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NoVEMBER 25, 2015 | Vol. 27, iSSuE 32

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

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Bombs, away The dangerous men (and woman!) vying for the GOP presidential nomination want us to believe that America under President Barack Obama is the ultimate wimp nation.

That, when it comes to the Islamic State, we’re busy zoning out on Netflix and letting ISIS Raqqa the Kasbah.

Not quite.

Let’s talk about bombs. The way Donald Trump and Co. put it, you’d think the Obama administration was dropping Hoverboards from the skies over the Middles East.

Turns out, however, the United States is dumping tens of thousands of bombs on Islamic State strongholds, this according to a report in the Washington Post.

In fact, since the air war kicked off last year, we’ve unloaded more bombs on ISIS than we have in Afghanistan any time during the past five years. By a large margin.

The number of monthly air assaults in Afghanistan since 2010 averages around 170. But when it comes to ISIS, we’ve assaulted the Islamic State on average more than 2,000 times a month since military action commenced.

We’re spending some $10 million every day bombing the Islamic State.

We’ve spent more than $4 billion!

And it’s gotten us nowhere. Just like increased military action will get us nowhere. Bombs, guns and tanks are how we got into this mess—how the Islamic State came about—in the first place.

I don’t always agree with the president, but I’m thankful that he’s living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue—and not the likes of Trump, Ted Cruz and others. Let those war mongers pop off—but keep them out of the White House in 2016.

—nick millEr nic k a m@ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

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“I am grateful for the fact that I am movIng out of Sacramento.”

Asked At s And 19tH streets:

What are you thankful for?

Ale x Ander Hubert intern

I am the most grateful for the people who fight for our country, our soldiers.

My dad is a veteran. Every single day I am thankful for my friends. I grew up on an Air Force base. Some of my friends are currently serving in the military.

There is nothing I am more thankful for than those who protect our country.

tim Grover railroad employee

Through all of the economic turmoil over the last five years, my family has been able to survive and to thrive.

With my work, I get to see a lot of people every day who are down and out and they are just having a rough time in life. I am so thankful my family has been able to make it through.

rocHelle Grover

cArrie Zeble y

housewife

activity assistant

I am grateful for my husband and my family. He has actually been my Prince Charming. He rescued me from a bad situation. He is my knight in shining armor.

We have been together 14 years. I knew right away.

I didn’t see [falling in love] coming; it just happened. We have two children.

I have the best job in the entire universe. I get to escort folks to the garden and share with them.

I laugh with them and cry with them. I am blessed with this job. I absolutely love it. It is really awesome and I got this job through AARP.

dAvid kitcHell artist

I am thankful for friends and family. Without my friends, I probably would be nowhere. Without my family, I probably would question my existence. My friends and family help because they try to keep me going and keep my spirit alive. I have kids, three. I have a son that is 23. I am currently dwelling disabled.

bArbAr A JoHnson eligibility worker

I am grateful for the fact that I am moving out of Sacramento to Fort Bragg.

I am going to a brand new job. I am going to be an eligibility worker. …

No more 100-degree weather and no more dusty Sacramento. I am going home. I grew up in Ukiah. I have friends I never lost touch with.

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A responsible path Re “The right to lose” by Raheem Hosseini (SN&R Feature Story, November 12): Excellent job bringing the most important issue regarding women’s reproductive health to the forefront. I had a similar situation back in 1987 in a state that had the parental-notification law.

I was 16 at the time and living on my own while working part-time at a pizza place. I could barely feed myself, let alone feed another being. I was, at the time, a practicing Catholic. After taking two buses and a train (I couldn’t afford to own a car) I made it to the courthouse. I was alone, as my “boyfriend” (in reality, a chronically jobless 23-year-old who was cheating on me with at least three other girls) wanted to have the baby!

There were five or six other girls, all there for the same reason; each one had someone to support them, which highlighted my feelings of isolation. Now, almost 30 years later, I have never once regretted my decision. I have always been able to support myself financially, I am at peace on a spiritual and religious level and I sleep well at night knowing that I chose the responsible path in life.

L.C. An t e l o p e

Re “Metal heads” by Jason Smith (SN&R News, November 19): While it is bad that this case was botched, I applaud the Sacramento Police Department for trying. I hate the fact that almost every single property crime in this city goes without investigation and punishment.

The metal thefts (whether catconverters or manhole covers) may have a low value in terms of what is stolen, but the replacement cost for the victims in lost time and money is much higher.

These types of thefts will cease if the shady metal-recycling business stops creating demand for them. While Brown may have “lost everything” in the case and may be legally innocent, I think it is pretty clear he is factually guilty. So, no sympathy from me and a big thank you to Sac PD. Bill Bixby Gold River

ONLINE BUZZ

On SAcrAmenTO cOunTy Sheriff ScOTT JOneS’ biD fOr cOngreSS AnD hiS cAmPAign PrOmiSe Of clOSing DOwn The bOrDer: Love this guy. He is so insightful. I bet he loves his pension, his license to kill with impunity, his absolute disregard for transparency, his control over others lives, his lack of critical thought for creative solutions to complicated problems, and most importantly, his political asperations, because we all know that power corrupts, but without a mirror, what do u see?

Thats right. Not the footprint of percieved justice, just a wasteland of criminals and potential criminals. Is anyone else sick of cowboys and their small minded knee jerk reactionary policies?

FrAnCo LeopoLd v ia Fa c e b o o k This obsession with the border lately is mind boggling.

which border? with Yolo? or Placer? hehe... so crazy...

Tim WhiTe v ia Fa c e b o o k of all the issues facing our nation and our state ... really? this is #1?

STeve hALL v ia Fa c e b o o k Oh yea, open boarders work great! Thats why so many countries do it. Its working out great fro Europe, what could possibly go wrong?

JAred LAChApeLLe v ia Fa c e b o o k

@SacNewsReview

Facebook.com/ SacNewsReview

@SacNewsReview

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

phiL ThieLen Jr. v ia Fa c e b o o k

11.25.15 | SN&R | 5

Photos of groceries and meals from our writer’s food-stamp challenge.

Our writer dishes data and diary notes on his food-stamp challenge and hunger in Sacramento story and photos by Nick Miller

A week ago, I joined the 246,334 other Sacramentans living on CalFresh, a.k.a. food stamps. My decision to survive on a grocery budget of $5 a day for 10 days was a personal choice. Most people don’t have that option: They’re broke, or close to it, sometimes elderly living off Social Security, sometimes recently unemployed, turning a few $20 bills into a month’s worth of sustenance.

In fact, a few readers who emailed me after learning about my so-called “foodstamp challenge” in last week’s paper mocked this “game” of living on food stamps.

“Eat on $5 a day for 10 days? A ‘challenge?’” wrote “Bill,” on the first day of the food-stamp journey.

Bill, not his actual name, says he’s been living on $1,000 a month Social Security for two years. He pays $500 for 6 | SN&R | 11.25.15

rent, $250 for Medicare premiums, $30 on prescription meds and about $7 a day for everything else. “But know what? I’m doing just fine! I’m certainly not starving,” he wrote.

He says his secret is that he shops at less-popular markets, such as the La Superior chain, where he can get deals, like a pound of chicken drumsticks for 89 cents, or two pounds of onions for 99 cents. Or, amazingly, 10 pounds of potatoes for $1.29. He makes simple recipes from scratch—and he actually attached what amounts to small recipe books for his signature soups and salads (think a “Power Kraut” saurkraut).

Bill thinks a big problem with people spending too much on food is that they don’t know how to cook for themselves.

And “the screwed up attitudes about food that makes people want to pay more for

nic k a m@ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

a less healthy diet,” such as farm-to-fork entrees at central-city restaurants that are high in sodium and fat.

Affordability and nutrition is indeed a critical issue: Most low-income Sacramentans can’t afford a healthy diet.

As one follower on Twitter wrote: “Its ridiculous how #healthy foods costs more.

Kind of like you must be rich to have #healthyliving.”

A breakfast staple during my foodstamp challenge was sauteed kale and scrambled eggs, because it’s got greens and is high in protein. Organic, local kale is typically $1.99 a bunch, if it’s on sale, and that’ll last three breakfasts. Maybe.

Spinach is usually a little more affordable.

Farmers markets, such as the Saturday one in Midtown and the Sunday one downtown, accept food-stamp EBT cards and will even match purchases dollar-for-dollar

up to a certain amount. But in general, organic produce is not reasonably priced for low-income shoppers.

And even eggs are not cheap. At Midtown’s Grocery Outlet, where I shopped while simulating life on food stamps and which accepts CalFresh EBT payments, the business model is to buy overstock from manufacturers, stuff that companies made too much of, like Prego spaghetti sauce and Hamburger Helper.

They say they purchase it for cheap and, in theory, pass on the savings to consumers.

They also offer stuff like produce and dairy at a just-under market-rate price. Eggs were $2.69 a dozen.

That doesn’t seem like much. But when a box of macaroni and cheese is 50 cents, and Annie’s rabbit-shaped crackers are 99 cents—you get the point: Why cook when pre-fab meals are a fraction of the cost?

And then there’s fast food.

On the sixth day of my food-stamp challenge, I found myself at a McDonald’s drive-thru for the first time in more than a decade. Most of you probably know the Golden Arches has a “Dollar Menu” (nothing on it is actually $1). My point is

beatS

FiGhTinG The Plan that, when you’re working poor and living on CalFresh supplemental income, $1.79 for a double cheeseburger (which I ordered) won’t bust the bank, fills you up and is of supreme convenience.

Besides the stigma of being on government assistance, fast food is one of the biggest obstacles to getting people to sign up for CalFresh. It’s just cheaper. But science-food burgers aren’t healthier, and Sacramento County’s working to up its nutritional-outreach game in low-income communities.

Registering for food stamps takes about an hour online, and you can obtain an EBT card for purchases that day—if you have Internet access and are savvy with digital copies of your pay stubs, etc. If you’re not that person, it’ll take a lot longer—and that might mean hours seated in a county waiting room.

Nevertheless, Sacramento County does a better job than most in the state when it comes to enrolling eligible residents for CalFresh. According to a 2013 report by California Food Policy Advocates, the county ranked fourth in California when it comes to CalFresh utilization by low-income individuals (trailing only Del Norte, Calaveras and San Bernardino).

That’s tremendous news, considering that just five years ago, in 2010, California ranked dead last in the entire country when it came to federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation, at 55 percent. (That number inched up to 63 percent in 2012.)

The state’s abysmal ranking motivated politicians, however, who tweaked laws and eased red tape, and now food-stamp enrollment numbers are up (still waiting on the return of the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture data).

The renewed focus on enrollment is, of course, economically driven. When Sacramento County bumped up its numbers, the net impact was an additional $25.9 million to local residents—with an additional $46.4 million in economic benefit to the region, according to CFPA. SNAP’s multiplier effect is impressive, too, as every dollar in benefits equals $1.80 in economic activity, according to the USDA. If California increases its participation rate and enrolls everyone, the estimated economic impact would be $8.3 billion a year.

Instead, the state loses out on $4.7 billion in federal funds.

Sacramento County is succeeding food-stamp budget. She even cited a because of increased community outreach Facebook post from Rep. Doris Matsui, and guaranteed 30-day application when she did the food-stamp challenge processing, plus expedited services, in 2012, during which the congressaccording to a spokeswoman. And now woman joked how miserable she was some felons and students are allowed to because of her sandwich’s wilted lettuce participate, too. The county also provides and dry bread. a translator for the application process if Regina says she lives on $100 a month needed. for food and gas, and doesn’t qualify for Still, there remain the requisite, CalFresh. When she goes shopping, she GOP-driven questions about trafficking says she only brings a $20 bill (“or $15 benefits, or trading them for guns and drugs, for long months”) and no other form of or double-dipping. payment, so that she won’t go over Despite the success, there budget. “Meat, a variety of are a lot of enrollment fresh fruit and vegetables challenges, according (especially in winter), to the county. The healthier oils (like elderly, or indiolive oil), eggs viduals living and dairy are If California increases its with others, luxuries I can food-stamps participation are difficult to rarely afford,” register. Same she wrote. rate and enrolls everyone, the for people that She says estimated economic impact would have jobs and that, when she be $8.3 billion a year. Instead, the are above the sees sale items poverty level, on things like state loses out on $4.7 billion in but would still mac ’n’ cheese, federal funds. qualify for lower she’ll buy them, but monthly benefits. prepare them with Legal-resident water instead of butter noncitizens also are tough and milk. It tastes better to enroll. than plain pasta, she says, but The Sacramento household of one she can’t afford to make sauces. receives a maximum of $194 a month, and a She also says she has ended up skipping household of four a $649 max. meals “because the only thing in the house During my food-stamp challenge, was the bounty of the previous week’s I posted updates, facts and photos of shopping trip. groceries and meals on my Twitter “And it was not much.” account (@NickMiller916). It’s It’s difficult to reconcile this reality— the Internet, and, of course, a few again, more than 240,000 Sacramentans commenters dismissed those on assistance survive on food stamps, which is only a as fraudsters, “welfare queens” and fraction of those who are food insecure. “people who don’t want to work.”

Sacramento is a world of Instagram According to the USDA, however, foodie pics and local celebrity chefs. only 20 percent of food-stamp recipients A region that often defines itself by its don’t work—because they are disabled restaurant scene and culinary bounty, that or elderly—and more than 80 percent farm-to-fork spirit that makes us “world worked in the year leading up to going on class,” that decorates nearly every block assistance. And, according to the Center in our urban core. on Budget and Policy Priorities, the SNAP I’ve walked the city streets this past “error rate,” a.k.a. fraud, is just 3 percent. week, tempted by that world, but knowing Few cheat the system.

I can’t be part of it. When my “challenge” A few also accused me of cheating on ends on Thanksgiving, I’ll be back—but my challenge during the past week. On hundreds of thousands of my neighbors day four, for instance, I received an email and fellow Sacramentans won’t. And comment from a reader who I will refer that’s not right. to as “Regina”: “You invited us to watch My food-stamp-challenge lesson: Food what you are doing for your challenge inequality keeps growing, and I challenge on Twitter and frankly—YOU ARE Sacramento to do more about it in the CHEATING!” coming year. Ω Regina wrote that she was offended by joking about eating co-workers’ potluck snacks and not counting it toward my

A group is suing the city of Sacramento to stop its long-range development master plan from going into effect.

The lawsuit was filed April 1 in Sacramento Superior Court by a group called Citizens for Positive Growth and Preservation. It’s seeking an injunction against the 2035 General Plan on the grounds that it contains “myriad substantive and procedural violations” of the California Environmental Quality Act. The general plan anticipates future development based on anticipated needs and resources. Once adopted, all land use decisions must be consistent with its guidelines.

Not much information was available about the group behind the suit. Brown Rudnick LLP, whose Irvine-based office represents the plaintiffs, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

“I have not heard anything about it, which is a bit unusual,” said Ron Maertz, land use committee co-chair for the Environmental Council of Sacramento.

