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page 14 Presenting the winners of SN&R’s 2016 College Essay Contest TailgaTing wiTh Bernie

Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly

Volume 28, iSSue 04

thurSday, may

12, 2016

newSreView.com

2 | SN&R | 05.12.16

EditoR’S NotE

MAY 12, 2016 | Vol. 28, iSSuE 04

20 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. Editor Rachel Leibrock Staff Writer Raheem F. Hosseini Arts & Culture Editor Janelle Bitker Assistant Editor Anthony Siino Editorial Coordinator Becca Costello Contributors Daniel Barnes, Ngaio Bealum, Alastair Bland, Rob Brezsny, Aaron Carnes, Jim Carnes, Willie Clark, Deena Drewis, Joey Garcia, Cosmo Garvin, Blake Gillespie, Lovelle Harris, Jeff Hudson, Jim Lane, Kel Munger, Kate Paloy, Patti Roberts, Ann Martin Rolke, Shoka, Bev Sykes, Graham Womack Editorial Intern Kris Hooks

Design Manager Lindsay Trop Art Directors Brian Breneman, Margaret Larkin Production Coordinator Skyler Smith Designer Kyle Shine Marketing/Publications Design Manager Serene Lusano Marketing/Publications Designer Sarah Hansel Contributing Photographers Lisa Baetz, Darin Bradford, Kevin Cortopassi, Wes Davis, Evan Duran, Luke Fitz, Jon Hermison, Shoka, Lauran Fayne Worthy Director of Sales and Advertising Corey Gerhard Sales Coordinator Joanna Graves Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Olla Swanson, Joy Webber, Kelsi White Advertising Consultants Meghan Bingen, Angel De La O, Stephanie Johnson, Lee Roberts Sales Assistant Matt Kjar Director of First Impressions David Lindsay Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Services Assistant Larry Schubert Distribution Drivers Mansour Aghdam, Daniel Bowen, Heather Brinkley, Allen Brown, Mike Cleary, Jack Clifford, Lydia Comer, John Cunningham, Rob Dunnica, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Garry Foster, Joanna Gonzalez-Brown, Greg Meyers, Aswad Morland, Kenneth Powell, Gilbert Quilatan, Lloyd Rongley,

Lolu Sholotan, Jonathan Taea N&R Publications Editor Michelle Carl N&R Publications Managing Editor Shannon Springmeyer N&R Publications Writers Kate Gonzales, Anne Stokes Senior N&R Publications Consultant Dave Nettles N&R Publications Consultants Elena Ruiz, Julie Sherry President/CEO Jeff VonKaenel Director of Nuts & Bolts Deborah Redmond Human Resources Manager David Stogner Marketing/Promotions/Facilities Manager Will Niespodzinski Executive Coordinator Jessica Takehara Business Manager Nicole Jackson Payroll/AP Wizard Miranda Dargitz Accounts Receivable Specialist Kortnee Angel Sweetdeals Specialist/HR Coordinator Courtney DeShields Nuts & Bolts Ninja Christina Wukmir Senior Support Tech Joe Kakacek Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins 1124 Del Paso Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95815 Phone (916) 498-1234 Fax (916) 498-7910 Website www.newsreview.com

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Feel the truth

STREETALK LETTERS NEwS ScoREKEEpER fEATuRE SToRy ARTS&cuLTuRE SEcoND SATuRDAy NighT&DAy DiSh + off menu STAgE fiLm muSic + sound Advice ASK JoEy ThE 420 15 miNuTES

coVER DESigN By BRiAN BRENEmAN coVER phoTo By ShoKA

Got a News Tip? sactonewstips@newsreview.com Calendar Events www.newsreview.com/calendar Want to Advertise? Fax (916) 498-7910 or snradinfo@newsreview.com Classifieds (916) 498-1234, ext. 5 or classifieds@newsreview.com Job Opportunities jobs@newsreview.com Want to Subscribe to SN&R? sactosubs@newsreview.com Editorial Policies: opinions expressed in sn&R are those of the authors and not of chico community Publishing, inc. contact the editor for permissions to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. sn&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or review materials. email letters to snrletters@newsreview.com. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form and to edit them for libel. Advertising Policies: All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s standards of Acceptance. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes the responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message. sn&R is printed at bay Area news Group on recycled newsprint. circulation of sn&R is verified by the circulation verification council. sn&R is a member of sacramento metro chamber of commerce, cnPA, AAn and AWn.

This past Monday I felt the Bern when I joined the huge crowd at Bonney Field for the Bernie Sanders rally. As I stood in line for three hours with an ever-growing, snaking line of rally-goers, it was impossible not to feel inspired and motivated. Once inside, I listened intently and watched as thousands cheered him on from their seats or places on the soccer field. We weren’t alone. Throughout the afternoon and night, news helicopters hovered, satellite trucks got their live feed and countless photojournalists’ cameras lit up the air with flashes. That’s why it was so frustrating the next day when people in my social media circles complained about a lack of local media coverage. Let’s not lessen the power of a great night by perpetuating the myth that there was no “mainstream” press coverage of the event. The Bernie Sanders rally was covered by all of the major local TV stations, and made the front page of The Sacramento Bee. It doesn’t get any more mainstream than that. And, yes, SN&R covered the rally, too. (See “#FindtheBern” by Blake Gillespie, page 21). It’s one thing to be frustrated by the type of coverage. Complain about misinformation (but check your facts), vent about bias (but check your own leanings). Either way, nobody—Bernie Sanders included—benefits from the kind of outrage that’s gained via misleading information. Real political change is driven by truth, not myth.

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“Enjoy your summEr and thEn movE on.”

ASked outSide tower cAfe on BroAdwAy:

Advice for graduating high school seniors?

