Chelsea Grin Tierra & Malo IAMSU! Apocalyptica The Maine George Ezra Blue October Antemasque Reverend Horton Heat Lights Sturgill Simpson Royal Blood TechN9ne Enter Shikari Kalin and Myles Parmalee

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALL DIMPLE RECORDS LOCATIONS AND ARMADILLO RECORDS, OR PURCHASE BY PHONE @ 916.443.9202 SN&R BEFORE | NEWS | FEATURE STORY | A RT S & C U LT U R E | AFTER | 02.12.15 | |

41

LUNCH SPECIALS

WED Feb 11th – SAT Feb 14th

BRITNEY AMBER OVER 250 XXX MOVIES

Multiple AVN Award Nominee WED10PM, 12:30AM FRI 9:30, 11:30, 1:30am THURS10PM 12:30AM SAT9:30, 11:30,1:30am

FORE FRE

YOU’RE WELCOME, NATURE.

GREAT FOOD

Heat Up Your Night On RedHot TRY

RECYCLE THIS PAPER.

WWW.GOLDCLUBCENTERFOLDS.COM

916.480.6200 More Local Numbers: 1.800.700.6666

18+ redhotdateline.com

STORE SIGNING FRI & SAT 6-8PM AMATEUR CONTEST/AUDITIONS EVERY MONDAY

9:30 PM - $450.00 CASH PRIZE

FRIENDLY ATTRACTIVE DANCERS HIRED DAILY CALL 858-0444 FOR SIGN UP INFO

FREE ADMIT w/Ad $5.00 VALUE

REAL PEOPLE REAL DESIRE REAL FUN

WARNING HOT GUYS!

Valid Anytime With Drink Purchase

25,000 ADULT DVDS $0.49 - $9.99 BIRTHDAYS:

Sacramento

916.340.1414

Davis (530) 760.1011

BACHELOR / DIVORCE PARTIES 916.858.0444 FREE to listen & reply to ads!

FREE CODE :

Sacramento News & Review

858-0444

For other local numbers call:

M-Th 11:30-3 • Fri 11:30-4 • Sat 12-4 • Sun 3-3 Gold Club Centerfolds is a non-alcohol nightclub featuring all-nude entertainment. Adults over 18 only.

42

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

$5 OFF when you present this ad.

Exp. 2/25/15. First time customers only.

11363 Folsom Blvd, Rancho Cordova (Between Sunrise & Hazel)

916.480.6227 Try for FREE

Ahora en Español

For More Local Numbers: 1.800.926.6000 www.livelinks.com Teligence/18+ FREE TRIAL

Discreet Chat Guy to Guy

916.480.6215

MEN’S SPA

WE BUY USED ADULT DVDS

SPORTS ACTION ON OUR GIANT SCREEN TV

916-480-6210

CHATLINE TM

SACRAMENTO’S ORIGINAL

+ – 5 DAYS OF BIRTHDAY

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

Try it for free

More local numbers: 1-800-777-8000 Ahora en Español/18+ www.guyspyvoice.com

FREE ADMISSION, DRINKS & VIP

FULL SERVICE RESTAURANT

GET ON TO GET OFF

1-888-MegaMates

TM

24/7 Customer Care 1(888) 634.2628 18+ ©2013 PC LLC 2579

✙ Sauna ✙ Pool

✙ Lounge Area ✙ Locker Room

Folsom Park Sauna 9261 Folsom Blvd. Ste 401 Sac, CA 95826 - Behind Togo’s

916.363.1247 10a-9p 7 days a week

PURE GOLD SHOWGIRLS

All massage advertisers are10AM required toOPEN provide & ads Review Print startaatcurrent $6/wk. valid STORE OPEN · CLUB 5PMNews business license VALENTINES or somatic establishment permit issued by either the cityoror county 4 PLAY www.newsreview.com Online in which they are operating in in order to run a printed advertisement.

(916) 498-1234 ext. 5 HEADQUARTERS ads are lingerie, love toys, Phone hours: M-F 9am-5pm.

All ads post online same day. edible candles, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING WITH US, Deadlines for print: Line ad deadline: Monday 4pm vibrators, massage PLEASE CONTACT CLASSIFIEDS AT 916-498-1234 EXT. 1338. * FREE! Adult line ad deadline: Monday 4pm oils & hand cuffs Display ad deadline: Friday 2pm

STILL

9

ALL YOUR “SHADY” TOYS

DANCER

AUDITIONS

DAILY

FIVE PACK DVDs

W/COUPON REG. $12.69 AD EXPS 2-28-15 1 PER CUSTOMER

*Nominal fee for adult entertainment.

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

MASSAGE THERAPISTS 916.631.3520

3000 SUNRISE BLVD. #2 · RANCHO CORDOVA, CA

The Cabin

AIRLINE CAREERS start here - if you’re a hands on learner, you can become FAA Certified to fix jets. Job placement, financial aid if qualified.

Call AIM 800-481-8389

BEWARE OF FAKE CHECK SCAMS Fake check scams are clever ploys designed to steal your money.

You can avoid becoming a victim by recognizing how the scam works and understanding your responsiblity for the checks that you deposit in your account.

If someone you don’t know wants to pay you by check but wants you to wire some of the money back, beware! It is a scam that could cost you thousands of dollars. For more information, go to www.fraud.org/scams.

This reminder is a public service of the N&R

$1,000 WEEKLY!!

MAILING BROCHURES From Home. Helping home workers since 2001.

Genuine Opportunity. No Experience required. Start Immediately www.mailingmembers.com (AAN CAN)

KILL ROACHES! Buy Harris Roach Tablets. No Mess, Odorless, Long Lasting.

Available at ACE Hardware, The Home Depot (AAN CAN)

Get a Great Massage!

Sauna, Spa & Yoga Citrus Heights

916-729-0103

Wheatland Senior seeking housemate 50 plus bi or gay fellow. Share my 2 bedroom home. $400 per month negotiable plus 1/4 UTIL w/own vehicle a must.

Mikey 530-633-2570

Oriental Magic Hands Jason Shimomura CMT

IF YOU USED THE BLOOD THINNER XARELTO and suffered internal bleeding, hemorrahaging, required hospitalization or a loved one died while taking Xarelto between 2011 and the present time, you may be entitled to compensation. Call Attorney Charles H. Johnson 1-800-535-5727

VIAGRA 100mg, CIALIS 20mg. 40 Pills + 4 FREE for only $99. #1 Male Enhancement! Discreet Shipping. Save $500.