Others hadn’t heard of Citizens of Positive Growth and Preservation. “It sounds like something that was made up for this suit,” said Preservation Sacramento President William Burg.

The case has been delayed over disputes about the city’s administrative record and environmental impact report concerning the general plan. On October 16, attorney Geoffrey Willis of Brown Rudnick LLP accused the city in an email of “improper attempts to delete, separate, and change documents in a way that materially impacts the integrity of those documents.”

Attorneys representing the city said in court filings that Willis’ accusations lack merit and legal standing and were raised to stall the case. An oft-postponed hearing, set for December 11, could determine which record the court certifies.

Jeff Heeren of the City Attorney’s Office defended the city council’s March 3 adoption of the plan. The council last week allocated $325,000 to the law firm helping with its defense, Stoel Rives LLP. The new general plan remains in effect pending the suit’s outcome. (Graham Womack)

DRivinG bliGhT A new ordinance adopted by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will require local businesses to keep tabs on their shopping carts or face harsh penalties.

The county says that abandoned carts—which it calls a “nuisance” and a “blight”—are currently retrieved by a contractor, costing taxpayers approximately $12,000 per year.

County spokeswoman Chris Andis stressed that the ordinance is only intended to cut down on the number of carts left in ditches and roadways, and won’t target homeless individuals who use them to store and move their belongings. “We are already retrieving abandoned carts and have been for quite some time,” she said.

“This ordinance does not apply to people using carts to carry their belongings; it has to do with empty, abandoned carts left around the county. We are not going to be addressing people who use the carts for belongings.”

Darryl Rutherford, the executive director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance, a nonprofit coalition that advocates for the homeless, was unaware of the ordinance, but said that indirect barriers are becoming increasingly common for homeless residents.

“There have been a lot of proposed ordinances and regulations lately that are really targeting those who are experiencing homelessness. … Targeting one specific population without explicitly saying so,” Rutherford said, calling out Regional Transit’s recent failed attempt to ban RT riders for “noxious odors.”

“Instead of looking to further criminalize homelessness, they need to look for solutions,” he added. (Barbara Harvey)

11.25.15 | SN&R | 7

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Sacramento City Unified School District. He As Thanksgiving draws families together says roughly a third of the city’s public schools from across the nation to feast on turkey have vegetable patches and fruit trees on the and pumpkin pie, it turns out students in premises. The students work in these gardens Sacramento’s public school system have already and learn the art of growing food. While been eating about as well as anybody else. produce grown here is eaten, it doesn’t wind up Schools, prompted by federal regulations in school meals. and student demand, are serving better and “Sometimes the kids go home with a brown more nutritious food than they have in decades, paper bag full of zucchini and tomatoes, but according to Brenda Padilla, nutrition services it’s not enough quantity to take to scale, at least director at Sacramento City Unified School not at this point,” Ross said. He says the garden District. program is aimed at educating kids on how to She says the 47,000 children in the city’s make healthy choices and hopefully sample school system are making their own salads, foods they wouldn’t have tried before. sampling new fruits and vegetables every week, While Sacramento’s students seem to be eating brown rice instead of white and opting for embracing more healthful foods, children vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free meals. nationwide may not be.

“I think the kids have become a lot Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, more sophisticated in what they an associate professor of human want to eat in my years doing development and social this,” said Padilla, who began policy at Northwestern working in the district nearly “Participation University in Illinois, has 30 years ago. in the school meals spent years studying the The improved eating effects of school meal patterns of school children program has declined.” programs on children’s probably stems in part Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach health. She says that the from changing preferences. professor, Northwestern implementation of the However, federal law has University Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids actually mandated that Act seems to have turned students be offered better food. many children away from The Healthy, Hunger-Free school meals.

Kids Act, passed in 2010, says that “Participation in the school meals children in American schools are served program has declined,” she said, referring to minimum amounts of fresh greens and produce, the five years since the act took effect. legumes and whole grains while eating less Most Americans are currently overweight, sodium and trans fats. with a third of the country’s population The law says a half-cup of veggies and fruit clinically qualifying as obese. That obesity rate is the minimum a child may have per meal, stands for children, too, and Schanzenbach says though Padilla says there is rarely a problem that school lunch programs in the past seemed to coaxing kids to serve themselves plenty of be contributing to obesity in children. produce and she says she has had to boost her Though California’s children are on average orders for produce to keep the buffet troughs full. thinner than those in much of the Midwest, At local high schools, in fact, students health officials have said that nationwide, unless even objected recently to the meager rations of eating patterns improve, America’s children veggies at the breakfast hour, Padilla says. could become the first generation to live shorter “The kids wanted more vegetarian items in lives than their parents. the morning, so we started offering yogurt and SCUSD has yet to build a central kitchen to a build-your-own burrito bar,” she said. On the streamline healthier foods, but, for now, seems other hand, she notes, barbecue lunch days are to be on a path toward improvement. still a big hit.

“In my first years doing this, I can’t rememSchool gardening programs are helpber seeing a fresh fruit or vegetable here,” said ing change the way kids eat, according to Padilla, recalling the 1980s. Ω Gabe Ross, chief of communications for the

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11.25.15 | SN&R | 9

Members of the restaurant industry (left to right) Ramon Perez, Kaila Wide, Brock MacDonald, Tyler Bond and Paul Rodriguez in their natural habitat: chaos.

10 | SN&R | 11.25.15

photo by darin smith

F o r g e t S . F . a n d i t S M i c h e l i n S ta r S : S ac r a M e n t o ’ S c h e F S S u c c e e d by g o i n g r o g u e

a

by Janelle Bitker ja n e l l e b @ n e w s r e v i e w.c o m

paper plate soars across the room, hits the floor and falls to the ground. no one seems to notice.

Maybe that’s because it’s loud inside LowBrau.

Really loud. There are also neon lights. A deejay blasting hip-hop. Beer. Beer chugging competitions. More beer. A photographer turned paparazzo treats every single person like an emerging celebrity, his camera flashing everywhere you look. It’s also a Monday night.

Dinner hasn’t even started yet.

It’s the sixth edition of the Freaks of the Industry, a night for the restaurant industry by a few selfdescribed “freak” chefs who love their people and love Sacramento.

Tickets always sell out fast, probably faster than any other local semiregular dinner series. This is Sacramento, straight up. No frills. No tablecloths. No pretension or stuffiness.

Even if Sacramento could get Michelin stars, would the freaks care? Nah. The freaks crave fun, dive bars and camaraderie.

“We’re all super-supportive,” says Tyler Bond, the series’ founder. “That makes it easy for these events to happen. I don’t think you could do these in San Francisco without ego and distrust and flakiness.”

And just because the Freaks’ eight-course dinners don’t carry a Michelin vibe, that doesn’t mean they don’t display Michelin-level talents. Dishes range from solid to exquisite, and somehow tickets don’t exceed $60. The freaks never make money—they want their cooks, servers, dishwashers and bartenders to afford to eat. And the Freaks roster is constantly evolving. More and more chefs want to get involved. Too many, really.

“That’s the point. People just wanna show up and hang out and cook together,” says fellow freak Brock MacDonald. “It doesn’t have to be Food & Wine. This is our Sacramento thing.”

Bond looks anxious. He’s freshly shaven, except for a thick, rectangular goatee. His tall socks are decorated with the American flag and his flat-billed baseball cap is emblazoned with the letter “F,” for Freaks of the Industry.

It’s approximately 5:15 p.m. on an early November night. A Freaks of the Industry dinner is about to begin, but half the seats are still empty. Outside, there’s a crowd of people who want them.

“Everyone’s looking at us like we’re not doing this right,” Bond says, eying the masses on the other side of LowBrau’s doors.

The empty seats belong to special guests: guests who didn’t have to buy tickets, guests who Bond and crew felt needed to eat. Farmers whose products are being showcased, for example. But they’re late, and the show must go on.

“eat, drink, be Freaky”

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11.25.15 | SN&R | 11

“Eat, drink, bE FrEakY”

photos by carl costas

Michael Passmore

Brock MacDonald and Michael Passmore

continued from

The first Freaks dinner went down two years ago at Sunh Fish. There were 70 people in attendance and the goal was simple: get restaurant people to sit down and eat for a change. Instant success.

About 30 chefs have tagged in at some point, including names like Billy Ngo (Kru), Michael Tuohy (Golden 1 Center), Scott Ostrander (Inn at Park Winters), Rachel Kelley (Brasserie Capitale) and Adam Schulze (The Waterboy). Throughout, Bond has been the only constant.

“To me, what Freaks is all about is a group of people doing what they love and a group of people supporting them,” Bond says. “You can’t do this in Oakland. You can’t do this in New York or Miami. Unless you know everybody.

Maybe that’s it, maybe we just know everybody.”

By “we,” Bond means his right-hand man MacDonald. MacDonald remembers eating at the first-ever Freaks. He saw a flier with a bunch of chefs’ names on it and “BYOB” and thought, “Fuck. Yes.” He went, ate, got wasted, had a great time and signed on for round two. He’s been hooked ever since.

Rodney Blackwell and Shock G

Knives, camera, action

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The air inside LowBrau feels thick like butter with giddy anticipation. More and more people are ushered in and the place looks packed. Some pretty big food personalities are in the house: Hank Shaw, the James Beard Award-winning Tyler Bond and Shock G food blogger and author; Rodney Blackwell, the man behind Burger Junkies and the Sacramento Burger Ella Dining Room & Bar, The Kitchen and, Battle; and even Guy Fieri. OK, OK, it was now, Kru, where he operates as “head bitch.” someone dressed up as Guy Fieri.

Or, ahem, chef de cuisine. He’s kind of a Bond dashes around the bar, cupping hippie: not so into labels, addicted to the people’s heads with the palms of his hands. outdoors. Michael Passmore remembers Bond He gently squeezes with affection. MacDonald visiting Passmore Ranch and looking positrails, quietly consulting with freaks and tively fidgety—he needed to go in the water, volunteers. He calls his style “constructively splash around with the fish. And so he did. rude.” Like siblings, or a married couple, they “He’s just a really connected guy— finish each other’s sentences and read each to nature, the ground, the water,” Passmore other’s thoughts. It’s remarkable that the first says. “Tyler would never take credit for pushtime they met was less than two years ago, at ing this—he’s very team oriented—but when I the second Freaks of the Industry dinner. think of Freaks, I think of Tyler.”

“I’m a total silent dad,” MacDonald says.

Bond was raised all over Northern “He’s the mom.”

California, but mostly in Nevada County. He “I’m the mom,” Bond grins. started cooking at age 17, now he’s 34. He “Telling everyone it’s OK.” did stints in Mexico and Alaska, and some “Hugging everyone that’s in the room.” cooking in Kenya and China. He moved from “And I’m like, ‘Sorry, you can’t come in Oakland to Sacramento six years ago to take because you didn’t buy a ticket,’” MacDonald care of his dying grandmother, but there was says. “And then I walk away and he’s like, an added pull.

‘Just go ahead, come on in.’”

“I’m not gonna say I dreamt about it Despite being well known in the industry, because I’ll sound like too much of a hippie, Bond isn’t exactly a household chef name in but I knew I needed to be here,” Bond says.

Sacramento. He doesn’t own his own restauMacDonald, meanwhile, has the word rant. He’s never gotten a splashy photo spread “salumist” on his business card for LowBrau in Sacramento Magazine. But he’s cooked in and Block Butcher Bar. From San Luis some of the best kitchens in town: Enotria, Obispo, he moved to Sacramento when 12 | SN&R | 11.25.15 11

he was 17. His first restaurant gig was at age 13—now at age 30, he’s on restaurant number 29. He’s worked all over town—Tuli Bistro, Spataro, OneSpeed, Bella Bru—but most recently Restaurant Th13teen. There, he started teaching himself how to make sausages and charcuterie using cookbooks and YouTube videos.

“That’s another reason why I love doing Freaks, because I get to cook,” he says.

“Sausage, I love it, but it’s the same thing every day.”

The Digital Underground’s “Freaks of the Industry” blares over LowBrau’s speakers.

How fitting. Then, commotion. Dressed in their black Freaks of the Industry T-shirts and hats, chefs emerge from the kitchen to greet a man wearing sunglasses in the pitch-black night. Everyone stands up, cheers, whips out their phones for photos. It’s Shock G! From Digital Underground! Like the “Freaks of the Industry” song! Now it feels like a Hollywood party: loud, flashy, disorienting.

Bond waves his hands in the air as if to say “Look-at-me-look-at-me-look-at-me,” although sometimes, he’ll just go ahead and say “Look-at-me-look-at-me-look-at-me.”

MacDonald never does the announcements.

He hates public speaking. In elementary school, he used to take failing grades instead of present in front of class.

“Find fucking seats right now,” Bond yells.

Platters of 18-month-old prosciutto and stone-ground mustard grace each table.

MacDonald started curing the Soil Born Farms Guinea hog two years ago. Now, it’s melting on tongues.

Nothing ever goes quite as planned.

Aimal Formoli was supposed to cook this evening but bailed at approximately 9:45 a.m.

During the Freaks’ singular planning meeting, Formoli also didn’t show up and was, therefore, an appropriate target of jokes.

“Aimal will do amuse—minimal effort,” laughed Vinnie Lazzaretto, pasta guru at Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co, at that meeting.

“I’m just gonna do hella lasagna. It’s gonna be hella ugly. Hella lazz-agna.”

They ribbed on each other, on their restaurants, on the Freaks of the Industry.

Nothing was off-limits. Localis Executive Chef Christopher Barnum brought his three young kids, but that didn’t stop the guys from dropping countless F-bombs and even joking about child abuse.

Ramon Perez

Edward Martinez

As soon as Lazzaretto high-fived everyone and left, Bond quipped: “Lazz-agna, who the fuck says that?”

Next up at the dinner, oysters. With his work at Kru, Bond obviously has a way with seafood. Funny enough, he doesn’t even like fish. He blames his parents’ poor cooking, which ruined fish forever.

But Bond does like fermenting things.

These oysters are topped with turnips that have been fermented for six months, plus grilled broccoli and mignonette. They sound weird to some, impossibly trendy to others.

Either way, they’re delicious and briny, with a subtle funk and pleasing bite.

Barnum grabs the microphone to detail his course: chorizo-braised pork belly with chililime salt, fire-roasted octopus and chipotlebutternut squash puree. The family-style platters are gorgeous, the curve of octopus legs matching the swoops of burnt orange sauce underneath. Then, each portion is scooped, plopped and splattered onto individual paper plates. Still, the pork belly is super-crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside, and

Scenes from a recent Freaks of the Industry dinner: seriousness, silliness and pork belly.

sure to convert anyone who complains that pork belly is too fatty. It’s a dish that could easily fit onto a Michelin-starred tasting menu, yet here it’s served with plastic silverware.