Sheri Scot t real estate agent

Try everything in college. Try every single club, look into different things to join, experiment with everything. I wish I had done that. I would have taken more art classes instead of grinding through and studying business. I was an accounting major in college. My passion was horses … and I wanted to be an agriculture major.

denniS BrodSk y retired

Go for it! Keep going to school. Don’t give up hope. Get a degree. My advice is to have a good summer and have fun. I took a huge break from school and a lot of time to myself. I have no regrets. I say enjoy your summer and then move on.

Je An wile y marketing and design

Whatever your passion is now in your 20s, and if for whatever reason you don’t do that to gain income, you will come back to it as you age. I have come back to plein air painting. Figure drawing and painting was a passion. I am not in the profession that I studied. My minor was my passion: fine art.

MArio contrer AS accountant

I would say, take your time and find out what you like. Find out what you want to pursue, and not be pressured to know what it is you want to do right away. I took time between high school and college. I am pleased with my choice of study and work.

GAry fitzGer Ald

k Athleen elliS

attorney

retired

When you are sitting there listening to the commencement speech, either sometime during or right after it, bend over and kiss your ass goodbye! I lived in a time when there was still a possibility of people living better than their parents. Most kids today would be happy just to achieve the same level.

Have a dream [and] a plan on how you are going to get to that dream. Listen to that little voice inside your head as you decide what is right and wrong in your plan. My dream was to become a mother. I was a stay-at-home mom until I was 39, and then I was able to go back to school.

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Love to an editor Re “A farewell” by Melinda Welsh (SN&R Essay, May 5): I took Melinda’s Writing for Publication class at Sacramento City College. She was a phenomenal teacher and a devoted fan of Vlade Divac. Her story on meeting him for an SN&R interview was fantastic. Great woman. My love to her and her SN&R family.

Brian Micek W es t S acr am e nt o

Sorry, uh, wrong guy? Re “Papa Hemingway in Cuba” by Daniel Barnes (SN&R Film, May 5): Lately this Jim Lake [sic] has not had a good word to say about the “bottom-feeding sycophants” in referring to we who live for independent films. Papa Hemingway in

Cuba was an eye-opening near-masterpiece of a bio on Hemingway and your reviewer trashed it and us who enjoy small movies and deeper films. Screw Jim Lake [sic]—he is in the wrong line of work and he stinks as a movie reviewer! Tom Wardell Sacramento

#9: Find out if you can run faster than an ice cream truck.

Email lEttErs tO sactOlEttErs@nEwsrEviEw.cOm.

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being punished just for being decent and responsible. Some of the homeless are truly deserving of services, but it appears to have become a lifestyle for others. This problem is growing. It seems like they are coming in droves and are everywhere you turn. If a person is truly mentally ill, they should be given housing and monitored for their safety as well as others. Nancy Fleming Sacramento

On La VendiTa, The new upScaLe-TacO jOinT in Oak park

The homeless ‘lifestyle’ Re “Right to relief” by Raheem F. Hosseini (SN&R Feature Story, April 21): I have noticed that every article SN&R posts about the homeless is totally in their favor. We never hear the other side of the story. For example, there is a church near my home that has recently become a magnet to the homeless. People used to walk their dogs near the church. Now no one goes near the place. The homeless camp out on the church porch. They defecate and leave trash all over. People living close to the church are putting their homes on the market. Many of the homeless are smokers. I fear that they will set the place on fire. The law-abiding, tax-paying citizens are

I went to opening. tacos good, ambience very good

@elle_la_croix

From the menu I saw prices didn’t look that upscale, but maybe I’m just used to Midtown restaurant prices?

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on Second Paul Mccartney ShoW at golden 1 center, ticketS For Which range FroM $50-$250: If I had that sort $.I spend it on making my own #art.Not listening to some1s elses.

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

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SN&R

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LAST CHANCE TO PLACE AN AD IN SUMMER GUIDE IS FRIDAY, MAY 13! CALL 916.498.1234. 05.12.16 | SN&R | 7

Counterfeit pain pills recovered by federal drug authorities and masking dangerous amounts of fentanyl bear close resemblance to a milder medication.

Dr. Feel Bad How bottom-up enforcement and lack of treatment created conditions for the city’s deadly fentanyl outbreak by Raheem F. hosseini

An extended version of this story is available at www.news review.com/ sacramento.

8 | SN&R

In February, when Sacramento County started its new opioid task force to address an emerging public health crisis gaining traction here, the deadly fentanyl outbreak that would eventually kill a dozen locally wasn’t yet on the radar. The group’s second meeting, on March 21, presented physicians with safe prescription tips for opioids, a constantly expanding class of pain-relieving medications all derived in some way from the highly addictive opium poppy. The wellattended meeting focused on the potential threat of these legal medications, which many say are dreamed up by profit-minded pharmaceutical companies, overprescribed | 05.12.16

by doctors and blamed for introducing a generation of suburbanites to the transfixing lure of a chemical high. Four days later, as if on cue, people started dying from a bad batch of counterfeit pills—illegally peddled and labeled as Norcos, but masking fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can immobilize large animals in small doses. “One of the things we learned with this [outbreak] … is there is this other source that we need to be aware of,” said Dr. Olivia Kasirye, the county’s public health officer, referring to the black market. Now, as a state bill rekindles tactics of the nation’s unsuccessful drug war,