Buy the Blue Pill Now! 1-800-404-1271 (AAN CAN)

601-1292 daily) All massage advertisers are required to (9am-9pm provide News & Review a current valid RENEWED business license or somatic establishment permit issued by either the city or county MASSAGE Inhale, Exhale.

Let goaof printed the in which they are operating in in order to run advertisement. past & bring in the new year

Start your humanitarian career!

Change the lives of others while creating a sustainable future.

1, 6, 9, 18 month programs available. Apply today! www.OneWorldCenter.org 269-591-0518 info@oneworldcenter.org

with a new you & a new massage.In/Out.

By Appt. $25/HR

916-372-7334 916-599-9588 Delightful massage from a Latin expert Special rates for seniors.

Private upscale home w/ shower. By appt only in Fair Oaks (Sunset & Minnesota). *82-916-961-3830

Vibrational Massage Private 29-Jet Spa Ann 916-722-7777 CMT

Notice of caution to our Readers!

Whenever doing business by telephone or email proceed with caution when cash or credit is required in advance of services.

SUBARU SALES & SVC Recondit. Subarus.

Saints Automotive in Garden Valley. saintsauto.com (530)333-0491

CASH FOR CARS: Any Car/Truck.

Running or Not! Top Dollar Paid. We Come To You! Call For Instant Offer: 1-888-420-3808 www.cash4car.com (AAN CAN)

adult

MASSAGE THERAPISTS

MASSAGE THERAPISTS

*Upscale Exotic Massage* By a petite blonde w/a sinful appeal. experience my touch.

I’ve got just what you’re looking for.

Relax, & let me take care of the rest.

Enjoy my unrushed touch in my clean quiet home.

(916) 812-5330

Elite Entertainment Cocoa’s List (916) 259-3868 www.cocoamounds.com 24/7 in/out A variety of ladies available Now Hiring all major CC accepted.

A Sexy Massage With an Exotic/Erotic Twist.

Come enjoy a therapeutic/sensual massage by a licensed EMT in a private upscale discreet location.

Massage table, candlelight, jazz music, aroma therapy candles.

Showers are available in the privacy of my own home. Ask for Lisa. (916) 678-9926

Cuddle Buddy Tired of the same old massage?

Need some nurturing? Let’s cuddle! (916) 900-6850 http://tinyurl.com/n2xkekn

Be touched!

She puts the Mmm in Sensual Massage. Upper thigh massage included. Daily/Nightly appts until 3am 916-256-7093

Transformation Services For men who crossdress I love working w/men who crossdress. Come let me help you become the woman you’ve always wanted to be.

Vanna (916) 256-8085

Absolute Deluxe Massage Red Crystal Red Lace Massage. $70 for 2 hours, Incall also, outcalls always. Great hands with a great girl.

Marvelous lemon or plain oils.

In call special $38. Call til late 916-256-7093

FOOT FETISH! I love to have my feet worshipped.(916)741-3668 https://tinyurl.com/NXEHDKF

Where Local Girls IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING Go Wild!

Hot, Live,CLASSIFIEDS Real, Discreet! AT WITH US, PLEASE CONTACT Uncensored live 1-on-1 HOT Chat. Calls in YOUR city!

916-498-1234 EXT.phone 1338.

Pillow Talk Try FREE! Call 1-800-261-4097 (AAN CAN)

Call with your fantasies and secret desires. http:/tinyurl.com/pvgcuxu

Curious About Men? Talk discreetly with men like you! Try FREE! Call 1-888-779-2789 www.guyspy.com (AAN CAN)

Feel the Vibe!

Hot Black Chat.

Urban women and men ready to MAKE THE CONNECTION Call singles in your area! Try FREE! Call 1-800-305-9164 (AAN CAN)

AUTO INSURANCE STARTING AT $25/MONTH! Call 855-977-9537. (AAN CAN)

BH

MASSAGE THERAPISTS

Massage

5

$ off

All massage advertisers are required to provide News & Review a current valid business license or somatic establishment permit issued by either the city or

Free Table Shower

county in which they are operating in in order to run a printed advertisement.

Chinese Style Massage

7 days a week • 10 am to 9 pm

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING WITH US, PLEASE CONTACT CLASSIFIEDS AT 916-498-1234 EXT. 1338.

GREEN JADE

THE BEST MASSAGE YOU CAN GET

NEW STAFF!

5 OFF

$

MASSAGE THERAPY

$5

OFF

ACCUPRESSURE DEEP TISSUE SWEDISH This is a model Must present this coupon. Exp 1.15.15

BEFORE

|

2860 FLORIN ROAD SACRAMENTO 95822 DAILY 9AM-9PM 916.231.9498

NEWS

|

fe a t u re

s t or y

❤

❤

❤

❤

TanTric Massage ❤

❤ Antelope 9aM-9pM Daily

BESgTe!

$80+

❤

massa

GOOD DAY SPA Sacramento 95823

Vibrational

Certified Massage Practitioner Maggie

the

*this is a model

916.395.7712

(916) 726–1166

7530 Auburn Blvd Ste D • Citrus Heights

Actual CMT Not a model

• 7 Days a Week 10am–10pm • Sauna & Shower Available • Free Chinese therapies • Reflexology • Deep Tissue • Swedish

7271 55th St. #D

All Credit Cards Accepted

|

WITH AD

❤

Ann, CMT

3210 Fulton Ave

916.487.8241 / oPen 9AM-10PM

A R T S & C U L TU R E

|

AFTER

|

916.722.7777

29-jet spa • Body shampoo • By appt.