Lazz-agna is next, though Lazzeretto merely calls it “lasagna.” It’s also not “hella ugly,” though it’s not exactly sophisticated either. The portion is generous: a massive cube of handmade pasta sheets layered with ricotta and Del Rio squash. Tomato sauce, pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of dark green cilantro pesto top it off. It’s tepid—inexcusable normally—but here, the audience doesn’t care. Seconds get snatched up fast.

“Industry knows what’s up,” Passmore says. “Things aren’t going out how they would at their restaurants, but they’re going out and they’re good.”

The behavior of the chefs and guests alike would not be allowed at their restaurants.

That’s why it’s fun.

Passmore hangs back, drinking a glass of wine and periodically collecting dirty plates from people who seem confused about why they still have dirty plates. His role?

“Working, helping, supervising, making it happen,” he says. “It’s hard because the team is a bunch of captains. They need someone picking up the details.”

One of those captains is 20-year-old Elijah Flores Arizmendi. One by one, he stacks five massive hotel pans full of hot food onto a table. He’ll embark on plating 130 editions of his seven-component dish: 72-hour braised short rib, forbidden rice, romesco, fried sunchoke, pickled red onion, cilantro, flake salt. Clearly, he requires more hands—seven more pairs, to be exact. And somehow, it manages to look elegant on a paper plate— a palette of colors, with swaths of bright red, green, pink and black.

With a poke of a plastic fork, the perfect rectangle of short rib promptly falls apart.

Wonderful.

It’s Arizmendi’s first Freaks event, and he brought a 10-person fan club: his mom, stepdad, cousins, friends. Some drove from Santa Rosa. He drove all the way from Las Vegas, where he’s sous chef at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago.

“My son is not a freak, OK?” his mom says, laughing before kissing Arizmendi’s forehead for a photo op. The family misses him, especially because he used to cook Thanksgiving dinner.

Despite mom’s words, Arizmendi fits the freak descriptor. He worked for MacDonald when he was 13 at Tuli Bistro, then he snagged a gig at Tyler Florence’s Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco. Legend goes, the executive chef at Spago recruited him immediately after eating a meal at Wayfare. At age 20. Legend also goes that he packed 140 plates for Freaks and broke 55 of them during his drive to Sacramento.

“It’s stIll an underground, IllegItImate, wannabe busIness. eventually, It wIll turn Into somethIng.” Tyler Bond founder, Freaks of the Industry

Meanwhile, Bond continues to play host.

At the bar, he wraps photographer Rachel Valley into a fat embrace. She’s photographed two Freaks dinners before—for no money, just like the chefs and everyone else involved—but tonight she’s just here for the party. How’d she enter the Freaks’ orbit in general? How’d she like shooting Freaks events last year?

“We were all soaked in Fernet so it’s hard to recall exactly,” she says, joking-not-joking.

And does it bother her that there’s rarely a woman in the kitchen? That the environment is so wild, the language so crude?

“It’s boys being boys,” she says. “You know the ride, so get on and strap in.”

Modern freak show

Shock G crosses the room with his entourage and automatically gets a standing ovation, a big fat thank you for his mere mortal presence. It seems like the water jug is constantly getting refilled—people are finally catching up on their hydration. They’re also dancing in their seats. “Boyz-n-the-Hood” comes on and LowBrau owner Michael Hargis jumps on top of the bench, bouncing to the beat and proving he knows all the words. With the flick of his wrist, he yells, “Get the fuck out!” with glee.

Hargis, who closed LowBrau for several hours for this event and worked a connection to get Shock G in the house, will later call the evening “incredible,” driving home the perfect combo of “food, fun, community, music.”

This, coming from the guy who co-founded TBD Fest.

Back on the mic, Paul Rodriguez makes an announcement. Underneath a shiny green Mexican fighter mask, he explains his two courses: green mole and horchata-as-palate-cleanser.

The slow-burning mole blankets ubertender braised lamb shoulder. Below, the Fish Face Poke Bar chef collected a whopping eight varieties of rice from the Central Valley.

Leftover morsels are scooped up with bare hands, lunged at before volunteers dare take them away. The air feels primal, just in time for dessert.

“Eat, drink, bE FrEakY”

Bond and MacDonald look like kids caught eating too much candy. They giggle and flee, or offer a quick excuse for a not-problem.

“Controlled chaos,” Bond says, grinning ear to ear, before growing concerned. “How are you? Are you OK? Is everything OK?” Mom. Chill.

He’s the same with his chef-patriates, too.

He grabs Rodriguez’s cheeks in both hands and brings them closer to his face. “You OK? You happy?” Rodriguez nods before receiving a quick hug and pat on the back. Go team.

The first dessert belongs to Ed Martinez, the former Fresno gang member turned pastry star. These days, he’s gearing up to open a hotly anticipated restaurant in San Francisco, which means he has no kitchen. Instead, Barnum let Martinez use Localis to prep that morning. But Localis lacked some equipment Martinez had planned to utilize, so he issues a formal apology to the rowdy crowd.

“I wish I had more time to work on the dish and make it better for you guys,” he says.

If he hadn’t said anything, no one would have wondered what was missing. Brandycolored pears sit next to scoops of lime-tinted ice cream, lily pad-looking nasturtium leaves and orange blossoms. The pears were roasted in chartreuse—a commonly loved beverage of cooks—to match the chartreuse-flavored ice cream. There’s a soft lime-pear gelee, a subtle butter crumble. Multiple colors, textures, temperatures, yet it wasn’t enough. Martinez wanted to craft a chartreuse-pear sponge, for example, and a crisp coconut paper. Why care so much about a dinner in a city he no longer lives in?

“Honestly, I consider Sacramento my home,” he says. “The chance to work with chefs who are making things happen in Sacramento is worth it. I’ll give up my weekend, no problem.”

Martinez met Bond when they both worked at Enotria. He was actually scheduled to cook at the first-ever Freaks event, but he got whisked away by Tyler Florence’s team to work at El Paseo, a Michelin-approved fine dining establishment in Mill Valley. Then he worked at the Michelin two-star Guy Savoy in Las Vegas. No chance to participate in Freaks, until recently, and he couldn’t be more pleased about it.

The seventh course gets taken away, and there’s an obvious, awkward lull. It becomes obvious that quite a few folks have left early—the chaotic environment can’t impress everyone. The last course belongs to Ramon Perez, but where is he?

“He’s getting his ass kicked right now because he decided to do 16 components,” Bond says.

Ah. It takes Perez a whole hour to plate his masterpiece. That’s in part because of the

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11.25.15 | SN&R | 13

Santa Crawl SATURDAY

DECEMBER

JOIN US

1:00 PM

for drinks, Santas, friends & fun!

More details to come!

14

|

SN&R | 11.25.15

“Eat, drink, bE FrEakY”

elements. Instead of plating family-style like Martinez, Perez opts for elaborately decorating 130 white ceramic tiles. So, he spreads them out onto LowBrau’s outdoor patio tables for optimal space. Then, it starts raining.

continued from p ag e

MacDonald calls Perez “Diamond in the Rough” and “Rio Linda Royalty.” The latter because Perez’s Puur Chocolat is more or less headquartered in Rio Linda. Puur Chocolat produces incredible boxes of chocolates with exotic flavors inspired by Perez’s frequent travels: gochujang-miso, eucalyptus-lemon, banana-rum with cubeb pepper. As for “Diamond” and “Royalty,” it’s obvious with a glance of Perez’s lengthy resume.

He earned the executive pastry chef title of the David Myers’ Restaurant Group in Los Angeles, which included the Michelin-starred Sona. He won a StarChefs.com International Pastry Competition; runner-up for a James Beard Award for outstanding pastry chef. Or in MacDonald’s words: “He did chocolates for LeBron’s party.” As in, LeBron James.

Yet, here he is, rushing to dry off tiles and move them to the back of Block Butcher Bar. Right next to the bathroom line. Completely covering every possible surface in Block’s butcher box.

“It’s just something completely different from your every day,” Perez says. Indeed, his average day is spent alone, enrobing chocolates and shipping out caramels. “You’re getting eight crazy guys just geeking out about food.”

All hands are on deck to plate the grand finale: small mounds of 70 percent chocolate ganache; a pile of green crumbles made from

dehydrated matcha cake; a single swirl of ketjap manis, a syrupy sweet soy sauce from Indonesia; a perfectly oval scoop of tobacco ice cream; three small chewy golden masses of candied eggplant. And more.

Each tile is an intricate work of perfectly duplicated art: an experiment in heights and textures and arrangement and colors and contrasts. The cold ice cream tastes like warmth. The eggplant starts out intensely sweet and finishes creamy, savory. Every bite gets you thinking.

Suddenly, there are no more bites.

LowBrau starts to look like a normal Monday night again. Barnum and Rodriguez hide out in the kitchen, finally getting their turn to eat: leftover mole and rice scooped from giant pot to Tupperware to mouths. Martinez, now alone in the cold Block butcher box, stares at his own pear-chartreuse creation and takes a bite. After slowly nodding in approval, he chases it with a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Though the night’s over for guests, it’s still in the upswing for the freaks. They’ll mosey over to a makeshift photo booth and take seemingly endless shots in seemingly endless poses, donning feather boas and hats and silly faces. They’ll get drunk. They’ll close down a dive bar, though some won’t remember. Then they’ll finish the night strong at MacDonald’s aunt’s house.

Days later, Bond and MacDonald declare it the best Freaks of the Industry night yet. Rave reviews spread on social media. But they dare not take credit. This was a team effort.

MacDonald calls out Getta Clue Store owner Justin Bilbao for making all the Freaks of the Industry swag; tattoo artist Mikey Dewitt for designing the evening’s logo; photographer Carl Costas for documenting the night; Michael Hargis, for allowing LowBrau to close; Shock G, for being there. They’re freaks of different industries.

The pork belly is super-crispy on The ouTside, moisT and Tender on The inside. iT’s a dish ThaT could easily fiT onTo a michelinsTarred TasTing menu, yeT here iT’s served wiTh plasTic silverware.

And what’s in store for Freaks?

“It’s still an underground, illegitimate, wannabe business,” Bond says. “Eventually, it will turn into something.”

At this point, Freaks is too free-form, with too many people involved. Even though Bond is usually a control freak, he’s embracing the free-flying, no-stakes energy of what Freaks of the Industry has become.

“Throughout my life, there’s been so many times where I had a plan for how things were going to pan out. So many things don’t pan out,” he says. “For this, I’m really open. … It could just be nothing. It could also be life-changing.”

In the meantime, he and MacDonald will continue plotting the next event. Maybe something with kids and puppies. Bond, after all, loves kids. MacDonald’s own sons call him “Uncle Ty Ty,” and frequently insist on visiting him at Kru. They love Bond’s octopus, as much as MacDonald does not love footing the bill.

“As a kid I moved around a lot, so for me to be comfortable enough to call some place home means a lot to me,” Bond says. “I’m going to hang my hat here indefinitely as I see it now. Brock and I will probably be working together for forever.”

Learn more about Freaks of the Industry at https://www.facebook.com/Freaks-of-the-Industry1435889223318413/?fref=ts.

Freaks of the Industry regulars (left to right) Brock MacDonald, Ramon Perez, Tyler Bond and Paul Rodriguez always roll up in style. And with a pig’s head.

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photo by darIn smIth

11.25.15 | SN&R | 15

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Ryan Cicak is Reverend Dellamorte in Badass Monster Killer.

n CA r n e s

W it h it s la te st fl ic k, th e Tr as h Fi lm Or gy cr ew ge ts su pe rn at ur al an d su pe rf ly

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t’s a simple formula: blood, boobs and over-the-top, campy fun. It’s the method husband-and-wife team Darin Wood and Christy Savage have employed over the past 15 or so years in all areas of their production company Trash Film Orgy: The annual Sacramento Zombie Walk, the midnight movie film festivals and, of course, their original films Monster From Bikini Beach and Planet of the Vampire Women .

The couple debuts its third feature, Badass Monster Killer, at the Esquire IMAX Theatre Thursday, December 3—and it doesn’t stray too far from the formula. This time, however, they’ve created something more along the lines of a ’70s blaxploitation-inspired supernatural monster movie.

But don’t worry, there are still plenty of naked ladies, gore and tongue-in-cheek fun.

“It’s set in the H.P. Lovecraft world with monsters from beyond space and time—and we throw Shaft in there,” says Savage, who served as

16 | SN&R | 11.25.15

the film’s producer and the director of photography.

Shaft, the starring character of the detective films by the same name, isn’t technically in the film, but the lead character Jimmy Chevelle, played by local actor Jawara Duncan, is clearly a reference to the iconic movie character. The world Chevelle lives in, the fictitious, surreal town of Camaroville, is much different than the gritty streets of Harlem.

In Badass Monster Killer, Chevelle, works for the top-secret government agency Department of Supernatural Security, and sports a take-no-guff badass attitude. He’s

also fighting a secret super-evil demonic cult with a ton of monsters at its disposal.

Wood and Savage first introduced the town of Camaroville in 2005, with their six-part serial Curse of the Golden Skull, and then set 2008’s Monster From Bikini Beach there, too. In those films, perhaps not surprisingly, Camaroville looks an awful lot like Sacramento.

Badass Monster Killer was mostly shot with a green screen and the filmmakers gave the town a more mind-bending aesthetic with a combination of dark and neon colors, and buildings that bend in unnatural ways.

The approach, Savage says, helped them to do more with less.

“It looks like … a Roger Rabbit kind of world. We just embraced the nonreality. It’s so crazy and oddball,” says Wood, who wrote and directed the film. “I don’t have the skill to make realistic CGI buildings in any

Actor Jawara Duncan as Jimmy Chevelle in a scene from the movie.

kind of way, but it doesn’t have to be that. They can be stylized and cartoonish.”

The entire film, save two scenes, was filmed in front of a large green screen, and every scene was shot in a local warehouse. It’s precisely because of this technical choice that they were able to make Badass Monster Killer at all, given their modest budget.

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Wood usually writes several scripts at once, and he and Savage then pick the best one for their next shoot. Badass Monster Killer initially wasn’t even considered an option because of the presumed finances needed. Then it dawned on Wood that they could create computer-generated cityscapes.

Actors Chester Patterson and Galen Howard are big pimpin’ against a green screen.

22

hire professionals and have it done in nine months. That didn’t happen.

Instead, Wood did it all himself with the help of a few volunteers.

The process was painstakingly slow. Badass Monster Killer started production in early 2012 but didn’t wrap for good until just a few weeks ago.

See eiGHt GiGS

W darin Wood and christy Savage say they try to make low-budget films the same way they were made in the ’70s, but for a modern audience and with authenticity.

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From left to right, Courtney V. Smith, Rae Wright and Liz Clare appear as “Kung Fu Foxes.”

Still puNk, Still coNteMptuouS

“Everything was going to be shot in downtown. You’d need to get permits and you’d do all this stuff on streets and back alleys and things like that would have to be all the sets,” Wood said. “All these urban exteriors that were going to have to be done with permits in the real world, could now be done on green screen. And it would take on a certain look.”