r a h e e mh @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

there’s a different hard lesson to be relearned, as well: Fentanyl ambushed California because of the government’s response to the opioid crisis, not in spite of it. The victims help tell the story. Prior to the ingesting of illicit drugs that crashed their central nervous systems, some of the 52 local victims were unable to renew legal prescriptions, according to Kasirye and her assistant health officer, Dr. Melody Law. Developing a drug habit at the doctor’s office isn’t unusual anymore, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, which reported more fatal drug overdoses in 2014 than any previous year on record. More than 60 percent of those deaths involved an opioid and at least half involved a prescribed opioid. In Sacramento County in 2013, the last year for which figures were available, fatal opiate overdoses represented more than half of all substance-related deaths and an 83 percent increase since 2011. To the CDC, there’s little question what drives the exploding death count. “We now know that overdoses from prescription opioid pain relievers are a driving factor in the 15-year increase in opioid overdose deaths,” the agency says on its website. “Since 1999, the amount of prescription opioids sold in the U.S. nearly quadrupled, yet there has not been an overall change in the amount of pain that Americans report.” In terms of enforcement efforts, authorities have mostly concentrated on jailing individual doctors and illicit distributors. Meanwhile, the companies flooding the market with their products receive accommodating fines.

McKinley Village’s latest battle see news

getting schooled see gReenlight

sac’s newest King see scoReKeePeR

beatS

his KaMPF Last October, a doctor in Los Angeles County, Hsiu Ying “Lisa” Tseng, became the first in U.S. history to be convicted of murder-related charges for overprescribing prescription drugs. The increased enforcement is being felt closer to home, too. In a series of emails, a licensed Sacramento-area doctor told SN&R he gave up his Schedule II license to prescribe opiates after federal agents raided his practice last year, and says other physicians are following suit. “Now many of my patients [are] getting meds back off the street, using heroin etc.,” wrote the doctor, who requested anonymity since he’s still under investigation. “Huge societal issue. Don’t know solution. But making opiates users criminals is not going to solve anything.” So far, the drug companies have escaped a commensurate response. In 2007, Purdue Pharma L.P. paid out $634.5 million in fines for misleading the public about the addictive risks of OxyContin, which, like Norco, is a potent opioid painkiller. Three years later, Purdue cleared $3.1 billion from OxyContin sales, according to a Fortune article from 2011. Kasirye, meanwhile, says the overdoses of people with discontinued prescriptions shows their vulnerability to the black market and the need for more treatment options. The county has already acknowledged in a report that it lacks the resources to meet the drug treatment demand. Even before the fentanyl outbreak, Sacramento County ranked 10th in the state when it comes to fatal opioid poisonings, according to figures covering 2013. This past November, a countywide review of the existing treatment system showed that the county had opened many doors for people to request help, but couldn’t answer that demand for residential and detox treatment, which jumped 36 percent last fiscal year. During that same time frame, more than 16,000 people in the county received some type of substanceaddiction service, the report stated. While public health officials acknowledge the need for additional treatment options, the only offer on the table is for more enforcement. State lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would increase prison sentences for those possessing commercial amounts of fentanyl, similar to what’s in play for heroin and cocaine base. Under Senate Bill 1323, getting busted with a kilogram of fentanyl would tack on three more years. Possessing 80 kilos would bring 25 additional years.

SB 1323 has passed both the public safety and appropriations committees, but was placed on the latter committee’s suspense file, stalling its progress for now. Groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, California Public Defenders Association and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children have all opposed the bill, and argue that lengthening sentences would only aggravate California’s still-crowded prisons and runs counter to bipartisan efforts to reduce the amount of drug offenders doing hard time.

“With black tar heroin, you get it in chunks, and it’s cut with a million different things,” explained Melinda Ruger, executive director of Harm Reduction Services in Oak Park. “Everything from shoe polish to Folgers coffee—anything that might look sticky and black.” When fentanyl is part of that doctored stew of elements, its tricky density prevents it from being equally distributed, she says. That means a user could buy multiple doses off the same drug package, and suddenly keel over from one fentanyl-saturated hit. “There’s an uncertainty there, it’s not like fentanyl doesn’t even when you’re getting it have its benefits. from the same person,” said First synthesized in Ruger, a former heroin “We’re seeing a Belgium in the 1950s, user who has been sober medical practitioners for eight years. tremendous increase began using the Most of the over[in fentanyl].” compound as an doses that HRS tracks intravenous anesthetic involve users who William Ruzzamenti a decade later. Today, mixed substances—like director, Central Valley Higheven the Sacramento heroin and alcohol Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Fire Department adminor opiates and benzoisters it to treat pain. The diazepenes. Some of drug is cheaper and much the overdoses did feature stronger than morphine, says fentanyl, including people who department spokesman Chris Harvey. intentionally took it because of its heralded For firefighters and paramedics respond- potency. But no one interviewed by SN&R ing to an accident scene, a little fentanyl can could recall a spate of overdoses as bad as eliminate the pain of a snapped fibula. But the one that raced across six counties in that same potency allows drug-traffickers less than four weeks. to stretch out their profits by stepping on Rettig called the case her office’s fentanyl—i.e. taking extremely small doses “No. 1 priority in the region” and said and mixing it with other drugs and binders. agents were “making progress.” But she According to Casey M. Rettig, a spokes- said she couldn’t discuss the nature of woman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement their work since the investigation remained Administration’s San Francisco division, ongoing. Rettig did note similarities in this process allows traffickers to purchase the 61 fentanyl overdoses that have now a kilo of fentanyl at a wholesale price of touched the Sacramento and Bay areas. approximately $3,300 and sell it off on the For instance, one of the doctored pills black market for about $1 million. recovered in San Francisco bore close “So a little goes a long way,” she said. resemblance to a counterfeit tablet that While illicit demand for fentanyl is more the DEA seized here, she said. “So we are widespread on the East Coast, it’s starting looking to connect the dots if we can.” to find its way here in larger quantities, says Ruzzamenti isn’t convinced the bad William Ruzzamenti, director of the Central batch originated from a single source, Valley High-Intensity Drug Trafficking but said he thinks it’s possibly the work Area. He says Mexico is being flooded with of “somebody who doesn’t particularly cheap fentanyl from China, and pushing it know what the hell he’s doing, because up north. it’s not good policy to want to kill off your “We’re seeing a tremendous increase,” clients.” he said. In other words, incompetent drug dealIn March, federal drug authorities raided ers, not malicious ones. a Los Angeles County pill mill, arresting “They’re not chemists,” Ruzzamenti four men for allegedly using imported added. “They’re not pharmacists. They fentanyl from China to produce and distribhave recipes like your mom would have ute bulk quantities of pressed pills. for chocolate pie.” Still, up until recently, fentanyl-driven Whoever the suspects are, Kasirye says overdoses were fairly rare and typically they made very good counterfeits. occurred when mixed with black-tar heroin, “Whoever was doing this went to a lot which is common here, as opposed to the of trouble to make it look like a milder powdered heroin on the East Coast. pill,” she said. Ω