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

43

ANNA

SPECIAL $40 1 hour reg. $45

MASSAGE

K.J.: A love letter

• Thai • Swedish • Showers Available • Walk-ins Welcome

MARCONI EL CAMINO

★

EASTERN AVE

4128 El Camino Ave. #7 Sacramento, Ca 95821 916-483-6888 Open 10a-10p daily

MARYAL DR

Sunny Days Massage

CAPITOL FWY

Table Shower - Deep Tissue Tui Na - Swedish - Back Walking Walk-in Appt & Gift Certificate Available

Dearest K.J.:

• Gift Certificates Available M-F 9am-9pm Sat/Sun 11am-9pm Closed Wednesdays

916.429.7270

1355 Florin Rd, Ste.13 Sacramento, CA 95822

This is a model

Massage Therapy

A1 Feeling • Swedish Massage • Deep Tissue Massage • Pain Relief • Backwalking • Chinese Therapies • Shower Available • Walk-ins Welcome

Combination Massage Open Daily 10am - 10:30pm Walk-Ins & Couples Welcome

New Massage Therapist $ OFF w/ ad 5

• Additional Parking in Rear

Open 7 days a week 10AM-11PM

Coupleses 916.448.5315 & eLlcaodmie!

We accept:

1116 24th St

w

Midtown Sacramento, 95816 Between K St. & L St.

This is a model

New Management!

You have professed your affection for the Arts and promised your support. Such seduction! It hit like a rush of dopamine. The Arts began imagining a future with you, the creation of an enduring legacy.

But then, you didn’t show up, or not often, anyway. The Arts are heartbroken. After all, a real relationship is honest. It requires

by Joey ga rcia vision, trust, communication and commitment. We’re willing to a s k j o e y @ne w s re v i e w . c o m try again, if you’re willing to change. This is our bittersweet valentine to you: Joey posts valentines for her readers on the Ask Joey Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ pages/Ask-Joey/ 160189114012279.

This is a model

Violet Massage 3260 J St #A Sacramento 95816 (916) 442-1888

Flamingo Massage 2264 Fair Oaks Blvd #102 Sacramento 95825 (916) 646-1888

Full body massage • Deep tissue • Swedish • Hot stone • Hot oil • Back walking 9am-10pm 7 days a week

30

$

New Opening

/30min

Let’s get everybody in bed together and see what happens. and hordes of cultural creatives (Think: San Francisco, Milan, New York, Paris, Barcelona, London.)

Adding athletic teams or arenas to the city grid may feel like the perfect fit of a glass slipper, but it’s closer to sliding into fur moccasins.

Comfortable, yes, but not a worldclass attraction.

40

$

/60min

this is a model

These are m od

els

916.449.8888

9:30am–10pm Daily 1714 16th Street Sacramento, CA 95811 $30 - 30 MIN | $40 - 60 MIN | $60 - 90 MIN

NEW MASSEUSES! Fashion Massage

11275 Folsom Blvd. #201 • Rancho Cordova

916-851-1118

MEN’S SPA 5 $

OFF ENTRY FEE*

*Exp 2/25/15 Call for details

A N A U T H E N T I C K O R E A N S PA E X P E R I E N C E

✙ Dry Sauna with Natural Stone ✙ Natural Rock Hot Room ✙ Steam Sauna ✙ Large cool pool ✙ Hot Tub ✙ Relaxation room ✙ Private shower room

Oa s i s S au n a f o r m e n GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE! 44 44

|

9345 La Riveria • Sac 95826 Contact Sunny at 916.539.4226

02.12.15 SN&R || 02.12.15

Sun - Thurs 9a - 10p Fri & Sat 9a - 12a

Let’s have a world-class awakening: This is awkward, but someone has to say it: A World-Class City is not determined by the presence of professional sports teams, although plenty of world-class cities are home to pro sports. No, K.J., World-Class Cities are defined by their public art, art museums, architecture, thriving literary scene

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.

Invite heretics, creatives and leaders to the table: Our economic, environmental and social commissions feature successful local businesspeople and presidents of educational institutions. Great! But if you’re serious about taking our relationship to the next level, add accomplished professional artists, theater directors, authors, poets, choreographers and tech upstarts to the mix. There’s no Sacramento 3.0 without a serious challenge to the status quo. That’s right, we can’t have what you call a “hub of innovation” without innovators. So we need heretics, leaders and creatives as participants on committees and commissions. Innovation happens by including the kind of people who don’t just show up for the paycheck, but who live by vision, passion and curiosity every day.

A one-museum town? Where is the love?: The Crocker Art Museum is a gem. Everything about its expansion has benefited Sacramento, and its residents. But in every WorldClass City, a string of major art and cultural museums sparkle. Let’s craft a vision and get the financing now to ensure Sacramento shines on that map.

Boost arts education in schools: We realize it’s easy for you to point out that curriculum content and school funding is outside of your mayoral responsibilities. But that would deny all of your political connections, right? So work the room. We need to grow the next generation of artists, arts appreciators, innovators and entrepreneurs.

Arts education is essential to a World-Class City.

If you lived here, you’d be home by now: Unreasonable rents are forcing talented artists, writers and entrepreneurs to relocate from major cities to new markets. Let’s entice them to Sacramento. Create and fund artist-in-residence programs on local farms and ranches, in homeless shelters, at City Hall and the courthouse. Embed artists, poets and playwrights with the Kings, the River Cats and the Sacramento Republic. Heck, let’s get everybody in bed together and see what happens.

Schedule date nights with us: We miss you. We see you on television at King’s games, but you rarely show up at Arts events unless it’s a gala and a camera is trained on you. Back in the day, Anne Rudin and Heather Fargo would say they supported the Arts and then prove it by showing up. Can you add the Arts to your dance card?

Please?

Oh, K.J., our love has been unrequited for far too long. Don’t be coy. Tell us, will you be our valentine? Ω

Meditation of the Week “If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud,” wrote Emile Zola. What inspires you to make life your art?

What’s inside: The 420 47 How many people use medical cannabis?

57

5 grams

$

4 gram 1/8ths starting at $20 8 gram 1/4s starting at $40 wide variety of clones 5 joints for $20 14 new kinds of wax

HORIZON COLLECTIVE

3600 Power Inn Rd Ste 1A | Sac, CA 95826 | 916.455.1931 Februrary 12, 2015

Open 10am - 7pm 7 days a week

Find dispensary listings online at newsreview.com/sacramento

Safe, Professional, Compassionate.

The next step in medicinal cannabis

’14 BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE

Now that you have received your physician’s recommendation for medicinal cannabis, what’s the next step? The specialists at Abatin Wellness encourage you to come by and see for yourself.