Budget was still an issue, however. Initially, the couple didn’t even raise the very low amount they’d set. Still, they managed to piecemeal funds through a few Indiegogo campaigns, private investors and various TFO events including a “blood wrestling” match that featured a bloody T-shirt contest.

With the money they did have, the couple needed to run a skeleton crew and get creative with every aspect of the film.

“It’s not Hollywood,” says Duncan. “I’m moving sets, I’m holding mics, I’m moving lights. If I’m not in the scene, I’m going to do something to get involved. Everyone was doing this.”

The biggest financial roadblock loomed after shooting wrapped and it came time to edit the film. There was a lot of work to do in postproduction: the entire city had to be created with computer graphics.

Wood and Savage had planned to

[Post-production is] where the money dried up. Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, you already did the shooting, you don’t need money now.’

Actually, that’s not the way movies work,” Savage says.

The filmmakers remained optimistic, however.

“We’re problem solvers. We figured out how to make it work,” Savage says. “So many [filmmakers] are like, ‘I don’t have any money, I’m not going to finish.’ [But] we’re dedicated. We finish our projects.”

This wasn’t always the case. In the early ’90s, when they first tried their hand at filmmaking, they didn’t usually complete their projects.

Then, in 1995, they launched a cable access show called Deth’s Oogly Hed. The horror movie magazinestyled show, which lasted until 2000, proved to be a learning experience. It was here that Wood and Savage say they learned the technical aspects of shooting and editing.

In 2001, they followed the cable access show with a midnight movies gig at the Crest Theatre. Before each set they’d stage bizarre, campy skits and other spectacles. TFO’s now-famed Zombie Walk was born out of this. Savage and Wood were one of the first to ever host such an event—it started as a promotion stunt for the Crest series.

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All of that led to 2005 when members of the Crest’s management team purchased some digital projectors. That’s when Savage and Wood decided to maket the Curse of the Golden Skull serial. That, in turn, motivated them to give filmmaking another shot.

While this may seem like a roundabout way to get where they started a couple decades ago, it was the midnight movie festivals that helped them find an audience—all their films are inspired by the same drive-in style B-movies.

Comedian Keith Lowell Jensen, who partnered with Trash Film Orgy for a few years during its Crest Theatre run, says he appreciates the filmmakers’ raw approach.

“Watching these movies is like hanging out with these guys because there were no executives stripping away their weirdness for marketability. You get all the wacky, strange ideas unfiltered, and it’s glorious,” he says.

With all the ’60s and ’70s B-movie homages in mainstream films now, it almost seems as though there isn’t a place for low-budget filmmakers anymore. But big budget zombie movies are polished dramas.

Quentin Tarantino makes high art out of grind house films, and even filmmakers like Scott Sanders, who made Black Dynamite to look and feel exactly like a low-budget blaxplotation, do so with a heavy dose of irony.

Wood and Savage say they try to make low-budget films the same way they were made in the ’70s, but for a modern audience and with authenticity.

“In Black Dynamite, they were doing jokes [where they] intentionally let the boom mic be in the shot.

I wouldn’t do that joke. I wouldn’t intentionally be bad. If our monsters look crappy, we tried to make them look as cool as we could. That’s just the limitation,” Wood says.

Whatever the budget, he adds, the artistic goals are heartfelt.

“We’re never intentionally like, ‘Let’s camp it up,’” Wood says.

“We’re always earnest.” Ω Check out Badass Monster Killer at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday, December 3, at Esquire IMAX Theatre,1211 K Street. Tickets are $15. http://trashfilmorgy.com.

11.25.15 | SN&R | 17

For THe WeeK oF NoVeMBer 25

Canned food drive FRiDAY, NOVEMBER 27 Fairytale Town is already a magical place for the kids—all those pint-sized rides and other various amusements. Now, help spread a little magic with the park’s holiday canned food drive. Donate a can of food, get free admission for FuNdrAIser the family. All donations benefit the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services’ Spirit of Giving Food Drive. They’ll likely benefit your sense of seasonal goodwill, too. There’ll be various artsy and crafty activities for the kids as well, plus a puppet show (with a separate $1-$2 admission).

Free with a canned food donation, 10 a.m–4 p.m. at Fairytale Town, 3901 Land Park Drive; www.fairytaletown.org.

—RAchEl lEiBROck

Family dance Night sATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 It’s not always easy to find that perfect activity for the whole family. Mom and Dad probably don’t want to go see that hip-hop show, and the kids are probably not terribly excited about taking knitting classes. There’s always family game dANCe night, but for those looking to go out and do something together, there’s a better idea: dance classes. And you’re just in luck because this Saturday, Studio 18 hosts a special family dance lesson night. Learn to cha-cha, swing dance or whatever style strikes your fancy. Sure, it might be a little embarrassing, but at least everyone will be embarrassed together. $10 per family, 6 p.m. at Dance Studio 18, 9574 Micron Ave, Suite D; www.dancestudio18.com.

—AARON cARNEs

Holiday Cookie Workshop MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30

I

f capitalism is the enlarged heart of America’s economy, Black Friday is its genital warts: Studies show about half of all people take advantage of deals to buy gifts for themselves, literal stampedes happen, people have murdered each other in checkout lines, and the parking lots of area malls make Trader Joe’s seem about as bustling as the South Pole.

Dare we hope that this Frankenstein’s monster of a retail event is on its way out? REI made headlines a few weeks ago when it announced it would be closing its doors on Black Friday in protest, suggesting instead that people spend the day outdoors.

Another good alternative? Shop local. There’s plenty of opportunity to stay away from mega-retailers on Black Friday, plus Small Business Saturday follows right on its heels.

Starting at 9 a.m. on Friday, November 27, through 6 p.m. on Sunday, November 29, there’s the Little relics shopping extravaganza (908 21st Street). Customers will have access to unique, handmade jewelry, ceramics, clothing and art, and the first 10 customers each day get a free gift. Head a few blocks over to the Scottish Rite

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Center (6151 H Street) on those same days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to hit up the Crocker Holiday Artisan Market, where you will likewise find handmade goodies, photo ops with Victorian Santa, live music and food from Ambrosia Cafe. Admission is $3-$6 and more information can be found at www.creativeartsleague.com. Even more artisanal pottery and ornaments can be found at the Indian Crafts and Holiday Fair on November 27 and 28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the California State Indian Museum (2618 K Street).

Lastly, you’re going to need a drink after a bunch of shopping (or during, or instead of—this is no occasion for judging someone for drinking at noon on a weekday). New Helvetia Brewing Co. is hosting Black Brewery Friday from noon to midnight. Revelers can snag bites from Chando’s Tacos and the Culinerdy Cruzer, boogie to live music from Jayson Angrove, Adrian Bellue, Banjo Fiddle and Guero, and be there for the unveiling and tasting of the newest Mystery Airship beer. Visit http://newhelvetiabrew.com for more details.

—DEENA DREwis

One of the best things about the holidays is the fact that you can eat as many cookies as you want and it will have no negative impact BAKING on your health whatsoever—it’s a universally celebrated truth. Acclaimed chef Rose Lawrence of Red Bread in Los Angeles leads this class at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op, which will cover gingerbread, chocolate chip snowcap cookies and Italian twists. $40-$49, 6 p.m.-9 p.m. at 1900 Alhambra Boulevard, www.sacfoodcoop.com.

—DEENA DREwis

rick steves travel lecture MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30 Everyone’s parents’ favorite travel guru Rick Steves, a.k.a. Low-key Anthony Bourdian, brings his best tips on how to budget for a trip, where to eat and sleep, how to avoid tourist traps TrAVeL and pack like a pro. Dude’s an expert on Europe, but the most recent season of his PBS show expanded to Turkey, Palestine and Israel as well, so attendees can expect a broader range of subjects. $30, 7 p.m. at Crest Theatre,1013 K Street; www.ricksteves.com.

—DEENA DREwis

IllustratIons by serene lusano

Beer cheese Fondue, the rind The great American fondue craze of the ’70s may be long gone, but dipping stuff into melty, gooey cheese isn’t any less of a pleasing idea. The Rind recently launched fondue nights on Mondays: get a small pot of traditional Swiss fondue—Gruyere plus white wine—with bite-sized pieces of cauliflower, broccoli, green apple and baguette for $13.

But last week, the cheese bar unveiled a more American version, featuring cheddar cheese and Deschutes Brewery’s Black Butte Porter. The result is bold and smoky, with a subtle hoppy bite. The serving size is perfect to split for a fun, interactive appetizer. 1801 L Street, www.therindsacramento.com.

—Janelle bitker

Lucky Irish alMoSt FaMouS iriSh CoFFee, de Vere’S iriSh pub IllustratIon by Mark stIvers

Via S.F.

by Janelle Bitker

San Francisco transplant: The Tây Giang Restaurant story goes the same way so many other San Francisco stories go these days.

The Vietnamese restaurant was a mainstay in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset district for 16 years. Then a lease expired, the city got too expensive and Tây Giang was forced to close last December.

A bummer for loyal fans, but a boon for Sacramento. Tây Giang is hoping to open its reincarnation on the cusp of Elk Grove, at 7321 West Stockton Boulevard, Suite 100, this month. The San Francisco restaurant was most popular for its DIY spring rolls— a similar setup as Quan Nem Ninh Hoa—with a whole fried catfish.

A small fish (just shy of three pounds) feeds a couple for $40.

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

Tây Giang also serves DIY spring rolls with other proteins, such as lemongrass beef, pork meatballs and five-spice chicken, closer to the $10 mark. There’s also the usual gamut of rice plates, vermicelli rice noodle dishes and pho.

Meat and Meet: We got a couple off-grid openings in the past two weeks. V. Miller Meats (4801 Folsom Boulevard, Suite 2) is now open in East Sacramento, just in time for folks to order turkeys for Thanksgiving. The whole-animal butchery sells 100 percent pasture-raised meat and poultry sourced from local farms, as well as sausages, charcuterie and stocks. It comes from Eric Veldman Miller, a former chef de cuisine at Mulvaney’s B&L, and

Matt Azevedo, a former chef de cuisine at Restaurant Thir13en and Tuli Bistro.

Then there’s Meet & Eat (3445 Freeport Boulevard) in Land Park. Between its name, the words “Coffee + Gastro Lounge” emblazoned on its exterior and its sleek, minimalist interior, the restaurant is clearly going for hip and trendy.

The menu offers breakfast, salads, sandwiches, tacos and 11 different burgers. Most dishes cost $8-$14 and feature American flavors, some with Mexican accents.

Midtown sushi departure: Fans of Tamaya Sushi Bar & Grill (2131 J Street) better get their fill quick. The popular Japanese restaurant will close on Friday, December 4. According to the Sacramento Bee, an Asian fusion concept will take Tamaya’s place and another Tamaya will hopefully, eventually open elsewhere.Ω

Now that it’s finally chilly, a drinker’s thoughts turn to toddies. Those warm, liquored-up quaffs heat your belly and your soul. Although it’s not the year-round chill chaser needed in San Francisco, the Almost Famous Irish Coffee ($8) from de Vere’s is available in summer and, blissfully, winter. Start with a custom coffee blend, lace it liberally with Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey and top it with freshly whipped cream. The only dilemma is when to order it. Start your day with a bit of a nip, or ward off sleepiness after dinner? 1521 L Street, http://deverespub.com.

—ann Martin rolke

Bring the butter Sweet potatoeS Are those orange-fleshed veggies called yams or sweet potatoes? You can argue it around the Thanksgiving table, but they’re most likely true sweet potatoes. Yams grow from plant stems rather than underground and are more likely to have white flesh. Sweet potatoes are tubers with yellow or orange flesh and a sweet flavor.

They’re rich in beta carotene and deliciousness. Eat them cooked and mashed with loads of butter or, if you must, marshmallows. They make a great pie filling, too.

Whatever you call them, they’re one of the healthiest of holiday foods.

—ann Martin rolke

11.25.15 | SN&R | 19

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HHHH 6840 65th Street, Suite 130; (916) 393-9445 Dinner for one: $5 - $10 Good for: authentic homestyle Lao and Thai dishes Notable dishes: curry puffs, Lao sausages, papaya salad

Midtown is swimming with Thai restaurants these days, but they’re all somewhat Americanized.

Delicious, but perhaps not the real deal. For authentic homestyle food, you owe it to yourself to find Lao-Thai Cafe in south Sacramento’s Little Saigon region.

Located near Vampire Penguin and Happy Day Spa, Lao-Thai Cafe took over the old Thai-Thai Express location. It opened about seven months with local legend Yee (no last name needed—or given, SN&R asked) in the kitchen. She used to prepare food from her house and developed a cult following.

The interior is clean and bright, but small. We saw only one waitress on our visits, but she’s fast and knowledgeable on ingredients. Take, for example, the menu’s two papaya salads ($7.95 each).

The Lao version has fermented crab and a stronger fish sauce component, making it very aromatic. The smell is memorable. The Thai version is tamer, with shrimp paste and carrots. Both were beautifully arranged, with finely shredded papaya and fresh bean sprouts.

Larb is a Thai restaurant regular, but here it is more Lao in execution. The finely chopped chicken ($7.95) or beef ($8.95) has plenty of rice powder, making it drier than other versions we’ve had. The flavor and quality are excellent.

Be sure to clarify how spicy you want food, though. This is the kind of place that has “American hot” (a.k.a. mild) and “Thai hot.”

Curry puffs and Lao sausages make for two very impressive appetizers. The sausages ($5.95)

are made of fatty pork with generous amounts of lemongrass and galangal. They’re cooked on-site and have a lively snap to the skin and a hint of spice. The flavors are addictive paired with a sweet and spicy sauce.

Curry puffs ($5.95), which are listed only on the daily specials, come in veggie or chicken varieties. Very much like Indian samosas, they comprise a housemade lard pastry wrapped around chopped potatoes and yellow-curry vegetables.

The puffs, which feature some of the flakiest pastry we’ve had anywhere, melt in the mouth.

The waitress made sure to tell us that we could order platters of them for events.

There are several huge soups, including Thai boat noodles ($7.95) with pork rind and blood cubes. We went for the kow poon ($6.95), with handmade noodles, creamy curried chicken, bamboo and julienned vegetables. With its “medium” spice, it’s the best cold remedy around.

The flavorful broth is packed with toothsome noodles and shredded meat.

On one visit, we got in just before the tables filled at 6:30 p.m. Almost every group included children. One of the kid favorites is the pineapple fried rice ($8.95). It’s almost nothing like versions we’ve had elsewhere. The rice is less oily, formed into a gorgeous dome, with barely cooked shrimp and moist shreds of chicken. The pineapple is minimal, making this dish less sweet than others, but with lots of big, toasted cashews and thin, flowershaped carrot slices.