Flip-flopping neo-nazi Greg Withrow was back behind bars on Tuesday, but not for distributing the flier that roiled Midtown last week with its calls for violence against Muslims and Mexicans. On Monday, detectives from the Sacramento Police Department arrested the 55-year-old in Oroville on an unspecified probation violation after determining the longtime white supremacist was behind a double-sided flier that promoted extermination camps for “all Muslim and Mexican forces,” and was disseminated around the Midtown area the morning of May 3. Identifying Withrow wasn’t the hard part for authorities. The hate-sheet, entitled “The Hundred Little Death Camp Policy,” included his name, an Oroville address and a jumbled curriculum vitae that listed Aryan groups he’d formed and directed readers to his Wikipedia entry. But confirming that it was actually Withrow who produced the document took a dual investigation by police and the Fbi Joint terrorism task Force, a police department release states. In the release, the department said that while the fliers were “inflammatory and offensive, neither their content nor their distribution constituted a violation of the law.” According to VINELink, a victim-notification software program used by law enforcement agencies, Withrow was in custody at the Butte County Jail on Tuesday afternoon. Except VINE listed “Gregory Withrow” as the offender’s alias, and “Gregory Steven Tremaine” as his legal name. The Sacramento native’s race-baiting roots stretch back decades. In 1987, Withrow famously denounced his ties to the white supremacist movement, including his work with the California Ku Klux Klan, only to claim his reformation as a scam 13 years later, after a bitter divorce to a woman of Mexican descent. In 2001, SN&R reported Withrow’s then-claim that he’d renounced white supremacy (See “White Lies” by Tom Gascoyne; SN&R Feature Story; September 6, 2001.) Today, the semicoherent writings of the flier, which also attacks capitalism, don’t paint its author in a stable light. “If you have not secured a body dump-site, do so now!” it commands at one point. “Kidnap, rob, torture for information and execute all Muslims and Latinos. Leave no survivors.” (Raheem F. Hosseini)

sensitiVe PaRKing Thousands of parking meters are about to get an IQ boost. The Sacramento City Council last week approved the purchase of 4,500 parking meter sensors as part of its SPOTzone, a tieredpricing system that’s being phased in around town. The idea is to charge people more money the closer they park to happening parts of town. City spokeswoman Marycon Razo said the new meters will monitor how long a car has been parked in a spot, allowing for rates to increase as time progresses. The parking rates are $1.75 for the first hour, $3 for the second hour and $3.75 for the third. This will allow the city to collect extra revenue if people park on the street for several hours to attend an event downtown, such as a Kings game at the golden 1 center. Razo said the smart meters don’t store any personal info. “It’s my understanding that it’s not taking any type of information like your credit card information,” she said. Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told SN&R in an email that, “while we haven’t reviewed the specific details of this smart meter program, we have concerns about the collect-it-all, ‘big data’ mentality, where entities are gathering, combining and analyzing large and small data sets.” (Graham Womack)

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Bare budget, basic need Sac State’s new food pantry is part of multitiered approach to help needy students by Kris HooKs

k r ish @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

There are other options, however, Munoz On the far northeastern side of Sacramento says. Sometimes, getting students housing just State University, inside Yosemite Hall, a new takes looking into their financial aid to help them campus food pantry is proving to be an integral budget the money they already have. part in the university’s efforts to stave off food The most effective option, however, is insecurity and other money-related problems. the university’s Student Emergency Grant Sac State is one of only 11 of 23 CSU Fund, which can be used to help students put campuses with a food program, and it’s part of a multitiered approach to helping students who don’t a deposit down for an apartment, Munoz said. Since the start of the spring semester the fund have enough funds for food, housing and other has been used to help place 12 students into basic needs. housing, she said. A recent study released by the CSU system But it’s not easy to qualify. The money is estimates 21 to 24 percent of students are limited, because it comes from donation-only considered food insecure and 8.7 to 12 percent of services like the university’s alumni fund. students don’t have housing. Those are numbers “It has to be in context of emergency. We that administrators like Danielle Munoz, Sac look at the student’s budget, financial aid and a State’s newest case manager of student affairs, list of other things before [awarding are trying to drastically reduce in the funds],” Munoz explained. coming years. With more than half of the “I see the same crisis CSU campuses behind the everywhere, and if this is … curve when it comes to stressful for the students, aiding students with then we need to help,” housing and food Munoz told SN&R. security, Director of Since the study’s Student Engagement release in January, and Outreach Davin Munoz says she Brown says many has helped more look toward univerthan 80 students sities like Sac State with issues such as as the blueprint. homelessness and According to food insecurity, and Davin Brown Brown, the campus even mental-health CSUS Director of Student Outreach food pantry, which problems. No matter the and Engagement opened its doors to all type of struggle, she says, registered students at the they all get in the way of start of the fall 2015 semester, student education. helped more than 600 students And such issues could be seen from September to December. as a problem at a university trying to Although the pantry is run solely on outside increase its graduation rates. Recent numbers from donations, often coming from students, faculty Governor Jerry Brown’s annual budget summary and administration, it’s been considered a show only 9 percent of Sac State students graduate success, Brown says. Now, CSU Chancellor in four years—the third lowest rate in the CSU Timothy White is working on a system-wide system. Student inability to secure permanent initiative that would help establish food pantries housing doesn’t help those numbers, Munoz says. on all campuses. “Students are making great efforts in finding “This is not something that should be taken resources, but Sacramento has a housing crisis, so lightly,” Brown said. “Being a struggling student they’re still struggling,” Munoz said. is often looked at like a rite of passage. Like Like many in the community, students are eating ramen every day is OK, and that shouldn’t limited to certain outside resources in finding be the case.” Ω housing, including assistance from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, and shelters.