We provide ample parking and safe access to our clean and secure, state-of-the-art facility. Our staff delivers professional and compassionate patient care in a secure environment. We screen all of our medicine to ensure it is free of pesticides, molds and bacteria. We also test our medicine for its cannabinoid potency levels and always carry CBD rich varieties. We offer a wide variety of strains that fit into every patients’ medicinal criteria and budget. We take great pride in knowing that our minimally-processed, minimally-handled medicine is right for you.

Abatin Wellness, the next step in medicinal cannabis.

2100 29TH STREET 916.822.5699 WWW.ABATINSACRAMENTO.COM

46

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 10 A.M. TO 7P.M.

The ABCs of THC High, Ngaio. I am confused as to what all is in my marijuana. What is the difference between CBD and THC and all that other stuff? Thank you.

Bring in any competitor’s coupon* and we’ll beat it by $5 *That is CA Medical Board Standards Compliant.

Must present competitor’s ad. Some restrictions apply.

—Sassy Bubbles It would be my pleasure. There are more than 400 different compounds in the cannabis plant. The ones we know the most about are: tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol and terpenes.

BEALUM THC is the chemical that gets you stoned. It works

by NGAIO by binding to the cannabinoid receptors in your brain.

That’s right, your body is designed to enjoy weed.

I’m exaggerating a little, but the human body does a sk420 @ n ewsreview.c om produce its own cannabinoids. It’s true. Look it up.

But I digress. To continue: THC causes your body to release dopamine, which creates a mild euphoria. THC also messes with your hippocampus, which is why your short term memory gets a little fuzzy. THC can also cause the munchies, and in large doses can create hallucinations.

CBD is the newest star in the cannabis universe.

Because CBD has no psychoactive effects—er, doesn’t get you stoned—the chemical was almost bred out of the cannabis plant, but recent research has shown CBD to be very effective as a mood and as an anticonThat’s right, your leavener vulsant (it’s good at stopping body is designed to seizures). CBD is also a good antiemetic, or thing enjoy weed. that helps you not vomit, although I don’t recommend getting drunk and then smoking a joint so you won’t throw up. Trust me, that’s a really bad idea. You can learn more about CBD at www.projectcbd.org.

Terpenes are the chemicals that give marijuana such a distinctive aroma. So far, more than 100 terpenes have been discovered, and they all have cool names like limonene and myrcene and terpineol. Different terpenes have different aromas and different effects (myrcene makes you sleepy, limonene is good for stress relief, etc.) which is probably why some people are so picky about what their marijuana smells like. There’s a good list over at www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/terpenes-the-flavorsof-cannabis-aromatherapy. Other than that, there are two main kinds of cannabis strains: sativas, which generally produce energetic, “buzzy” effects, and indicas, which are known for their mellow “couch lock” results. Indicas and sativas can also be cross-bred, producing hybrid strains. A good resource for learning about different strains and their effects is www.leafly.com.

Hmm. If weed has all this good stuff in it, shouldn’t we be making it easier for scientists to do research? Of course we should. Write a letter to the DEA today and tell them to reschedule cannabis. Thank you.

Hey, what’s going on this weekend?

—Eric D. Ngaio Bealum

I’m glad you asked. I will be attending the International Cannabis Business Conference in San Francisco. All the cannabis experts will be there: Rick Steves, Dr. Carl Hart, Steve DeAngelo, Amanda Reiman … I could go on. Oh, and Del tha Funkee Homosapien is performing.

I wonder if he will change the name of his song from “Mistadobilina” to “Mista-dab-alina”? More info at www.internationalcbc.com. Ω

is a Sacramento comedian, activist and marijuana expert.

Email him questions at ask420@ newsreview.com.

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

VOTED BEST 420 PHYSICIAN IN SAC! ’14

420 MD MEDICAL MARIJUANA EVALUATIONS

WINTER COMPASSION SPECIAL

39 49

$

$

RENEWALS

NEW PATIENTS

Must bring ad. Limit one per patient.

Some restrictions apply.

Must bring ad. Limit one per patient.

Some restrictions apply.

916.480.9000 2 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU

2100 Watt Ave, Unit 190 | Sacramento, CA 95825 | Mon–Sat 10am–6pm 2633 Telegraph Ave. 109 | Oakland, CA 94612 | 510-832-5000 Mon–Sat 10am–6pm | Sun: 12am-6pm RECOMMENDATIONS ARE VALID FOR 1 YEAR FOR QUALIFYING PATIENTS WALK-INS WELCOME ALL DAY EVERYDAY 420 MD OPERATING IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA

YOUR INFORMATION IS 100% PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL | TO | A R T S & C U L T UR E WEBSITE ABOOK FTE R APPOINTMENT | 02.12.15 |AT SN&R VISIT OUR YOUR ONLINE 24/7

www.420MD.org

|

47

FREE 1/8 S A T U R D A Y

S P E C I A L

TH

WITH ANY $40 MIN DONATION

Voted Patients’ Choice

Alternative • Medical • Center

Cannot be combined with other offers. Strain determined by HHWC. Expires 2/18/15.

H I G H E S T M E D I C I N A L S TA N D A R D S

CLOSE TO FOLSOM, FAIR OAKS & ROSEVILLE

SHINGLE

SPRINGS’

gle

VE

EdiPure

Rd

4020 DUROCK RD, STE 1 • SHINGLE SPRINGS, CA (916) 757–0980 • OPEN MONDAY – FRIDAY 10AM TO 8PM

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

ard

St

1220 Blumenfeld Drive, Sac, CA

Har v

★

nfe ld D r

BUY ANY 2 EDIBLES GET 1 (free of equal or lesser value) ALL $50 1/8THS CAPPED AT $40 BUY 3 TOP-SHELF FULL MELT FOR ONLY $90 ALL BUBBLE HASH IS ONLY $15 PER GRAM GET A FREE JOINT WITH ANY $10 MINIMUM DONATION 4 GRAM 1/8THS ALL DAY

me

MUNCHIE MONDAYS: TOP-SHELF TUESDAYS: WAXY WEDNESDAYS: HASHTAG THURSDAY: FREE J FRIDAY: SUNDAY FUNDAY:

SATURDAY 10AM TO 8PM • SUNDAY 10AM TO 6PM

48

4 G 1/8 T H S O N A L L H I G H E R T I E R S ★ WE OFFER DISCOUNTS FOR VETERANS ★ TEXT AMC TO 40691 TO RECEIVE A COUPON FOR A HOUSE WARMING GIFT!