Another standout here is the pad eggplant ($7.95), a rich mixture of fried Asian eggplant with onions, peppers and sweet chili sauce. We got ours with ground beef tossed in, which made it a hearty plateful. Again, the flavors are well balanced and the quality top-notch.

Everything we tried was fantastic—expertly prepared, layered with flavor and generously portioned. When it’s busy, service can be slow, but get in early and order widely. It’s worth the trip. Ω

With its “medium” spice, the kow poon soup is the best cold remedy around.

BUY 1 GET 1 1/2 OFF Buy any dinner entree at regular price, get the second for HALF OFF! Must present coupon, cannot combine with other discounts. One per table. Valid Mon-Thu only. Expires 12/09/15.

Thankful for beer Assuming you’re not one of those people who gets up at 4 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping, you might be interested in an event far more reasonable and reasonably beer-oriented. New Helvetia Brewing Co. will celebrate its third birthday on Black Friday, November 27, from noon to midnight. Some of New Helvetia’s rarest and award-winning beers will be on tap, including three brews from its Mystery Airship series.

Expect the Imperial Chocolate Porter, the delightful collaboration with Ginger Elizabeth that took home the gold medal for experimental beer at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival; the Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, which won gold at the Los Angeles International Beer Competition last year; and a super-secret surprise brew. Plus, the Thurston Adambier, which also won a Great American Beer Festival gold medal last year in the historical beer category. Pair it all with live music, games and grub from Chando’s Tacos and Culinerdy Cruzer. More at http://newhelvetiabrew.com.

—Janelle Bitker

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Mark Bittman gets freekeh

By Shoka Mark Bittman penned his last food column for The New York Times in September. In it, the author of the bestseller How to Cook Everything announced he’s venturing into a startup, and it’s called Purple Carrot. It provides subscribers with vegan meal kits. Bittman creates and tests the recipes, and the ingredients are portioned and delivered to customers weekly. Bittman has been an advocate for eating more plant-based meals for health and environmental benefits for years

(see bestseller Eat Vegan Before 6), and Purple Carrot wants to make the healthy decision easier. The company is offering $20 off—three meals for two people is regularly $68, which is less than eating out— and there is a very persuasive recipe archive on the website with savories and sweets to try at home: roasted eggplant with freekeh, spiced tahini, pomegranate and mint?

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11.25.15 | SN&R | 21

FIND OF THE WEEK

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Handcrafted holidays

Define ‘slut’ the UnslUt project

Delta Workshop

Filmmaker Emily Lindin examines the history of the word “slut” and its impact with The UnSlut Project.

Lindin was motivated upon reading stories about young women who’d committed DOCUMENTARY suicide after being bullied and called the four-letter word. The documentary includes the retelling of her own experiences as well as interviews with young women, sexuality experts and others.

Sacramento City College hosts a screening, with a Q&A with Lindin after. Free, 6 p.m. Wednesday, December 2.

Sacramento City College Performing Arts Center, 3835 Freeport Boulevard, www.unslutproject.com.

—rachel leibrock

Inside vision the last laUgh Film has its own rules for analyzing it as art because filmmakers can utilize so many tools to bring vision to life. The Crocker Museum has a new film FILM series devoted to the subject. The museum will screen The Last Laugh, a 1924 German expressionistic film that boasts some of the most impressive lighting and cinematography ever. The film will be introduced by film historian Kristen Anderson Wagner. A Q&A follows. $15; 6 p.m. Thursday, December 3. Crocker Art Museum, 216 O Street; www.crockerartmuseum.org.

—aaron carnes

Celtic cheer SN&R

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

an irish christmas For fans of Irish culture, it doesn’t get much more fun than hearing traditional Irish Christmas music while watching live dance and storytelling. This HOLIDAY holiday-themed production is replete with high kicks, multiple toe taps and intricate vocal phrasings. $25-$49; 7 p.m., Friday, November 27; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, November 28; 2 p.m. Sunday, November 29. Harris Center for the Arts, 10 College Parkway in Folsom; http://anirishchristmastour.com.

—eDDie jorgensen

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It’s still too early to say how much havoc the arrival of a Santa emoji in a range of skin tones will wreak on the holiday greeting card industry, but this much we do know: It’s a pretty nice touch to get a thoughtful, handmade card.

The crafting experts at Delta Workshop are hosting a Letterpress Drop-In: Holiday Cards class at 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 29. Class registration is $20 and attendees CRAFTS can create 10 different cards on antique printing presses, plus matching envelopes. At $2 a card, not only are you sending something more special than your everyday Hallmark option, but they’re a bargain, too.

Beyond card making, Delta Workshop is also home to a curated shop featuring home décor, jewelry, ceramics, books, skin care products and other knickknacks, much of which is created by local artisans. There are stamps via Yellow Owl Workshop (pictured), jewelry from Witt & Lore and ceramics by Shendoe Ceramics.

The space also does triple duty as an art gallery. Its current exhibit is More or Less: Work by Casey O’Connor, which features pottery, glassware and whimsical cabinets filled with oddities such as chattering teeth, scuba-diving dolls and sculptures of California. The exhibit runs through January 11, and all work is available for purchase and immediate take-home. 2598 21st Street, www.deltaworkshopsac.com.

—Deena DreWis

Now playiNg

ReviewS

4

2 Gentlemen of Verona

Abandon expectations Photo courtesy of city theatre

By Patti RobeRts

backed up by the talented, versatile musicians Dan Pool and Steve Ibarra.

Quirky characters include a narrator-MC (the very funny Vernon Lewis), Elvis, a Teletubby and the Spice Girls and a two-man Panto pony.

And then there are the talents of those portraying the standard Peter Pan roles: the magical title character (Meghan Cazadio), the fierce Tankerbell (yes, Tankerbell, performed here by Anthony Person), talent-show hopeful Wendy (Samantha Hannum) and the gleefully evil Captain Hook (Sean Thomas Olivares).

Warning: audience participation is not just a bonus here—it’s basically required. Candy is thrown at regular intervals to squealing kids (and adults), and there are plastic balls that viewers may throw at onstage villains. Sometimes cast members run through the audience. The whole thing results in a lot of cheers and squeals from everyone involved. Ω Um, creepy.

Peter Pan: A British Panto

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Peter Pan: a British Panto; 8 p.m. friday and saturday, 2 p.m. sunday; $10-$18. city theatre, sacramento city college Performing arts center, 3835 freeport Boulevard; (916) 558-2174; www.citytheatre.net. through December 13.

For its latest production, City Theatre presents Peter Pan: A British Panto, marking the theater’s eighth year of original panto productions that have been adapted by Christine Nicholson, under the direction of Luther Hanson.

British panto, for the uninitiated, is theater that incorporates song and dance with broad slapstick humor and audience participation.

And what that means for audiences is possessing a willingness to leave behind any expectations of the traditional Peter Pan story and characters—as well as any expectations for logic, delicate humor sensibilities and maturity. But do bring a sense of goofiness, a willingness to accept jokes both good and bad and an acceptance of nontraditional characters.

Oh, and if there are any available, bring along a kid or two.

At the very least, come equipped with a childish sense of silliness and wonder.

Though the show is mostly aimed at a young audience (especially the matinees), older audience members will be kept entertained by the show’s double entendres and risque jokes.

There are also familiar songs from the ’60s through today (including hip-hop), all of which are

Gail Dartez directs a winning update of Shakespeare’s first bromance (also, his first comedy and perhaps his first play). Eric Craig and Russell Dow play two friends who become suitors of the same lounge singer (played by Chloe King) in Las Vegas. But true love and friendship can co-exist—with the help of mistaken identities, mischievous servants and

1 fouL

a dog. F, Sa 8pm. Through 12/12. $10-$20. Big Idea Theatre, 1616 Del Paso Boulevard; (916) 960-3036; www.bigideatheatre.org. J.C.

4

Of Kites and Kings

This world premiere play by Gary Wright follows the rocky relationship between one of this country’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin and his illegitimate son William. Both are fighting tyrants—Ben, King George;

William, his father—both with varying results. Katie Rubin provides comic relief as Landlady Polly Stevenson. F 8pm; Sa,

Su 2pm and 8pm; W 6:30pm.

Through 12/13. $12-$35.

Sacramento Theatre Company, 1419 H Street; (916) 443-6772; www.sactheatre.org. B.S.

short reviews by Jim carnes and Bev sykes.

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3

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fair

GooD

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5 suBLiMe– DoN’t Miss

3 A Christmas Carol It seems as though everyone including Lionel Barrymore and Scrooge McDuck has played the iconic role of Ebenezer Scrooge over the years. Now it’s Greg Alexander’s turn in Buck Busfield’s somewhat twisted version of Dickens’ beloved Christmas classic, A Christmas Carol.

Busfield’s Christmas shows have become noted for their unusual twists and turns and this Christmas Carol, part of the B Street Family Series, is no different.

Alexander is aided by four talented actors listed as “ensemble.” Amy Kelly, Nestor Campos Jr., John Lamb and Megan Wicks play every character that’s not Scrooge, which often involves very quick costume changes.

In this version, Scrooge is tired of having to replay the familiar story every year for the past 173 years and decides to thwart the spirits by drinking tea to keep himself awake and thus avoid having to dream. The end result has lots of humor for adults who know the real story and plenty of physical comedy for the kids. The “intervention” which brings about Scrooge’s redemption this year is clever and very funny.

that ’fro, tho.

Photo courtesy of Mike e. WiNfieLD

Ha ha for the holidays Baltimore native-turned-Sacramento funny guy Mike E. Winfield once had a small part on the U.S. version of The Office but that’s not why you should check out his string of upcoming dates at the Punch Line Comedy Club.

Winfield, who’s also performed on Late Show with David Letterman, Showtime’s Comics Without Borders and BET’s Comic View, tells hilarious stories centered around the home—anecdotal jokes about marriage, kids and other seemingly banal topics. In other words, it makes for the perfect Thanksgiving-week distraction.

Most of the shows are 18-and-over but if you need an excuse to get the rest of the family out of the house, Sunday’s early evening show is OK for those 13 and over—with adult supervision, that is. 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 6 p.m. Sunday; $15-$20 with a two-drink minimum.

Punch Line Comedy Club, 2100 Arden Way, Suite 225; www.punchlinesac.com. Through November 29.

—Rachel leiBRock

—Bev SykeS

a christmas carol, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. saturday and sunday, $15-$20.

B street theatre, 2711 B street; (916) 443-5300; http://bstreet theatre.org. through December 27.

11.25.15 | SN&R | 23

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by DanieL Barnes

meet Rocky Balboa and train at Mighty Mick’s Gym. Rocky is reluctant to get back in the fight game (isn’t he always?), but he’s worn down by Ryan Coogler’s alternately thrilling and deflating Adonis’ determination, as well as a lingering guilt Creed marks Sylvester Stallone’s seventh go-round about his role in Apollo’s death. Adonis initially as Philly palooka turned heavyweight champ and struggles but quickly improves through the magic of Red scourge Rocky Balboa, and it’s easy to see why training montages, landing a fight with a contender Stallone can’t quit this character. Despite his checkered that launches him into the national spotlight. background and violent vocation, Rocky stands as the Coogler turned a lot of his heads with his 2013 one essentially decent character in Stallone’s entire debut Fruitvale Station, and it’s clear from the filmography, alone on a shelf in a gallery of smug opening scenes of a young Adonis brawling in jerks and grim authoritarians. a youth correctional facility that Coogler Rocky is Stallone’s soul and legacy, wants Creed to be more than just a and while the part still fits him like a respectful knockoff. The first half of fingerless glove and pork pie hat, he Creed is almost shockingly good, Adonis initially was wise to take a supporting role bursting with energy and invention, here. Creed reinvigorates the franwith a sharp screenplay (Coogler struggles but quickly chise by introducing a new lead co-wrote with Andrew Covington) improves through the character and threading him into that adroitly balances grit, laughs, magic of training the Rocky-verse, and Stallone’s heart and face-punching. onscreen “blessing” is essential to The film reaches its peak in montages. making that transition legitimate. an astonishing centerpiece fight Even better for a franchise that has sequence, as Coogler and cinematogindulged in a fair amount of racism rapher Maryse Alberti choreograph a over the years, the film focuses on a young seemingly single-shot boxing match viewed African-American, and invests him with the same mostly from over Adonis’ shoulder. It’s not only common-man toughness and rough-edged likeability the best boxing scene in any Rocky movie, but one that made Rocky so popular in the first place. of the best boxing scenes in any movie not named Michael B. Jordan plays Adonis Creed (“Don” for Raging Bull. Unfortunately, the film plummets into short), illegitimate son of Carl Weathers’ Ali-esque tired convention from there—Stallone keeps elbowchamp Apollo Creed, born after Apollo died in the ring ing his way back into the spotlight, and the story in Rocky IV. Sweet and sensitive but boiling with a foolishly refocuses on Rocky just as we’re learning barely contained rage, Adonis is a study in contradicto love the new kid. Creed proves just good enough tions—an orphan with an imposing family legacy, a to be disappointing. Ω street kid and a rich kid, a white-collar Los Angeles office worker and a secret pugilist, driven by an overprotective extended family to compete in underground fights in Tijuana.

Determined to take control of his destiny and Poor Fair Good Very excellent reclaim his name, Adonis relocates to Philadelphia to

1 2 3 4 5 Good

BY DANIEL BARNES & JIM LANE

fiLm CLiPS

3

Burnt

A former superstar chef (Bradley Cooper), fallen from Parisian haute cuisine to shucking oysters in a New Orleans joint, plans a comeback in London, taking over a tony restaurant on the strength of his brilliant talent.

Steven Knight and Michael Kalesniko’s script never really establishes this guy’s supposed genius; it just shows him furrowing his brow and/ or throwing abusive tantrums, counting on us to make the jackass-equals-genius connection, abetted by Cooper’s star power. Cooper delivers the goods right enough, with help from Daniel Bruhl as his business partner and Sienna Miller as his sous-chef-cum-love-interest. Other talents, especially female ones (Emma Thompson, Alicia Vikander, Lily James, Uma Thurman) are underused, even wasted. John Wells’ direction is dutiful, if uninspired. J.L.

2

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2

Theseus wept. An alternately grim and goo goo-eyed wrap-up to the Hunger Games film franchise, Mockingjay—Part 2 reaps the mistakes sown by the previous entries. The gravest mistake, of course, was splitting the final book in Suzanne Collins’ teen-lit trilogy into two parts. Born of pure greed, this mercenary move resulted in two diluted storylines, a scarcity of action and an insane amount of screen time spent loitering in living rooms and unlit tunnels.

Jennifer Lawrence returns as the mercurial and courageous Katniss Everdeen, caught between her hatred of the near-future fascist government of Panem and her mistrust of the rebel leaders guarding her back. Beyond its simplistic political allegory, Mockingjay—Part 2 is supposed to be the emotional crescendo to an epic love triangle, but due a complete lack of chemistry between Lawrence and her callow male co-stars, it’s all hollow, and the gold-embossed Super Happy Ending feels fraudulent. D.B.