“Being a struggling student is often looked at like a rite of passage. … That shouldn’t be the case.”

SN&R

McKinley Village developers slated to get $8 million in reimbursement funds by Patrick Groves

91 .6

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in the

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to 340 donors for giving $70,000 collectively to these nonprofits in North Sac:

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THANK YOU to these 20 businesses on the Boulevard in Old North Sac for providing $3,080 in matching funds.

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With little discussion, the Sacramento City Council last week unanimously approved the disbursement of up to $8 million in bonds to reimburse the developers of McKinley Village, including former State Treasurer Phil Angelides. Who foots the bill and the project’s future could be complicated, however, by litigation that contends developers haven’t done enough to address side impacts of the inner-city housing development now under construction. Slated for completion in 2018, McKinley Village will feature 336 units of both family homes and condominiums bordered by Business 80 and the Union Pacific railroad tracks. The bonds are intended to reimburse developer Encore McKinley Village LLC for constructing the public infrastructure—roads, streetlights, water, sewage and drainage facilities. Acknowledging that the city’s ability to repay the $8 million by 2046, as planned, “may be impaired” if a legal challenge against the developer and city prevails, the treasurer’s office and finance department recommended bond privatization in a staff report. A lawsuit filed by a group of residents calling themselves the East Sacramento Partnerships for a Livable City alleged that the city’s environmental impact report failed to adequately analyze or diminish the impacts of the infill housing project, including its location near a former landfill and proximity to freeway pollution, and the projected increase in residential traffic. Dismissed last year in superior court, the lawsuit is currently completing the brief-filing stage in the California Third District Court of Appeal. The appeal’s potential impact on McKinley Village remains unclear. The group’s goal is to stop all development until a new EIR is conducted, according to court documents filed in superior court. Traffic is among the more contentious aspects of the East Sacramento housing development, which will have two access points and is projected to add 3,500 additional car trips a day. At the May 3 meeting, council approval was granted to a separate item that will apply $150,000 in developer money to trafficcalming measures around the project area. According to city documents, the bonds won’t be publicly traded on the open market due to the litigation, which means that only investors known to the city and its placement agent will buy and sell them. City debt manager Brian Wong described these private investors as “high net-worth individuals,” and said they could include pension and mutual funds as well as insurance agencies. The sale of 20 model units currently under construction should begin after Labor Day, said Megan Norris, vice president of partner developer Riverview Capital Investments. Ω

SUMMER GUIDE

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THANK YOU

Web extra: An extended version of this story is available at www.newsreview.com/ sacramento.

05.12.16

SN&R

Class inspiration Essay questions for the rest of us

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Who are you? If you haven’t already, please read How did you become who you this week’s News & Review College are today? Essay Contest winners. The essays and What are your key experiences, the kids who wrote them are remarkbeliefs and interests? able. Smart. Funny. Insightful. Their Tell us about a failure. What did you very existence is a reason for hope in learn from that experience? this crazy world. Have your core beliefs ever been This is the seventh annual News challenged? What happened? & Review College Essay Contest. It’s And then, a wide variety of wacko a simple endeavor. Instead of writing questions, such as, “What do you something new, we ask local students expect to find over the rainbow?” to submit their college essays to us. I thought it would be pretty hard to These are pieces that the students have answer any of these questions. sweated over, and often written and But I thought of other questions rewritten many times. that may not be of interest to the They’re a very good read—and the college admission officers, but top ones are worth cash prizes, should be of interest to thanks to our generous anyone who is trying to sponsors. The first-place figure out a life plan. winner will receive My questions $2,000, sponsored by The essays include: InterWest and Gilbert and the kids who What do you do Associates. The with your days? wrote them are second-place winner Are your efforts will get a check for remarkable making the world a $1,000, via SN&R, and better or a worse place? the third-place winner What is actually imporwill receive $500, spontant to you? Family, friends, sored by GiveBack2Sac. status, wealth or …? Even though the essays are Should you change what you primarily designed to convince a are doing? college admission officer to admit the If so, what stands in your way? student, the very process of writing I am not 18. It has been 47 years a personal essay provides for forced since I stopped caring about college introspection. It asks students to think admissions officers. But I still care about who they are and who they want about these important questions. And to become. These are important questhe answers. tions that need to be considered, but Answers to these questions at age are usually put off because of other, 18 reflected my hopes and dreams for more pressing activities. the future. Answers at age 65 reflect my In preparing to write this column, understanding of what has transpired I researched college essay questions. since then, but I’ve still got dreams for There is a whole industry to help the future. students improve their answers. Or, So, I encourage you to read the to be more exact, to help students College Essay Contest winners. Be manipulate their answers so they will inspired. get the desired acceptance letter. And then think about what your own I am not 18, and I am not applying answers would be to these questions. Ω to any college. But, looking at these prompts, I wondered how I would answer them. It was not easy. While questions vary from Jeff vonKaenel is the president, CEO and majority college to college, there are some owner of the News & Review. common ones:

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SN&R

sN&r’s 2016 college essay contest winners share stories of struggles, transformations and hope

First place Name: Willow Muir Now attending: Ghidotti Early College High School College attending: California Institute of the Arts Plans to study: Photography and queer studies Personal motto: “Do it for the experience.”

or today’s teens, it’s not all about selfie sticks and Snapchat. In reality, high schoolers in the Sacramento region deal with all sorts of unique challenges—piled on top of homework and exams. Every spring, SN&R’s College Essay Contest reminds us of what it really means to come of age. And it’s a struggle. We read about cultural barriers, illnesses, identity issues, bullies and broken homes. Yet, students always infuse their essays with hope and confidence in a better future. We combed through nearly 150 entries and, in a blind-judging process, picked our first-, secondand third-place essays. The winners will receive cash to help with college’s ever-increasing costs: $2,000 for first place, sponsored by InterWest and Gilbert Associates; $1,000 for second place, sponsored by SN&R; and $500 for third place, sponsored by GiveBack2Sac. Read on for SN&R’s 2016 College Essay Contest winners, as well as excerpts from our honorable mentions.

Photos by Shoka 14 | SN&R | 05.12.16

‘An entire mile of people like me’ It is Oakland in midsummer, and I am lying about where I am going. I tell my grandmother I’m taking a bus to lunch, but instead I take the subway under the water to San Francisco. One friend knows my whereabouts, and I decide it’s good enough; what I’m headed toward is worth getting myself lost in the maze of skyscrapers. Coming up out of the BART station, I walk almost six blocks through the Castro, holding my newly purchased piece of queer literature close to my chest: Coming Out Under Fire, a History of Gays & Lesbians in World War II. It feels illicit, and I plan to read it slowly, keeping it behind the other books on my shelf once I take it home. Dolores Park is full of people, and I am instantly comfortable. I sit on the grass, and within minutes someone my own age approaches me, grinning shyly. They ask my name and pronouns, making me half-tempted to cry because for the first time I feel safe enough give them real answers. At 5 p.m., the booths begin to pack up, and we start the march down Market Street to the capitol building. There are more people here than I had ever imagined, and they all

I was happy to have my grandparents move into our home seven years ago. I loved to listen to my grandfather’s stories and eat the pancakes my grandmother made. I would give anything to have them back the way they were when they first moved in. Dementia, however, has taken my grandparents and they only surface in spectacular moments. Those moments keep us going. We did not understand the magnitude of how our family would have to adjust and grow to fit our grandparents’ needs. We have changed our home to adapt to their physical disabilities, canceled vacations and put our social lives on hold, all in the hopes of offering my grandparents the best final years of their lives. As they have grown sicker, they need someone by their side at all times. That responsibility is divided up between my mother, two siblings and me.

Second place

through the Great Depression as children, he as a sharecropper and she as a bootlegger’s child. Later, he supported his sister, mother and his own family of four while attending night college. No one in their families went to college, but they did. They understood that education changes lives. I still think of my grandparents as the unstoppable people who helped raised my siblings and me. But these days, they can’t understand their surroundings and they overestimate their abilities. They loved our family and supported us through hard financial times and it’s only fair that in their time of need we do the same. As time goes on, I see that what my grandparents have taught me far outweighs the sacrifices we make for them. They’ve taught me patience, loyalty, compassion and gratitude. They’ve also taught me perspective, to focus on the big picture and let the little things go. Broken dishes and canceled dinner parties aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things. What’s important is to be a good grandson, a helpful caretaker and a respectful young man. I have truly been blessed by having two amazing people in my home. Our family didn’t let adversity destroy us. It brought us together. I cannot envision life without my grandparents. It hasn’t always been easy living with them, but all the spectacular moments—even though they are growing fewer and far between—keep us going.

Keeping my grandparents safe and showing them compassion are the most important jobs I have as caregiver and grandson. Listening intently to a story I’ve heard my grandfather tell 100 times before is one way I show compassion. Thanking them for chores they think they’ve done—which I actually did—is another way. The doorknobs, coffee pots and dishes they break can be easily replaced. The confidence that is lost by my grandparents when they make these mistakes is harder to replace. But then there are the good moments. The moments when I am gardening and my grandpa tells me he is proud of my garden, a compliment that I take to heart because he taught me this skill. The moments when I am cooking, often recipes I’ve stolen from my grandma, and she tells me I will have no problem finding a wife given my skills in the kitchen. Or the times when my grandparents show up to my football games wearing my number over their countless sweaters needed to fend off the cold. (Most of my games were played in 75 degree weather.) I have immense respect for my grandparents. They have given me perspective on how much I have to be grateful for and that nothing comes without hard work. My grandfather tells me vivid stories of his youth and how hard both he and my grandmother worked to change their lives. Both my grandparents worked their way

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Name: Brett Furtek Now attending: Da Vinci Charter Academy College attending: University of Connecticut Plans to study: Undecided Dream job: Building homes

about putting an end to police brutality, and the caller is reading names of transgender women killed by policemen in the last year. The list is longer than I expected it to be. The caller’s voice breaks into the microphone. I see one policeman mouthing the words along with us until his colleague catches sight of him and frowns. His hand is on the handcuffs at his belt. They both frown. Everything in that moment is so powerful. There are news cameras on the sides at a few points along our route, but I know they are not seeing the same thing I am. They can’t see that we are holding hands with the people next to us, they can’t see that from the inside, this crowd is not angry. This crowd is in pain. I want to show people truth through the lens of a camera. I want to show them the caller’s face when her voice breaks; I want to show them the person in front of me wearing a trans pride flag around their shoulders. I resolve to charge my camera batteries next time, and every time after. I resolve for there to be a lot of next times, an entire lifetime of them. I resolve to show people yelling for justice as long as there will be people yelling for justice.