Arde

I-80

nW ay

Fee

Dr

W

N S

(1 Min From Arden Mall) | 916.564.1100 OPEN Mon-Sat 10am to 9pm

Blu

hin

SS

Rd ck Next to ro u D T-Bonez Cycle

COLLECTI

Great selection of quality concentrates

New patient specials!

50

HOTTEST

AMC

E

Sun 10am to 6pm

@alternative_medical_center

BUY 1 EIGHTH GET ONE FREE 2/12 - 2/19

35 CAP

35 CAP

FREE GRAM & PRE-ROLL

$

ON ALL CONCENTRATES

$

ON ALL 1/8THS

FOR NEW PATIENTS & REFERRAL PATIENTS

Norwood

Kelton

Northgate

135 Main Ave

10 CAP

10 CAP

$

$

ON ALL HASH

ON ALL GRAMS

SAFE ACCESS 916-254-3287 SAFE CAPITOL COMPASSION 135 Main Avenue • Sacramento CA, 95838 | Open Mon thru Sat 10AM–7PM • Now Open Sun 12-5 BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

|

A RT S & C U LT U R E

|

AFTER

|

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

49

AL CI E SP T ES U R G DE N E DT U B

COMING SOON PA T I E N T G I V E B A C K FO R T H E F I R S T 2 4 PA T I E N T S | L I M I T E D E D I T I O N C O L L E C T O R ’ S J A R A V A I L A B L E T O F I R S T 2 5 0 PA T I E N T S

S E T T I N G T H E N E W S TA N D A R D

O P E N I N G 2 . 2 4 .1 5 H O U R S : 1 0 A M - 7 P M | 6 4 9 2 F LO R I N P E R K I N S R D .

50

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

|

A RT S & C U LT U R E

|

AFTER

|

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

51

52

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

|

A RT S & C U LT U R E

|

AFTER

|

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

53

SIMPLY THE BEST Winner 4 years in a row! ’13

’13

’13

Best Medical Marijuana clinic - Sacramento News and Review Readers’ Poll ’13

’13

’13 ’14

’13

$25 RENEWALS NOW WITH AUTOMATIC RENEWAL PROGRAM expires 02/28/15

VOTED BEST ONLINE RENEWAL SERVICE

BY APPOINTMENT

ONLY WWW.TAKECARE420.COM

TEXT OR LEAVE A MESSAGE AT:

$100 $125

855.979.WEED or

(9333)

WILL MATCH ANY LOCAL CLINIC PRICE WITH COPY OF THEIR AD THAT IS CA MEDICAL BOARD STANDARDS COMPLIANT GET APPROVED OR NO CHARGE! 24/7 Verifications! HIPAA Compliant 100% Doctor/Patient Confidentiality

916.572.5215

DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO

2015 Q Street, 95811 • (916) 476-6142

OPEN MON-SAT 11AM-6PM

Get Your Recommendation!

North Of Hwy 50 @ Bradshaw & Folsom Blvd RENEWALS

40 $50

Photo ID Available for $15

$

OPEN Monday through Saturday 11am to 6pm • CLOSED SUNDAY valid through 03/15/15

ONLY AT

CC101

W/ COUPON EXP. 2/18/15 SNR

- Mon-Sat 10am-6pm

NEW PATIENT

Sun 11am-5pm - Physician Evaluations

W/ COUPON EXP. 2/18/15 SNR

54

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

9719A Folsom Blvd. Sacramento, CA 916-822-5690 • www.cannmedical.org

✪

S Watt Ave

’13

CANN-MEDICAL

BEST FOR PTSD | CHRONIC PAIN | INSOMNIA TEXT CC101 TO 71441 FOR A FREE GIFT ON YOUR NEXT VISIT

- Cultivators Welcome

Routier

’14

HIGHEST THC | HIGHEST CBD

Florin Perkins Rd

50

- Walk-Ins / Appts

Power Inn Rd

Bradshaw

Blvd om s l o F

HIGH TIMES CANNABIS CUP WINNER

- 24/7 Online Verification

CC 101

6435 FLORIN PERKINS ROAD

Elder Creek Rd

SACRAMENTO, CA | 916.387.6233

MON-SAT 10AM TO 9PM | SUN 11AM TO 8PM | www.cc101sac.com

WANT TO START A MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUSINESS? ONLINE VIDEO COURSES AVAILABLE ANYTIME • • • •

Learn how to start a California compliant Collective Cultivation, edibles, exctraction and more Professional cannabis business referrals Networking opportunities with contacts in the industry

free gram with donation of $35 or more

*FREE GRAM IS HOUSE CHOICE.

OFFER NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER OFFERS OR DISCOUNTS EXP 2.28.15

LIVE SEMINAR MARCH 7 & MARCH 8 IN ROSEVILLE SIGN UP ONLINE OR CALL TODAY! www.420college.org | TOLL FREE 855-420-TALK (8255)

TOP-SHELF OUTDOOR: $ 35 PER 1/8TH LIMITED TIME ONLY:

GRAMS @ $5 - $10 1/8 TH @ $25

2416 17TH STREET 916.231.9934 | deltahealthwellness@gmail.com SACRAMENTO, CA 95818 | 9AM-9PM DAILY

LONES C le Now Availab

35

$ 4G 1/8THS starting at $20!