4

Labyrinth of Lies

Labyrinth of Lies exudes a childlike confidence akin to a Rousseau painting, and whatever it lacks in nuance and good taste it makes up for in its mix of heart-on-sleeve moralism, pulp drama, classic form and ethereal rhythms. Co-written and directed by Giulio Ricciarelli, the film takes place in Germany 1958, long enough after the war for Germans to have completely forgotten their own atrocities, and the story centers around the real-life exposure of the horrors at Auschwitz. It makes for a curious inversion of the whodunit, since we’re unraveling a mystery where we already know the identity of the murderers, and the investigators are the ones forced to reckon with a legacy of horror. The script is almost doltish at times, and the protagonist’s journey from cartoonish straight arrow to cartoonish cynical drunk practically invites laughter, but the film possesses a wide-eyed, Nancy Drew sincerity that’s hard to resist. D.B.

3

The Night Before

Three lifelong pals (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie) get together for the last iteration of a ritual that dates from their teen years: a night of Christmas Eve revelry, this time, at long last, to wind up at their Holy Grail of parties, the legendary and mysterious Nutcracker Ball. The script by Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir, Evan Goldberg and director Jonathan Levine is disorderly, often obnoxious and rather too strenuous in its efforts to out-Farrelly the Farrelly brothers.

But by golly, it’s pretty damn funny more often than not (Rogen does an extended riff on being strung out on too many drugs that’s a classic of its kind), with an engaging air of a circle of friends having larky fun. And for a holiday movie that’s absolutely not for the whole family, it’s surprisingly sweet at heart. J.L.

4

Room Director Lenny Abrahamson brought a hazy commingling of whimsy and

"So, we both like long walks on the beach ..."

5

Brooklyn

A young Irish émigré in the 1950s (Saoirse Ronan) is just beginning to feel at home in America, with a good job, better prospects and romance with a local boy (Emory Cohen), when a death in the family draws her back to Ireland, where she begins to feel the nostalgic (and romantic) lure of the ould sod. Ronan delivers gloriously on the promise she showed as an adolescent in Atonement, playing a timid, almost hopeless young woman coming to full flower, paradoxically, as a stranger in a strange land. Expertly directed by John Crowley and adapted (equally well) by Nick Hornby from Colm Toibin’s novel, this is one of the smallest, most intimate and best movies of the year, with an aching suspense that bigger, brasher movies can only dream of. As Ronan’s sweetfaced suitor, Cohen gives a breakout performance. J.L.

psychosis to last year’s Michael-Fassbender-ina-fake-head quirkfest Frank that never worked for me, yet that same approach proves essential to the success of Abrahamson’s Room. Adapted from a novel by Emma Donoghue, who also wrote the screenplay, Room views the world through the wide-shut eyes of Jack (an eerily good Jacob Tremblay), a precocious 5-year-old boy who lives with his mother in what appears to be a heavily secured garden shed. As Jack’s mother, Brie Larson stands on the shoulders of her 2013 film Short Term 12 and establishes herself as one of the top craftspeople in her trade, laying out years of unspeakable horror with a gesture or a tremble. The sound, design, cinematography, story structure and performances are all impeccable; if the film were 15 percent less focused on the fuzzy-wuzzy, it might have even been great. D.B.

3

Secret in Their Eyes

An ex-FBI agent (Chiwetel Ejiofor) has been obsessed for 13 years with the unsolved rape and murder of the teenage daughter of a co-worker (Julia Roberts)—and now he’s sure he’s tracked down the culprit at last. Is it worth reopening old wounds—not only the mother’s grief, but his own unresolved feelings for the prosecutor (Nicole Kidman) on the cold case? Loosely based on the Argentine movie that won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film in 2009, director Billy Ray’s script is tense and serpentine, pinballing back and forth between 2001 and 2015 (sometimes Kidman’s hair style and the gray at Ejiofor’s temples are our only clues to what year it is), leading up to a rueful ending that’s oddly satisfying, if a bit far-fetched. Ray builds an effective aura of menace and frustrated justice, with fine acting all around. J.L.

3

Spectre

James Bond (Daniel Craig) is on the trail of a shadowy crime organization just as he, M (Ralph Fiennes) and the Double-Oh program are falling into disfavor with higher-ups and threatened with retirement. Craig’s fourth outing as 007 will please the fans despite several drawbacks: it’s wildly overlong at 146 minutes, the opening sequence (which used to be a sample of more and better fun to come) is by far

the best scene in the movie and the theme song (sung tooth-and-nail by Sam Smith) is one of the worst of the whole series. Saving the day (well, more or less) are the assets: Craig and Fiennes (naturally), Lea Seydoux as a particularly appealing Bond girl, and Christoph Waltz, who was born to play a Bond villain. Sam Mendes’ direction is workmanlike, but the derivative script needed brutal editing. J.L.

4

Write a Letter to the Future about Climate Change

Spotlight

Writers Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy (who also directed) tell the story of the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer-winning investigation into the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and the cover-up by the Archdiocese of Boston. The movie is a self-conscious throwback to crusading-reporter flicks of the past, but it’s also a taut story well-told, suspenseful despite the fact that the world knows how it all turned out, and energized by an authentic sense of the dogged research and footwork at the heart of serious investigative journalism. Of course, the stellar cast is a major asset: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams and Brian d’Arcy James as the Globe’s team of reporters, John Slattery and Liev Schreiber as their editors, plus Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup and Jamey Sheridan in major support. J.L.

1

Join Michael Pollan, Jane smiley, Bill McKibben & more!

Write a letter to the year 2100, addressed to your future family or community. Tell them how what happened to the climate in 2015 will impact them. Post your letter online now. This is a national letter-writing campaign leading up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris this December.

Trumbo

Long-winded, dreadfully noble and blithely slanderous, Trumbo is the sort of film that gives liberal pap a bad name.

Bryan Cranston stars as screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, an avowed Communist and American patriot whose career was sent underground by the House Un-American Activities Committee and the Hollywood blacklist. After serving an 11-month prison term, Trumbo reemerged as a highly prolific pseudonymous screenwriter of B-movies and Oscar-winning prestige pictures, eventually helping to crack the blacklist by receiving screen credit on Spartacus. It’s a great story, but with John McNamara’s flabby script and the direction of Austin Powers and Meet the Parents overseer Jay Roach, the film feels like a two-hour Saturday Night Live sketch without any jokes, all bad impressions (Dame Helen Mirren as a rabid American Hedda Hopper is just ridiculous) and self-important speechifying. D.B.

w w w. L e t t e r s t o t h e F u t u r e . o r g

11.25.15 | SN&R | 25

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How Sacramento’s Epsilona finds happy accidents in its music

by AAron CArnes

take the band more seriously.

“We really want to get noticed, so we’re putting our best foot forward,” Phillips says.

“Cory introduced a lot of things to us that needed to be done. He kicked it in high gear as far as getting our name out there,” adds guitarist Chandler Hale.

Whether for fun or bigger aspirations, Epsilona’s music is well-crafted and polished. The first song on Thinkers is a short instrumental called “Prelude.”

It’s different than the others Musical detours, but no regrets. because it’s slow, the drums are lower in the mix and the intricate psychedelic guitar work is the primary focus. In fact, it’s a window into what the band might have It’s a good thing Epsilona’s songs didn’t come out sounded like with a different drummer—something exactly as the band intended. more in the vein of some of Le’s biggest influences On the local four-piece’s debut EP, Thinkers, such as Tame Impala or Toro y Moi. the second song is a swirling psychedelic pop tune But that’s not the only aspect of the group’s sound held together with high-energy grooving drums. that evolved unintentionally. There’s Le’s dirty guitar Throughout the collection of songs, the group’s dual tone, for example. The other band members agree guitar interplay sounds nuanced and layered, with the it’s an essential, if chance aspect to their overall four members creating dynamics for the songs’ sound, particularly in how it mixes with intensity.

Hale’s more polished guitar tone.

That these songs tend to have a It happened after Le stumbled steady, driving rock feel to them, The upon a $900 hollow body guitar however, was an accident. While combination of he decided he had to have. writing the EP, lead singer-guitarist “It creates a totally different Epsilona’s dueling Minh Le started with a different vibe,” Le says. “It was a big vision, but then drummer Carlos tones and different waste of money, but it was also Gutierrez’s punk rock background tunings contributes to the best thing I ever bought. came out and reared its ugly head.

It works really well with my its majestic, Epsilona celebrates the record’s tuning.” release Saturday, November 28, lush sound.

That tuning, another atypical with a late-afternoon, all-ages show at aspect of his guitar work, is in a Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub.

D major 7. Everyone else plays in a “I like more upbeat music. Minh would standard tuning. As a result, the combination always tell me, ‘Just play softer, play half- time,’ and of Epsilona’s dueling tones and different tunings I would do my natural beat,” says Gutierrez now. contributes to its majestic, lush sound.

Whether Gutierrez could help it is unimportant.

“It seems to be more dynamic and emotional just Once Le got used to the beat, he says he was glad because of the different styles we all bring, and …

Gutierrez played it differently. what we put into the music,” Le says. “The basic tone “That’s when I realized we were a rock band,” Le … that gets boring. I just try to throw it out and do says. “When I make music without Carlos, it’s much something you haven’t heard before.” Ω more flat—I make a lot more sleepy music, which is PHOT O BY KEVIN CORTOPASSI

we are now hiring for the following positions:

Change and circumstance

what I listen to.”

Epsilona first started jamming in 2013; back then it was just Le, Gutierrez and Hale, and they mostly tinkered around. Things changed last year after bassist Cory Phillips joined. His presence didn’t alter the sound much, but he did bring a business sense the group had been lacking by encouraging the others to 26 | SN&R | 11.25.15

Catch Epsilona at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, November 28, at Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub, 2708 J Street. Tickets are $10-$12. All-ages. Babe and Trophii are also on the bill. Learn more at www.epsilonamusic.com.

Play that nerdy rap music, white boy

“We’re in a kind of purgatory.

We’re just bards doomed to repeat our words,” he said.

“I’m sorry, I’ve said too much.”

—Derek kaplan

starting at just

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Madness: Sometimes, a good band can actually give birth to another good band. Such is the case with Hans! and the Hot Mess and Joy and Madness. Hardworking core members Hans Eberbach (vocals) and Miss Nyxi (bass) perform in both, and last Friday at Fox & Goose, they put on a rabble rousing show with Hans! and the Hot Mess, presumably running on nothing but fumes.

That might be because they’d just opened for Ozomatli the night before for Joy and Madness’ CD-release party at the Crest Theatre. On Friday, Eberbach and Nyxi were still quite spry despite their previous late-night gathering.

“Half of this band had a little party last night,” Eberbach admitted to the crowd. Their loyal turnout of fans—some of whom probably saw dawn with them—looked none the worse for wear as well.

Eberbach debuted a brand new Fender Telecaster guitar, special for the Hot Mess’ set, providing a more electrically charged sound than ever before. It added a fresh take on songs like “Deep Blue Soul” and “Playin’ It (Like It’s Over),” a tune written by former Sweet Vine bandmate, Nathan Dale. Other highlights included covers of Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” and Bill Withers’ “Use Me,” which brought down the house with Dave Jensen sitting in on drums.

Hans! and the Hot Mess is not only filled with joy and madness, per se, but they have a one-ofa-kind sound. When digging in with his singer-songwriter roots, Eberbach seems to have a bottomless repertoire, and he and the full-throttled Nyxi kept the energy level high. They made it look easy to be in two inexhaustible bands. No mess about it.

SN&R

—Janelle Bitker jan el l e b @ne w s re v i e w . c o m

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

Art of rap: I saw Milo rap about a year-and-a-half ago at Witch Room (RIP). Back then, I was blown away by his quick, smooth wordplay and charmed by his clear onstage anxiety.

The crowd was made up of approximately 20 white dudes who knew all the words to all of Milo’s songs.

That made Milo’s return to Sacramento at the Warehouse Artist Lofts last Friday all the more exciting. How has the crazy-talented, young hip-hop artist grown? He’s put out a new Pitchfork-approved album, So the Flies Don’t Come, and moved from Wisconsin to Los Angeles for music career-related reasons, and then moved back to Wisconsin.

Maybe it was just the chill, friendly rooftop vibes, but Milo seemed at ease, in his element. Maybe it was because he performed with trip-hop artist Randal Bravery, who brought cool, dark, reverb-y sound effects.

Four small patio tables and stools were covered with sample pads and the like. Milo showed off his SAT prep vocab and nerdy pop culture knowledge at a rapid-fire pace, referencing philosophers, MLA style, Google algorithms, Michael Pollan, Jon Snow and all things mundane and fantastic. In his Miami Hurricanes track jacket, skinny pants and boots, he also demonstrated his self-awareness and humility: “I don’t even know if I’m dressing right for the rapper I am,” he seemed to say to himself.

“Wow, crazy times on this roof,” Milo later said, acknowledging the crowd, much larger and slightly more diverse than that of Witch Room way back when. “We’re just two beings moving through time and space. Not much. Does anyone know who invented rap music?”

Silence.

“No one knows. That means I did. Thank you for coming to my seminar,” he said.

The seminar was enlightening.

The bars were enlightening. The lines between when the banter ended and the songs began were always blurred, but they were enlightening as well. Whether Milo’s rambling monologues riddled with repetition and alliteration were spontaneous or routine, I do not care.

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SouNd advice

11.25.15 | SN&R | 27

27 FRI

28 SaT

28 SaT

28 SaT

Two Gallants

Babe

Third Eye Blind

Public Image Ltd.

Harlow’s restaurant & nigHtclub, 9 p.m., $15 Two Gallants traded performing in front of busy crowds at various BART stations in their hometown of San Francisco for FoLk Rock major stages across the country once the duo joined the ranks of Saddle Creek Records in 2005. Now, more than 10 years later, the folk-blues outfit signed with ATO Records and released its fifth studio album, We Are Undone, in February of this year. Tracks off their latest body of work like “Incidental” showcase Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel’s more folk-rock attributes with catchy melodies and upbeat guitar work, while songs like “Katy Kruelly” keep to the band’s more acoustic roots. 2708 J Street, www.twogallants.com.

Harlow’s restaurant & nigHtclub, 6 p.m., $10-$12 In the last year-and-a-half that Babe has been a band, there hasn’t been enough of its music out there to really bemoan the fact the members left Sacto for Los Angeles.

“Baby You’re Right,” the latest of three songs released so far, dropped INDIE Rock in August and word on the street is that they’re still working on an EP. And yet the whole package is so seamlessly indie-pop-rock, from the Two Door Cinema Club sound to the we’re-just-four-dudeswith-nice-hair vibe, that it probably won’t be long before you’re echoing that I-knew-Cakewhen-they-were-playing-living-rooms bit when someone brings Babe up in the years to come. 2708 J Street, www.babetheband.com.