“ColleGe eSSAy”

‘Someone by their Side At All timeS’

look like me—not the same hand-me-down clothing, heavy boots and self-cut hair, but the same androgyny, whether intentional or not, and the same underlying anger. There are policemen all along Market Street, because while most of Pride is a celebration, Trans March is a protest. Only a few feet ahead of me someone is yelling, and slowly everyone around me is yelling. The caller is handed a microphone attached to an amp on the back of a bike: “I say ‘trans,’ you say justice! Trans- ” and I am yelling “Justice!” at the top of my lungs, along with almost a mile of people. An entire mile of people like me, an entire mile of people who have come through the same things and are still fighting, still yelling. I take my camera out, but the battery is dead. I want nothing more than to capture this, capture the anger and hurt on everyone’s faces and the way we are walking, keeping eye contact with the men in SFPD uniforms just inches away, across a line we may not put our feet over. The policemen’s faces are also intense, but a different kind of intensity. One man smiles awkwardly at me as I stare him down, and another openly scowls. We begin yelling

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‘terrorIst attacks were commonplace’ My story begins in Iraq, and it continues today in the United States. My family journeyed here when I was 12 years old. In 2005, we lived in a small, 900-foot house in Al-Adel, Baghdad. Our family room was a jumble of my dad’s electric belongings—an assortment of broken appliances, piles of project reports and a combination of rivets lying on the ground—alongside a small space for my parents’ bed and three small cribs for my sisters and me. My lifestyle was much like our bedroom—a mixture of disorientation and confusion. Yet, the blur I was surrounded by, the reality of war, never prevented me from having hopes and seeing my dreams come alive. I recall the countless nights I waited by the window for my dad to come home. And the one time he did not, there was a terrorist attack. Terrorist attacks were commonplace, but never had I anticipated that my dad would be a victim. We had no news about my dad. The roads were

blocked, cellular connections ceased and the attack was under investigation. Every aspect of my life, physical and mental, seemed pointless that day. The thought of my dad no longer with my family swam in and out of my mind, and once again, I found myself waiting by the window wondering if he might never come back. We finally heard from my uncle the following day: My dad was alive. My dad had to stay at my uncle’s house that night so that he would be safe. I was immensely relieved, but I was back to reality, where the haunting fear of losing everything—my dad—was not a possibility but a harsh reality. In spite of the constant adversities of war, the roadblocks, gunshots and danger of getting from one place to the next, my dad worked persistently, and he encouraged me to do the same. He worked as a project engineer for an American corporation, Bechtel. In 2009, my family was granted the opportunity to pursue a more comfortable life in the West due to my father’s

‘I lost control’ I always viewed my mother as beautiful and flawless; I envied her tall, slender physique, and I unintentionally harmed myself in hopes of becoming as perfect as I had perceived her to be. I meticulously counted calories, crying whenever I overate. I started walking to school and doing 1,000 situps every day, hoping to obtain the perfect body. I didn’t know this would take such a toll on my brain’s chemistry, and I lost control of my sleep schedule, my happiness and my emotions in a void between a half-death and partial life. One, two, three … 24. I sat and counted my now protruding ribs. They were beautiful, but I was not. The closer my body approached my unattainable idea of perfection, the farther I grew from those around me and the more out of sync with my emotions I became.

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Third place Name: Layla Al Asadi Now attending: Elk Grove High School College attending: UC Davis Plans to study: Human development One goal for freshman year: Create many connections

through clubs, internships and community service efforts in helping our local community and interacting with our global society. My dream became reality on October of 2009, when I arrived on the sands of what I now call my home. I recall stepping onto my elementary school campus in sixth grade; the buildings seemed magnified, people seemed more intelligent and everyone had the freedom to circulate as they wished. Little did I know, I was staring into the realm of my own massive possibilities. My experience in two different worlds has taught me to look beyond physical and mental constraints, even when reality tells me otherwise, like war did in Iraq. My story motivates me and instills in me a notion that I must carry with due diligence into the future: to change the world through my magnifying lens, learn more about the world everyday and lessen the sufferings of others. Through my lens, I wish to leave a humble legacy of love and hope for others as they build their own communities in this global society.

‘I dIdn’t want to move to amerIca’ Like many places in Latin America, most people from my town face poverty. When I was younger, I would see trucks filled with men leave and not come back for years. I remember peeking through my window and seeing the men clutching photographs while holding back tears. I would ask my mom where they were headed and she would always respond by saying “El Norte.” These men were traveling to the United States in search of a better lifestyle, leaving their families behind in order to give them the best life possible. I never really paid much attention because I always thought it would never happen to me, until it did. … One day he told us he would prefer if the family moved with him to the U.S. I didn’t want to move to America. My life was in Mexico and I knew that it would be difficult to assimilate to a new way of life.

honorable MenTion Name: Jamie Meneghetti Now attending: Folsom High School College attending: UC Santa Barbara Plans to study: Sociology and education One goal for freshman year: Learn to surf

honorable MenTion Name: Andrea Hinojosa Villalobos Now attending: Elk Grove High School College attending: UC Irvine Plans to study: International studies and business Summer plans: Move to Southern California

‘The happiness of my preTend world did noT lasT’ Lights, camera, action. Instantly my young mind would be engulfed in this pretend world where I was a rock star. I was on top of the world, my lyrics and my voice mattered! I imagined so vividly that it almost seemed real; the huge stage and the enormous sold-out stadium with the fans screaming so loudly you could barely hear yourself singing. Even at the young age of 9, I knew that this was my dream. But the happiness of my pretend world did not last. A couple of years after my parents’ separation, I became overcome by this dark cloud of depression. I was unhappy and could not find joy in even the smallest of things; I felt as if I was not even truly alive but that I was stuck in this type of hell where nothing could bring a smile to my lips. The one thing that pulled me out of the funk was that feeling I had when I was a kid, of music and how it made me feel free and how I could conquer anything that came my way, even depression.