NOW ACCEPTING

NEW PATIENTS

FREE GIF T FOR NEW PATIENTS

OUR M EDICINE IS LAB TESTED

FOR CANNABINOID LEVLES & CONTAMINANTS LIKE MOLD, SOLVENTS, MILDEW & PESTICIDES FOR YOUR SAFETY

E D U CAT E D , E X P E R I E N C E D ,

K O W L E D G E A B L E S TA F F HERBS | CONCENTRATES TOPICALS | EDIBLES | CLONES

Scan to join our club & get a free gift coupon & future savings

TOP SHELF 1/8THS 10 TOP SHELF GRAMS

$

SUNDAY SPECIAL: 4G 1/8THS (ONE PER PATIENT) SELECT GIFTS FOR NEW PATIENTS

•EDIBLES•TINCTURES• •CONCENTRATES•PREROLLS•

FREE SERVICES FOR MEMBERS:

ACCUPRESSURE, YOGA, REIKI, MASSAGE, SOUND THERAPY

VETERAN, SENIOR, ACTIVIST, A.D.A. PATIENT DISCOUNTS

GOLDEN HEALTH & WELLNESS

BEST SELECTION

1030 Joellis Way, Sac

Arden Way

Arden Mall

3015 H Street Sacramento, CA 916.822.4717

HOURS: 9am–9pm everyday

*Doctor’s recommendation & CA I.D. required BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

|

160

916.646.6340

Monday–Saturday 10am–8pm Sunday 10am–6pm

80

Blu

me

Joellis Way

nfe

ld D

r

’14

Ask how to join our Mobile VIP Group. Join & get REWARDED! A RT S & C U LT U R E

|

AFTER

|

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

55

FREE HALF 1/8 WHEN YOU BRING A FRIEND*

TH

VOTED

T S E B

Buy 3 1/8ths get 1 FREE*

GRAM O R P S D R A PATIENT REW

20% off

any edible*

Scan the QR Code to score a freebie from Two Rivers

10% off

any concentrate* *EXP. 2/18/15. CANNOT BE COMBINED W/ ANY OTHER OFFER.

NEW PATIENT SPECIALS & GIFTS!

TWO RIVERS WELLNESS

315 NORTH 10TH STREET SACRAMENTO 916.804.8975 TWORIVERSSAC.COM

1404 28th Street | 916.469.9182 Corner of 28th & N, Midtown Sac Open 10am-9pm 7 days a week www.GreenSolutionsSac.com

/TWORIVERSSAC OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 9am – 9pm

HOUSE OF ORGANICS

420

CANNABIS Thc

EXPERTS Golden-Hero

✂

$5 OFF

ANY WAX* w/ this coupon while supplies last.

✂

$5 OFF

ANY PURCHASE* when you bring a friend *Ask for Details

$35 CAP on all waxes

$10 CAP

|

Ku

Kushy

9/10 Potency

Ps Pinesol

Relaxing Appetite Stress

This classic OG phenotype relaxes the mind & body

6666 Fruitridge Rd, Unit C 916.476.4431 •

www.916THC.com

Open 9:00am to 8:00pm 7 days a week

SN&R | 02.12.15

FREE GRAM WITH ANY DONATION TOWARD AN EIGHTH

Ask to join our mobile VIP club!

S. Watt

Fruitridge

★

Power Inn Rd

56

I

Indica

65th St Expy

*Can’t be combined with other offers. One coupon per person, per day.

Expires 2/18/15.

MONDAY

TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

4 GRAM 3 GRAMS OF FREE HALF 4 GRAM FREE EDIBLE PICK ANY EIGHTHS ON WAX FOR $89 GRAM OF EIGHTHS ON WITH A SPECIAL FROM ALL TIERS KIEF WITH A ALL TIERS DONATION OF THE REST OF DONATION OF $20 OR MORE THE WEEK $20 OR MORE

916-381-3769

8848 Fruitridge Rd. Sacramento

Florin Perkins

SUNDAY

Open 7 days a week 9am-7pm

OU

SE O

F

on all buds

DAILY SPECIALS THAT FIT EVERY PATIENT’S NEEDS!

100% ORGANIC O

RG

ANI

One Minute from the Corner of S.Watt & Fruitridge Road

C

S

6666

Fruitridge

Fruitridge

YOUR SAFE AND NATURAL ALTERNATIVE. ALL OF OUR FLOWERS ARE GROWN USING ONLY ORGANIC METHODS. NO CHEMICALS!

H

*$50 min don. exp. 2/18/15

/TWO_RIVERS

/greensolutions420 /greensolutionsmidtown

How Plentiful Are Pot Patients?

Card-carrying medical cannabis users only a fraction

C

annabis patients may feel a measure of isolation because their medicine, while legal, is not yet mainstream. Neighbors freely mention they’re heading to the pharmacy, but not everyone feels comfortable disclosing they’re going to a dispensary.

So, it’s hard to know just how many people use medical marijuana. Is it a select few, or untold masses?

An indication comes from the California Department of Public Health.

Through its Medical Marijuana Program, the agency issues ID cards for patients and caregivers. Patients can apply for the ID cards in person at county offices.

As of October 2014, CDPH had issued 77,449 cards statewide — including 514 in Sacramento County and 616 in neighboring counties (see chart).

That figure doesn’t include the patients who received a prescription without registering for a formal Medical Marijuana Identification Card, or MMIC. “Oh, there’s so many patients out there,” says Jimmy Hines, manager of Above All Dispensary in Sacramento.

“Maybe half my patients have their cards — that’s just an average guess. But there’s way, way more patients than have cards.”

Coty Connor, front desk manager at Delta Health and Wellness, says he doesn’t come across MMICs at his Sacramento dispensary; patients just come in with prescriptions.

DOCTOR’S ORDERS

• Best Quality • Best Service • Best Prices • • Top of the Line Concentrates •

“I wish they would be more common,” Connor says of MMICs. “Most people actually are afraid to deal with the state — they’d like to keep things as private as they can. I’ve encountered many people who don’t want their name on a state database.”

Perception or reality? The CDPH website, www.cdph.ca.gov, states on the Medical Marijuana Program page that the state computer system does not store personal information about patients, but rather only MMIC numbers and whether each card is currently valid or invalid.

It’s hard to know just how many people use medical marijuana.

CO-OP

NEW PATIENTS RECEIVE A FREE GIFT VIP Text Club Join & get a gift, discounts & more. Text Doctors to 71441 RALEY

b y E va n T u c h i n s k y

1704 MAIN AVE | SACRAMENTO, CA | 916.564.2112

For complete menu & more specials visit

DOCTORSORDERSRX.COM MON-SAT 10AM

TO

9PM | SUN 10AM

TO

6PM

@DOCTORSORDERSRX

MAIN

BELL

CDPH says the MMIC registry provides “verification of qualified patients and their primary caregivers … to possess, grow, transport, and/or use medical marijuana within California.” That’s obviously a help in dealings with law enforcement, but also with collectives and dispensaries.

“A lot of people have their script in their pocket and they try to show me and it’s all messed up from being folded, where the card stays perfect,” Hines says.