—stepH roDriguez

—Deena Drewis

Dimple recorDs, 6:30 p.m., no cover VH1 named “Semi-Charmed Life” the 34th best song of the ’90s. That’s impressive. I mean, that’s right between “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls and “Wonderwall” by Oasis.

That’s in front of Green Day’s “Time of Your Life,” Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle” and Weezer’s “Buddy Holly.” Don’t joke about Third Eye Blind: ’90s legends, for sure. And the rock band is still active. Third Eye Blind is on tour supporting this year’s Dopamine, hitting Sacramento Memorial Rock/PoP Auditorium on December 1.

But doesn’t a free acoustic set with singer Stephan Jenkins in a record store sound way more ’90s? 2433 Arden Way, http://thirdeye blind.com.

ace of spaDes, 7 p.m., $35 The forecast is crabby with a chance of sneering this Saturday when John Lydon (you better not need me to explain who he is) and his band Public Image Ltd. come to Ace of Spades to promote their new album Rock What the World Needs Now.... Lead single “Double Trouble” proves that Lydon’s contemptuous-howl game is still strong, and the muscular rock ’n’ roll arrangement is just another stop on PiL’s 19-year-long genre-stretching ride.

Openers are still listed as “special guest,” but who cares? Lydon is an icon, full stop, and he’s playing in Sacramento.

1417 R Street, www.pilofficial.com.

—brian breneman

—Janelle bitker

BOTH ALLE Y K AT Z LOCATIONS

e v i L L L A B T O O F L F N K SPECIALS IN R D / W Y A D E VERY SUN

To help clear the air, the El Dorado County Air Quality Management District (AQMD), administers the Chimney Smoke Reduction Incentive Program (RIP) for El Dorado County Residents Better still, the Air District will PAY for your Building Permit if one is required!

So, if you have an existing non-EPA certified wood-burning stove, the Air District will reimburse you for replacement or removal, but you must act quickly!

Funding is limited on a first-come, first-served basis!

Pre-approval is Required! For eligibility information and details,

2 0 19 O S T REE T MIDT OW N 9 16.4 4 2.2 6 8 2 28 | SN&R | 11.25.15

7942 ARCADIA DRIVE CITRUS HEIGHTS 916.722.2682

call (530) 621-7501 or visit the Air District’s website: www.edcgov.us/AirQualityManagement/ Click on “Grants/Incentives” on left.

Thank you for working with us to improve air quality.

THE WE’RE-JUST-foUR-DUDES-WiTH-NiCE-HAiR viBE.

02 W ED

02 W ED

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Jackie Gage

The Subdudes

lukas Nelson

The Aggrolites

The UniversiTy Union aT sacramenTo sTaTe, noon, no cover

harlow’s resTaUranT & niGhTclUB, 7 p.m., $35-$40

Before Jackie Gage moved to the East Coast earlier this year, she was one of the best singers San Jose had to offer. Her silky, soulful voice strikes that balance between from-the-heart passion and measured control. She is back on the West Coast for a short weeklong tour and fortunately, Sacramento is one of those stops. She is calling this the #yourlovetour in SoUl celebration of her latest single “It’s Your Love,” which, like the best of her music, marries classic, sultry soul with smoothas-butter jazz. The song is a teaser for her upcoming 2016 full-length album, Siren Songs. 6000 J Street, www.jackiegage.org.

It’s a pleasure to discover a band like the Subdudes. I was drawn immediately to their unique sound via a live 1995 Mountain Stage performance featuring one of their catchier tunes “(You’ll Be) Satisfied.” The reward is a soulful blend of blues, gospel, folk and R&B from the native New Orleans RooTS RoCK quartet known for their passionate vocals and distinctive instrumentation. Since the beginning, the Subdudes’ relaxed musical mix featured accordionist John Magnie, tambourine player Steve Amedee and singer-guitarist Tommy Malone.

Rounding out the current outfit is Tim Cook on bass. The Subdudes’ gumbo is best served live. 2708 J Street, www.subdudes.com.

—aaron carnes

cenTer For The arTs, 8 p.m., $27-$30

The Boardwalk, 7 p.m., $13-$15

Lukas Nelson may be the son of country legend Willie Nelson, but don’t hold that against him. Since the release of his debut album Promise of the Real in 2010, Nelson and company have toured incessantly, opening for John Fogerty, B.B. King and many others. The group is now a veritable headliner in its own right and even backed Neil Young as his house band on his Monsanto Years release and tour in 2015. Nelson’s current run of shows takes the band all JAM BAND across California before eventually ending the year playing with his father for a three-show residency at the celebrated Austin City Limits. 314 West Main in Grass Valley, www.promiseofthereal.com.

—mark hanzlik

When it comes to proven reggae pedigree, the Aggrolites’ genes run deep. The Los Angeles group formed as the backing band of reggae legend Derrick Morgan only to remain together from 2002 on. An amalgamation of ska-reggae bands the Vessels and the Rhythm Doctors, the Aggrolites turned a one-off formation into six albums and multiple compilation appearances.

Their sound is akin to the skinhead reggae of 1970’s U.K.—a working-class subculture heavily influenced by Lee REGGAE RoCK “Scratch” Perry and Junior Murvin. Expect a set that spans the discography. 9426 Greenback Lane in Orangevale, www.aggroreggae.com.

—eddie JorGensen

—Blake Gillespie

2708 J Street Sacramento, CA 916.441.4693 www.harlows.com

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12/06 12/07 12/08 12/09 12/11 12/12 12/13 12/14 12/17 12/18 12/18 12/19 12/20 12/20 12/23 12/26 12/31 01/02 01/16 01/24

Frank Sinatra tribute the dandy Warhols the 1 guy Charlie Hunter trio tommy Castro Strangelove the dustbowl revival/leftover Cuties

nick lowe and los Sraitjackets Suga Free / b legit Carpenters tribute b Side players midnight players Killah priest / ras Kass rat pack Christmas peter petty big eyed Fish mustache Harbor todd morgan & the emblems Stu Hamm band Chicano batman

11.25.15 | SN&R | 29

BADLANDS

2003 K St., (916) 448-8790

THURSDAY 11/26

FRIDAY 11/27

#TBT and 5 Card Stud with throwback video requests, 8pm, call for cover

Fabulous and Gay Fridays, 9pm, call for cover

BAR 101 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.

BLUE LAMP

STREET KNOWLEDGE, DUBB 20; call for time and cover

1400 Alhambra, (916) 455-3400

THE BOARDWALK

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

BAM BAM, 8pm, call for cover

SAN QUINN, LACE LENO, GOOD OLE BOYS; 8pm, call for cover

CENTER FOR THE ARTS

LUKAS NELSON AND THE PROMISE OF THE REAL, 8pm W, $27-$30

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

COUNTRY CLUB SALOON

7 Sisters food truck, 4pm, no cover

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

THE COZMIC CAFE

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

Open-mic, 7:30pm, no cover

DISTRICT 30

Blvck Friday with DJ Khalasic, 10pm, call for cover

Well Groomed 10pm, call for cover

Absolut Fridays dance party, 9pm, $5-$10

Party Time with Sequin Saturdays Drag Show, 9pm, $5-$12

FOX & GOOSE

THE HEARTBREAK TIME MACHINE, MIKEY LP; 9pm, $5

PUNCH OUT, SARN; 9pm, $5

GOLDFIELD TRADING POST

HIGH NOON, 9pm, $5

HALFTIME BAR & GRILL

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

JET SCREAMER, 9pm, $5

Trivia night, 7:30pm Tu; Bingo, 1pm W

HARLOW’S

TWO GALLANTS; GOODNIGHT, TEXAS; 9pm, $15

EPSILONA, BABE, TROPHII; 6pm, $10$12; SAVED BY THE ’90s, 10pm, $15

ROYAL CONCEPT, 6pm M; Sac City College Fall Concert, Tu; SUBDUDES, W

2000 K St., (916) 448-7798

Everything Happens karaoke, dance and swim; 9pm-2am, no cover

1001 R St., (916) 443-8825 1603 J St., (916) 476-5076

5681 Lonetree Blvd., Rocklin; (916) 626-6366 2708 J St., (916) 441-4693

THE HIDEAWAY BAR & GRILL 2565 Franklin Blvd., (916) 455-1331

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

Sunday Mass with heated pool, drag show, 2pm, no cover

Open mic, M, no cover; Tacos and Trivia, 7pm Tu

Trash Rock Thursdays, 9pm, no cover

Sunday Sinema, 8pm, call for cover JOHN DENOCCOCHEA, TOM KENT, ARACEI COLLAZO; 8pm, $5

DAVID HOUSTON & STRING THEORY; 8pm, $6

Salsa Wednesday, 7:30pm W, $5

Every nfl gameday

2 $ 00 7 $ 00 4 $ 00 4 $ 50

Bud Lt & Coors Pints Pitchers Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Pints Jameson, Muerto, Smirnoff

NFL Sunday Ticket 6 TV's "Between the Bunns" Serving Grub Every Game 916.652.4007 4007 Taylor Road, Loomis, CA countryclubsaloon.com

SN&R

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11.25.15

Record Club, M; Cactus Pete’s 78 RPM Record Roundup, 8pm Tu Nebraska Mondays, 7:30pm M; Openmic comedy, 8pm Tu; Comix, 8pm W, $5

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

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EDM and karaoke, 9pm M, no cover; Latin night, 9pm Tu, $5 Open-mic, 7:30pm M; Pub quiz, 7pm Tu; All Vinyl Wednesdays, 6pm W, no cover

MIDTOWN BARFLY

30

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 11/30-12/2 Big Mondays happy hour all night, M; Badlands tree lighting, 7pm Tu

PLAIN WHITE T’S, MATT MCANDREWS, BETA PLAY; 7:30pm, $20.50-$22

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

FACES

Hey local bands!

SUNDAY 11/29 KATYA, 8:30pm, call for cover

GLASS HOUSE, 9:30pm, call for cover

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

1016 K St., (916) 737-5770

Want to be a hot show?

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

SATURDAY 11/28 Club Papi Thanksgiving Weekend Bash, 9pm, call for cover

FRIDAY 11/27

SATURDAY 11/28

NAKED LOUNGE DOWNTOWN

THURSDAY 11/26

DESTROY BOYS, THE BEINGS, MALLARD; 8:30pm, $5

THE LOVE DEFENDERS, SHELBY LANTERMAN, NIKKI NELSON; 8:30pm, $5

Jazz session with Naked Lounge Quintet, 8:30pm M, no cover

OLD IRONSIDES

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

Local Legends Tribute Show, 8:30pm, $10

Guest chefs serve $5 plates, M; Karaoke, 9pm Tu; Open-mic, 9pm W

1111 H St., (916) 443-1927

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

ON THE Y

Open mic stand-up comedy and karaoke, 8pm, no cover

670 Fulton Ave., (916) 487-3731

SUNDAY 11/29

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 11/30-12/2

Sunday Night Football with Cory, 5pm, no cover

Karaoke, 9pm Tu; Movie Night with Jandy Barwench, 7pm W

THE PALMS PLAYHOUSE

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

PISTOL PETE’S

WOODEN NICKEL, 9pm, call for cover

POWERHOUSE PUB

SPAZMATICS, 9:30pm, call for cover

140 Harrison Ave., Auburn; (530) 885-5093 614 Sutter St., Folsom; (916) 355-8586

Karaoke, 9pm Tu, W, no cover MIDNIGHT PLAYERS, 9:30pm, call for cover

THE PRESS CLUB

HARLIS SWEETWATER, 3pm, call for cover

Live band karaoke, 8pm Tu, call for cover; Local Licks, 8pm W

Pop 40 dance party, 9pm, $5

2030 P St., (916) 444-7914

SHADY LADY SALOON

HOT CITY, 9pm, no cover

1409 R St., (916) 231-9121

GHOST DANCE RADIO, 9pm, no cover

BLACK KNIGHT SATELLITE, MECHANISM; 8pm M, call for cover

GOLDEN CADILLACS, 9pm, no cover

STARLITE LOUNGE

JANE THOMPSON TRIO, 9pm, no cover

DREAM IN RED, DIGITAL HAVOC, LAST OF US, THUNDERCHIEF; 8pm

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

BENEATH OBLIVION, BATTLE HAG; 8pm Tu, call for cover

STONEY’S ROCKIN RODEO

New B92.5 Fridays, 7pm, $5-$10

Country DJ dancing and karaoke, 8pm, $5

Country DJ dancing and karaoke, 9pm, no cover

Country DJ dancing, 9:30pm W, $5-$10

TORCH CLUB

PAILER & FRATIS, 5:30pm, no cover; MIGHTY MIKE SCHERMER, 9pm, $8

THE HUCKLEBUCKS, 5:30pm, no cover; MERCY ME!, 9pm, $12

GINA SICILIA, 4pm-7pm, no cover; Front the Band karaoke, 8pm, no cover

QUINN HEDGES, 5:30pm Tu, no cover; RAY CATFISH COPELAND, 9pm W

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

The Love Defenders with Shelby Lanterman and Nikki Nelson 8:30pm Saturday, $5.

Naked Lounge Downtown Soul

All ages, all the time ACE OF SPADES

AMARANTHE, BUTCHER BABIES, LULLWATER; 6:30pm, $18-$20

1417 R St., (916) 448-3300

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD., 7pm, $29.50

101.9 The Wolf Acoustic Christmas with DAN + SHAY, 7pm W, $22-$50

CAFE COLONIAL

Consolcade retro console gaming, 6pm Tu, no cover

3520 Stockton Blvd., (916) 736-3520

THE COLONY

3512 Stockton Blvd., (916) 718-7055

SHINE

Golden Cadillacs 9pm Saturday. No cover.

Shady Lady Saloon Roots rock

1400 E St., (916) 551-1400

Print ads start at $6/wk. www.newsreview.com or (916) 498-1234 ext. 5 Phone hours: M-F 9am-5pm.

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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.

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by JOEY GARCIA

@AskJoeyGarcia

A friend in need What is the best way to help a friend with low self-esteem? She is always down on herself. She thinks she is ugly (she’s not) and that no one likes her. We’ve been best friends since freshman year (we’re in high school), but sometimes she even thinks I don’t like her. Helping her feel better is frustrating because it doesn’t help for very long. Her parents don’t seem to notice even though she is insecure around them, too. Do you have suggestions for how I can help her?

re-evaluation of that decision, wastes time and energy. That’s partly why you and your wife are miserable. It helps to challenge the thoughts that keep us small and scared.

Meditate on expanding your personal power until you are as big as, or bigger than the problem. When you do, you’ll realize that the crisis you face can be an opportunity to engage skills and enhance life.

I told my mom what I wanted to major in for college, but she said to pick a major that the world needs. What should I do? My parents are paying for college, so I feel like I have to do what they want. Please help.