“I would say it would be better off to have the card.”

Cannabis Card Count Number of Medical Marijuana Identification Cards issued County 2013-14* Total 514 Sacramento 75 El Dorado 109 345 Placer 22 190 81 Yolo 13 Statewide 8,419 77,449 *July 2013 through October 2014

Source: California Department of Public Health

Capital Cannabis Guide coverage is sponsored by its advertisers. This content was produced by the Custom Publications division of News & Review.

BEFORE

|

NEWS

|

F E AT U R E

STORY

|

A RT S & C U LT U R E

|

AFTER

|

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

57

58

|

SN&R | 02.12.15

by Janelle bitkeR

ARIES (March 21-April 19): I hope you

have someone in your life to whom you can send the following love note, and if you don’t, I trust you will locate that someone no later than August 1: “I love you more than anyone loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I love you in a way that no one loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I love you in a way that I love no one else, and never have loved anyone else, and never will love anyone else.” (This passage is borrowed from author Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Everything Is Illuminated.)

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “We

assume that others show their love in the same way that we do,” writes psychologist Amy Przeworski, “and if they don’t follow that equation, we worry that the love is not there.” I think you’re on track to overcome this fundamental problem, Taurus. Your struggles with intimacy have made you wise enough to surrender your expectations about how others should show you their love. You’re almost ready to let them give you their affection and demonstrate their care for you in ways that come natural to them. In fact, maybe you’re ready right now.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I’d like to

bestow a blessing on you and your closest ally. My hope is that it will help you reduce the restlessness that on occasion undermines the dynamism of your relationship.

Here’s the benediction, inspired by a Robert Bly poem: As you sit or walk or lie next to each other, you share a mood of glad acceptance. You aren’t itchy or fidgeting, wondering if there’s something better to be or do. You don’t wish you were talking about a different subject or feeling a different emotion or living in a different world. You are content to be exactly who you are, exactly where you are.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Want to

infuse your romantic interludes with wilder moods now and then? Want to cultivate a kind of intimacy that taps deeper into your animal intelligence? If so, try acting out each other’s dreams or drawing magic symbols on each other’s bodies.

Whisper funny secrets into each other’s ears or wrestle like good-natured drunks on the living room floor. Howl like coyotes.

Caw like crows. Purr like cheetahs. Sing boisterous songs and recite feral poetry to each other. Murmur this riff, adapted from Pablo Neruda: “Our love was born in the wind, in the night, in the earth. That’s why the clay and the flower, the mud and the roots know our names.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Is there any sense

in which your closest alliance is a gift to the world? Does your relationship inspire anyone? Do the two of you serve as activators and energizers, igniting fires in the imaginations of those whose lives you touch? If not, find out why. And if you are tapping into those potentials, it’s time to raise your impact to the next level.

Together the two of you now have extra power to synergize your collaboration in such a way that it sends out ripples of benevolence everywhere you go.

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

Rainer Marie Rilke said that people misunderstand the role of love. “They have made it into play and pleasure because they think that play and pleasure are more blissful than work,” he wrote. “But there is nothing happier than work. And love, precisely because it is the supreme happiness, can be nothing other than work.” I’m sharing this perspective with you for two reasons, Virgo. First, of all the signs in the zodiac, you’re most likely to thrive on his approach. Second, you’re in a phase of your astrological cycle when this capacity of yours is at a peak. Here’s how Rilke finished his thought: “Lovers should act as if they had a great work to accomplish.”

bRezsny

from Sappho that might come in handy when you need to express your torrid feelings: 1. “This randy madness I joyfully proclaim.” 2. “Eros makes me shiver again … snake-sly, invincible.” 3. “Desire has shaken my mind as wind in the mountain forests roars through trees.” (Translations by Guy Davenport.)

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the TV

science-fiction show Doctor Who, the title character lives in a time machine that is also a spaceship. It’s called a Tardis.

From the outside, it appears to be barely bigger than a phone booth. But once you venture inside, you find it’s a spacious chateau with numerous rooms, including a greenhouse, library, observatory, swimming pool and karaoke bar. This is an excellent metaphor for you, Scorpio.

Anyone who wants your love or friendship must realize how much you resemble a Tardis. If they don’t understand that you’re far bigger on the inside than you seem on the outside, it’s unlikely the two of you can have a productive relationship.

This Valentine season, as a public service, make sure that everyone you’re seriously involved with knows this fact.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Love and intimacy come in many forms.

There are at least a billion different ways for you to be attracted to another person, and a trillion different ways to structure your relationship. Maybe your unique bond involves having sex, or maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it’s romantic or friendly or holy, or all three of those things. Do the two of you have something important to create together, or is your connection more about fueling each other’s talents?

Your task is to respect and revere the idiosyncratic ways you fit together, not force yourselves to conform to a prototype. To celebrate the Valentine season, I invite you and your closest ally to play around with these fun ideas.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

Anais Nin wrote the following passage in her novel A Spy in the House of Love: “As other girls prayed for handsomeness in a lover, or for wealth, or for power, or for poetry, she had prayed fervently: let him be kind.” I recommend that approach for you right now, Capricorn. A quest for tender, compassionate attention doesn’t always have to be at the top of your list of needs, but I think it should be for now. You will derive a surprisingly potent alchemical boost from basking in kindness. It will catalyze a breakthrough that can’t be unleashed in any other way. Ask for it!

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

many desires do you have? Take a rough inventory. Identify the experiences you continually seek in your quest to feel relief and pleasure and salvation and love and a sense of meaning. You can also include fantasies that go unfulfilled and dreams that may or may not come true in the future. As you survey this lively array, don’t censor yourself or feel any guilt. Simply give yourself to a sumptuous meditation on all the longings that fuel your journey.

This is your prescription for the coming week. In ways you may not yet be able to imagine, it is the medicine you need most.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The

German word Nachkussen refers to the kind of kiss that compensates for all the kissing that has not been happening, all the kissing that has been omitted or lost. If it has been too long since you’ve kissed anyone, you need Nachkussen. If your lover hasn’t kissed you lately with the focused verve you long for, you need Nachkussen. If you yourself have been neglecting to employ your full artistry and passion as you bestow your kisses, you need Nachkussen. From what I can tell, Pisces, this Valentine season is a full-on Nachkussen holiday for you. Now please go get what you haven’t been getting.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): About 2,600

years ago, the Greek poet Sappho wrote the following declaration: “You make me hot.” In the next ten days, I’d love for you to feel motivated to say or think that on a regular basis. In fact, I predict that you will. The astrological omens suggest you’re in a phase when you are both more likely to be made hot and more likely to encounter phenomena that make you hot. Here are some other fragments

BEFORE

|

NEWS

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 Mobbment (left to right): Cedric Corner, Bentley Shine and Luis Mendez.

Kick, push Kicked out of the house at age 14, Bentley Shine only had his clothes and his skateboard to turn his life around. “I’ve had to skate away from gunshots. I’ve had to skate myself to the hospital with stab wounds,” the 21-year-old says.

“I guess I’ve made it—I don’t get shot at anymore.” In other words, he needed to learn to skate fast.

Now, along with 19-year-old Luis Mendez and 21-year-old Cedric Corner, Shine is “skateboarding to save lives” as part of the Mobbment.

Shortened to MBMT, it stands for “Making Beautiful Moves Together,” and the crew has been making moves since the end of 2013. What does “skateboarding to save lives” actually look like? It takes the form of racing through town delivering socks and shoes to the homeless.

Or skating from Sacramento to Vallejo on an awareness campaign for breast cancer, or to Chico on a campaign for foster kids. Their next big goal? Skate from Los Angeles to Sacramento, nonstop, and break the Guinness world record for longest skateboard ride in 24 hours.

That record is currently set at 195 miles. The Mobbment thinks they’ll easily do 300 on day one—and the calendar is marked for April 19.

Shine hopped off his board to chat with SN&R about the Mobbment’s crazy plans, injuries and Segways.

What are the rules with this world record?

Can you stop to eat?

Use the bathroom?

We’re not too sure about how Guinness goes about the record, but the way we’ve been doing it that there is no stopping. If you want some water, stand on your board and drink some water. It’s because we’re all about speed—let’s not stop, let’s get there. Besides, after a couple hours of skating, doing the same thing and looking at the same two faces, you get irritated.

You do not like who’s near you or how they skate. We just try to get it done. And I would hate to sleep in the cold in the middle of nowhere.

You don’t sleep? You’ll be skating two days, and no sleep?

Oh, no. (Laughs.) We were up four days straight before Chico. We were just so excited—we couldn’t.

So this Los Angeles to Sacramento journey— what’s your route?

Going coastal?

I wanna take the 5 and skate through the Grapevine—that’s something I’ve wanted to do since I got my first skateboard at 6 years old. But the way things sound, with

|

A RT S & C U LT U R E

the speed of the cars, if we can’t get that freeway blocked off I think we’ll have to find another way around it. But I might just go crazy and skate the Grapevine anyway.

That sounds really dangerous. You get injured much?

Oh, yeah. You want a list? Back when I used to be a trick skater, I broke my ankle and shattered it. There was nothing connecting my ankle to the rest of my leg. It was literally just dangling. There are these two metal rods holding my ankle together. Both of my knees are shattered—there are little pieces of my knee inside my knee running around everywhere. Every other day, I either hit my knee on a table or fall somewhere, and just one little fall and I could be done skating for good. A doctor told me if I take one more bad fall, I probably won’t ever be able to walk again.

That is terrifying. Have you ever recorded how fast you can go?

Not really. We’ll be skating and someone will be driving a car and be like, “Hey, you’re skating 40 miles per hour right now.” And then we’ll say, “Oh great,” and shoot up faster than the car. I can cruise at least 30 miles per hour. You see those people on the bike trail, with $1,000 bikes and all that gear and sponsors on their jacket? We can skate in front them for an hour and a half. Easy. Without getting tired.

|

AFTER

|

PHOTO by evan duran

by ROb

For the week of February 12, 2015

Define “to mobb.”

Mobbing consists of skating for 20-plus hours, breaking your legs, running your face into the concrete at 30 miles per hour. But also, mobbing means skating as fast as you can with whatever you have for someone else. That’s what it means to us. A lot of different mobs are out there—you’ve got the Italian mob, Russian mob—but this mob means that. If we gotta help somebody, we’re gonna mob as fast we can to get there.

Least favorite form of transportation?

Anything with wheels besides a skateboard.

If I could skateboard all over this world, if there was no water, I would never get in a car. You get to see more. Most people drive to go sightseeing, you have to stop, get out of your car, take a couple pictures.

I’d rather skate and look at everything.

Alright, so nothing enclosed—no trains, no planes. What about Segways?

(Laughs and shakes head.) I feel like those things are freaks of nature. How does it keep your balance? They’re scary, man. It’s probably because I’ve never been on one before, but they’re just so weird to me. It’s like a flying car. Ω Learn more about the Mobbment at www.facebook.com/LiveToMobb.

02.12.15

|

SN&R

|

59

STRINGENTLY

SAFEST MEDS IN TOWN

LL

PR

ODUCT TE ST

E

Since

D

A

TESTED

Trusted

Best Quality W

5TH ANNIVERSARY

C

E

BU

Y

IT

H CO NFIDE

N

2010

NOT ALL CONCENTRATES ARE CREATED EQUAL concentrates have been found to contain high levels of toxic solvents left over from the manufacturing process.

ALL OUR CONCENTRATES ARE TESTED SAFE RCP is the only dispensary that tests 100% of the concentrates that we sell to ensure your medicine is safe.

ONLY THE BEST PASSES THE TEST! Why we test.

What we test.

Our tested products provide patients with the information needed to make an intelligent and

• To ensure patients are not ingesting harmful molds, bacteria, pesticides or solvents.

safe choice when selecting medical marijuana.

We test for: • Potency (THC, CBD and CBN) • Fungus • Bacteria • Mold • Pesticides • Residual solvents

• To provide potency and cannabinoid information to help patients make informed decisions.

• To enable dispensaries to make informed recommendations to patients.

• Provide a new level of safety and compliance with impending state regulations.

Tested Cannabis is your best assurance that you know exactly what

OPEN 9AM -9PM EVERY DAY 1508 EAST EL CAMINO AVE. • SACRAMENTO, CA 95815

(916) 925-5696

NOW OFFERING EXPRESS PICK-UP FOR ALL OUR PATIENTS