Nothing you do will ever be enough, honey. Your best friend struggles with an emptiness that can only be filled by an abiding spiritual connection and self-respect.

Your parents are financing your bachelors’ Sometimes crippling insecurities root after degree, but if you buckle to their relentless criticism or shaming, expectations, you’ll be paying especially from people we with your life. Stand up for respect, like parents or yourself by schooling other adults entrusted your parents about with our care. Other the value of your times, insecurity Sometimes crippling dreams. A solid results from one university education insecurities root after incident that the contributes to the relentless criticism or mind regurgitates, formation of the and by doing so, shaming, especially from whole person; it inflates the story isn’t just career prep. people we respect. until it seems to Besides, who knows define us. Discovering what the world will that we are more than need by the time you a string of unhappy life graduate? You might just experiences takes professional be ahead of the curve. If not, at guidance. Your best friend needs a least you will have studied something psychologist to help her unpack her pain. you’re passionate about. Ω Your love and support is wonderful, but she needs much more you can offer. Ask a counselor at school to get to the bottom of MeDItAtIon of tHe Week your best friend’s problem, and keep asking “Gratitude can transform until your friend gets the help she needs.

How can I stop worrying and secondguessing myself about everything? I am making myself, and my wife, miserable.

Many of us worry over choices, and then second-guess our decisions in order to avoid making a mistake. It’s much easier to accept that mistakes happen and to trust that we have the capability and competence to manage, obliterate or transmute those problems. After all, worries are just a collection of obsessive thoughts. The practice of worrying is not related to crafting or instituting solutions. Worrying actually invites us to postpone taking action, and that feeds our anxiety. Worry and inaction followed by a decision, and then a repetitive, fear-laced

common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings,” wrote William Arthur Ward. How many thanksgivings have you celebrated this year?

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 Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95815; call (916) 498-1234, ext. 3206; or email askjoey@newsreview.com.

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Old school revisited I have been smoking weed for years and always held my hits in as long as possible. I am now thinking that maybe I should smoke weed like a cigarette without holding it in long. Has there been any research into what’s most effective and is less harmful to the lungs?

—A Reader Gone are the days when people thought you needed to hold in a hit as long as possible to let that good THC swirl around in your lungs. Giant coughing jags and teary eyes are so last century. The new way is to just take a good hit and let it out normally. You get the same high, but with no lung irritation, less coughing and less tar. If you would like to invite me over to give you some tips and pointers, let me know.

Being of old school, I always thought the best part of a sativa plant was those resin-covered tiny leaves adjoining mature flowers. Modern practice is to cut those off and I guess use those for ointments, etc. For old-school smokers like me, isn’t this the best part? And whatever happened to those juicy roaches dripping with resin? Nowadays, the “extremely potent new strains” don’t seem any better than an old “seeds & stems” $10 Mexican baggie of days of yore. Are my sensors fried or are we missing something?

Thoughts?

—Ol’ Gnarly What can I say, OG? The world has changed. Growers used to give shake (the leaves and tiny trimmed buds) away for free, but now shake is a prized commodity because it is so versatile.

People use shake for ointments, sure, but also to make concentrates and butter and edibles and all those pre-rolled joints you find at your favorite dispensary. In fact, some growers I’m not don’t even have to trim their harvests trying to go anymore. Extraction companies have back to the days been known to buy whole trees right off the farm. I’m not sure if I agree that the of waiting little leaves are the best part, though. hours for the Nothing beats a big, fat, well-cured bud, weed man.

IMHO. By the way, resinous roaches (say that three times fast) aren’t all that good for you. I know that “hobo hash” (the resin left in the chamber of your pipe, for example) used to be considered a delicacy, but really, it’s just tar-filled gunk. Don’t smoke it. Better to roll a fresh joint. As to all the new strains, I kinda feel you on that too. Everything is so sweet these days.

Sometimes it’s like smoking candy. Sometimes I pine for the days of a good, earthy strain like Panama Red or a chocolatey Thai Stick, but I’m not trying to go back to the days of waiting hours for the weed man to come by. What can I say. Things change. We no longer smoke hash between two hot knives. Try your best to enjoy the future. Ω

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Ngaio Bealum is a Sacramento comedian, activist and marijuana expert.

Email him questions at ask420@newsreview.com.

www.420MD.org 11.25.15 | SN&R | 37

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by Michelle Carl

Green Friday Shopping ideas for the cannabis patient on your list

Stay clear of the malls and do some Christmas shopping at the largest and most revered outdoor cannabis competition in the West ...

Hemp skincare

Support hemp farmers growing this sustainable crop by gifting hemp oil skincare products for the holidays. Wholly Hemp out of Camarillo, Calif., makes small batches of products, including deodorant, soap, lip balm and scrubs. According to its website, hemp has a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids

the emerald cup

Stay clear of the malls and do some holiday shopping at the largest and most revered outdoor cannabis competition in the West, and maybe even the world. The Emerald Cup is Dec. 12 and 13 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa (the heart of wine country) and celebrates that other harvest — sun-grown medical marijuana. Check out the award-winning meds in categories such as flowers, tinctures and edibles and peruse vendors selling cannabis-themed merch.

Chill to an impressive line-up of live music and expand your mind with workshops from respected voices in the cannabis community. Anyone 18 and older can attend, while only California medical marijuana patients will be able to use the outdoor medicating section. Tickets are $55 for one day or $100 for a weekend pass. Visit theemeraldcup.com for more information.

Produced by the Custom Publications division of News & Review.

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Free will astrology

by Willie Clark

by ROb Brezsny

For the week of November 25, 2015 ARIES (March 21-April 19): “We are torn between nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange,” wrote novelist Carson McCullers. “As often as not, we are homesick most for the places we have never known.” I’m guessing that these days you’re feeling that kind of homesickness, Aries. The people and places that usually comfort you don’t have their customary power. The experiences you typically seek out to strengthen your stability just aren’t having that effect. The proper response, in my opinion, is to go in quest of exotic and experimental stimuli. In ways you may not yet be able to imagine, they can provide the grounding you need. They will steady your nerves and bolster your courage.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The Pekingese is

a breed of dog that has been around for over 2,000 years. In ancient China, it was beloved by Buddhist monks and emperors’ families. Here’s the legend of its origin: A tiny marmoset and huge lion fell in love with each other, but the contrast in their sizes made union impossible. Then the gods intervened, using magic to make them the same size. Out of the creatures’ consummated passion, the first Pekingese was born. I think this myth can serve as inspiration for you, Taurus.

Amazingly, you may soon find a way to blend and even synergize two elements that are ostensibly quite different. Who knows? You may even get some divine help.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Author Virginia Woolf

wrote this message to a dear ally: “I sincerely hope I’ll never fathom you. You’re mystical, serene, intriguing; you enclose such charm within you. The luster of your presence bewitches me … the whole thing is splendid and voluptuous and absurd.” I hope you will have good reason to whisper sweet things like that in the coming weeks, Gemini. You’re in the Season of Togetherness, which is a favorable time to seek and cultivate interesting kinds of intimacy. If there is no one to whom you can sincerely deliver a memo like Woolf’s, search for such a person.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Some people are

so attached to wearing a favorite ring on one of their fingers that they never take it off. They love the beauty and endearment it evokes. In rare cases, years go by and their ring finger grows thicker. Blood flow is constricted. Discomfort sets in. And they can’t remove their precious jewelry with the lubrication provided by a little olive oil or soap and water. They need the assistance of a jeweler who uses a small saw and a protective sheath to cut away the ring. I suspect this may be an apt metaphor for a certain situation in your life, Cancerian. Is it? Do you wonder if you should free yourself from a pretty or sentimental constriction that you have outgrown?

If so, get help.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Most human beings have

an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted,” wrote Leo author Aldous Huxley.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that in the coming weeks you are less likely to take things for granted than you have been in a long time.

Happily, it’s not because your familiar pleasures and sources of stability are in jeopardy. Rather, it’s because you have become more deeply connected to the core of your life energy. You have a vivid appreciation of what sustains you. Your assignment: Be alert for the eternal as it wells up out of the mundane.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In their quest to collect

nectar, honeybees are attuned to the importance of proper timing. Even if flowering plants are abundant, the quality and quantity of the nectar that’s available varies with the weather, season and hour of the day. For example, dandelions may offer their peak blessings at 9 a.m., cornflowers in late morning and clover in midafternoon. I urge you to be equally sensitive to the sources where you can obtain nourishment, Virgo. Arrange your schedule so you consistently seek to gather what you need at the right time and place.

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

dedicate yourself fully to a game whose rules are constantly mutating? Are you resourceful enough to keep playing at a high level even if some of the other players don’t have as much integrity and commitment as you? Do you have confidence in

your ability to detect and adjust to ever-shifting alliances? Will the game still engage your interest if you discover that the rewards are different from what you thought they were? If you can answer yes to these questions, by all means jump all the way into the complicated fun!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I suspect your body

has been unusually healthy and vigorous lately.

Is that true? If so, figure out why. Have you been taking better care of yourself? Have there been lucky accidents or serendipitous innovations on which you’ve been capitalizing? Make these new trends a permanent part of your routine.

Now I’ll make a similar observation about your psychological well-being. It also seems to have been extra strong recently. Why? Has your attitude improved in such a way as to generate more positive emotions? Have there been fluky breakthroughs that unleashed unexpected surges of hope and good cheer? Make these new trends a permanent part of your routine.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): From the

dawn of civilization until 1995, humans cataloged about 900 comets in our solar system. But since then, we have expanded that tally by more than 3,000. Most of the recent discoveries have been made not by professional astronomers, but by laypersons, including two 13-year-olds. They have used the Internet to access images from the SOHO satellite placed in orbit by NASA and the European Space Agency. After analyzing the astrological omens, I expect you Sagittarians to enjoy a similar run of amateur success. So trust your rookie instincts. Feed your innocent curiosity. Ride your raw enthusiasm.

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

or not you are literally a student enrolled in school, I suspect you will soon be given a final exam. It may not happen in a classroom or require you to write responses to questions.

The exam will more likely be administered by life in the course of your daily challenges. The material you’ll be tested on will mostly include the lessons you have been studying since your last birthday. But there will also be at least one section that deals with a subject you’ve been wrestling with since early in your life—and maybe even a riddle from before you were born. Since you have free will, Capricorn, you can refuse to take the exam. But I hope you won’t. The more enthusiastic you are about accepting its challenge, the more likely it is that you’ll do well.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): For $70,000 per

night, you can rent the entire country of Liechtenstein for your big party. The price includes the right to rename the streets while you’re there.

You can also create a temporary currency with a likeness of you on the bills, have a giant rendition of your favorite image carved into the snow on a mountainside and preside over a festive medieval-style parade. Given your current astrological omens, I suggest you consider the possibility. If that’s too extravagant, I hope you will at least gather your legion of best friends for the Blowout Bash of the Decade. It’s time, in my opinion, to explore the mysteries of vivid and vigorous conviviality.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Are you available

to benefit from a thunderbolt healing? Would you consider wading into a maelstrom if you knew it was a breakthrough in disguise? Do you have enough faith to harvest an epiphany that begins as an uproar? Weirdly lucky phenomena like these are on tap if you have the courage to ask for overdue transformations. Your blind spots and sore places are being targeted by life’s fierce tenderness. All you have to do is say, “Yes, I’m ready.”

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.

PHOTO by kevin cortopassi

Booking it Libraries aren’t just for books anymore. The Sacramento Public Library knows this, and was even recently featured in The New York Times for its Library of Things program, which lets patrons check out items like video games and musical instruments, or use a sewing machine and a 3-D printer. To help celebrate our studious side, SN&R caught up with Alicia Doktor,

librarian and supervisor at the Colonial Heights Branch, and talked to her about books, JFK’s assassination, her favorite type of paper and gardening.

What are you reading right now?

I just finished Jon Krakauer’s new book, Missoula, and it was amazing. And then I’m also reading Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola.

Both kind of heavy nonfiction books, but I’m a nonfiction reader.

Weirdest book you’ve ever had someone ask for?

Oh, man. You know, I’m kind of a weirdo myself, so it would have to be something really, really out of the ordinary. It seems to me, in libraries, there’s always somebody who is really obsessed with the JFK assassination, like no matter what. I’ve worked in three or four different library systems and they’ll always be the one person, and there’s this one specific book on the JFK assassination that they just are very obsessed with.

And it’s over 10 years of time and in different library systems, and different geographic locations. It’s always … there’s still that conspiracy out there.

Where did the idea for the Library of Things program come from?

I think this library system is always looking at ways to continue to be relevant. We try

to stay relevant as much as possible. I think looking around at how other library systems were doing things, there’s other “Library of Things” in other locations. So we basically had some librarians who got together and said, “Hey, this would be a really great idea,” and Sacramento Public Library is a really supportive system that really encourages innovation and risk-taking. People got together, put the wheels to the road and got it underway.

Your branch has a seed library.

What can people take from there?

The seeds that we have in our catalog are all heirlooms seeds, so they’re not GMO. We’re very specific when we purchase those. You can get anything from flowers, perennials—some guy came in and was really excited about arugula yesterday—fruits and vegetables, all sorts of different things.

I see a theme running with the seeds and the library’s garden.

We’re also getting a demo kitchen. That’s going to come online probably in the next six months. We’re getting a complete renovation of our community room and kitchen, and we’re going to have programming that is connected to food literacy and nutrition to kind of tie in everything we have going on with the garden. So hopefully we’ll be able to harvest from our garden, and then have food programming in our demo kitchen, and we can use the tools from our tool library to harvest the plants.

How do you organize your books at home?

I am not in Dewey Decimal order, I will not lie. I have all my cookbooks together, that is the most important collection that I have.

But honestly, I have moved so much in the past five or six years that my book collection is whittling down further and further.

So, basically with my cookbooks in order I’m happy, and everything else is just kind of mixed together. I am a bad librarian. I do not have them spine labeled and cataloged.

Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter?

Harry Potter.

If you could erase one book from history, what would it be?

I don’t think I would. I think all the books are important. Save all the books!

Opposite question: One book that everyone should read?

The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder.

It’s, like, one of my favorite books of all time. It’s about life and mystery and serendipity and just being in the right place at the right time to be open to the universe.

Amazing. Everyone should read it.

What did you dress up as for Halloween?

I was Waldo. And there was another Waldo in the system too. There was at least two of us in Sac Public.

What’s your favorite type of paper?

I’m really actually into the stock that books are printed on, and I do not like lightweight stock. And actually, Amy Poehler’s book, I really wanted to read it, but the stock was really heavy and glossy and I could not do it.

So I like a medium stock, and I like it to have some texture. And I’m kind of a person who enjoys a good typeset as well. Those are all things that are important to me when I’m reading a book. Ω

Check out the books, seeds and other resources at the Colonial Heights Library at 4799 Stockton Boulevard.

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Ace of SpAdeS

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Friday, November 27

Saturday, November 28

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