Honorable Mention Name: Olivia Lynn Now attending: Antelope High School College attending: UC Irvine Plans to study: Undecided Dream job: Singer-songwriter

Honorable Mention Name: Anthony Hackett Now attending: C. K. McClatchy High School College attending: Stanford University or Harvard University Plans to study: Global health and women’s, gender and sexuality studies Summer plans: Catch up on all that missed sleep from the past four years

‘sacrifice did noT come wiThouT cosT’ I remember vividly a particular evening sitting on the floor of the kitchen looking up at my mother. As chicken crackled and spat in the castiron pan, my eyes were fixed on her dexterous hands. Slack-jawed at her ability to move so deftly, I inquired, “Mom, why do you work so hard?” She set the pan down and cocked her

head at me, brows furrowed. As if dazed by my question, she remarked, “Well, I want you to have it better than I did, and your father and I are doing our best to make sure that’s the case.” It’s only after much thought that I’ve really come to understand what those words really meant. For them, it meant skipping college and taking over the family business because it was expected. For them, it meant working 12 hours a day and then hurrying home to relax briefly before resuming their duties behind the grill in the morning. For them, it meant sacrifice. And this sacrifice didn’t come without costs external to their own fatigue.

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17 Honorable Mention Name: McCall Fellows Now attending: Folsom High School College attending: Brigham Young University Plans to study: Finance Summer plans: Intern for Kuwait-America

“they hey say a young woman’s goal should be to become the best homemaker she can be and aspire to someday be a wife and mother.”

Foundation in Washington, D.C.

‘hIgh school Is not solely an academIc InstItutIon’ Currently, counselors are overloaded with hundreds of students, and school psychologists are even harder to come by. This needs to change. High school is not solely an academic education, but a social, and emotional one as well. In order to produce well-rounded, stable students, our public school system needs to start looking out for children on a deeper level. A therapy system that targets all students, not just the most obvious, will help us step closer to this goal. New football stadiums and finicky technology need to be put on the back burner of school districts’ budgets, it is time for personal and professional help to come to the forefront. It may be less glamorous, but it is necessary if we want to assist a broad audience of students who are craving help.

‘Because I’m a gIrl’ For as long as I could remember I’ve had more responsibilities than my brother even though he is five years my senior. Not because I’m more reliable that he is, but because I’m a girl. I have to take care of everything from the housework to my parents’ stress levels while my brother lazily slouches on the couch. Now, this I contribute to a cultural phenomenon. Although Indian sexism is a bit of a taboo, it still subtly sneaks its claws back into the minds of many. Some temple committee members even try to defend this practice by justifying it as tradition. They say a young woman’s goal should be to become the best homemaker she can be and aspire to someday be a wife and mother.

Honorable Mention Name: Jaskirn Khangura Now attending: Antelope High School College attending: UC Davis Plans to study: Biomedical engineering One goal for freshman year: Make as many friends as possible

‘my destIny was In my hands’

Honorable Mention Name: Camille Larsen Now attending: St. Francis High School College attending: University of Virginia Plans to study: Business management Personal motto: “Don’t go where the path may lead,

go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

My mom left a stain in my life that would never be erased. We were not close to begin with and, as time went by, we grew more distant. I came home every day to find empty liter bottles of Bacardi and a powdered substance on the edges of her credit cards, which prevented a normal mother-daughter relationship. It went beyond the harm she was doing to herself; she was destroying any chances we had to have a normal relationship. My life at 13 was hell, and I felt trapped. Five-hundred-andforty-eight days—the majority of sixth and seventh grades—were filled with disappointments and hardships. But I had an epiphany. I knew that I was not in control of my mother’s situation and accepted that I was never going to fix her. My destiny was in my hands; all I had to do was fight for it and succeed.

05.12.16 | SN&R | 19

The secret weapon With big-name artists like Mozzy on his resume, producer Pete Rodriguez by Aaron Carnes brings inclusivity, vision and raw vibes to hip-hop It was early February and Mozzy and his entourage had just showed up to Sound Cap Audio. They were a little late. Once there, they were greeted by the owner of the studio, producer Pete Space—real name Pete Rodriguez. Rodriguez was decked out in an oversized hat, long-sleeved T-shirt and loose pants and sported a smile as big as his face. The producer shook Mozzy’s hand feverishly, making small talk and cracking a few jokes. Throughout the conversation, Rodriguez kept the talk focused on Mozzy—about his project, about life in general. Finally, he and the rapper got down to work in Rodriguez’s small studio; just a vocal booth, mixing room and hangout area. Within minutes, Rodriguez was fiddling with the backing track, while his co-engineer Ghostsweb (real name Robert Webber) 20 | SN&R | 05.12.16

mixed effects on the vocals. Meanwhile, Mozzy was already busy laying down verses. In less than a half hour, the three are done, with a solid, completed track to show for their time. This wasn’t Mozzy’s first time at Sound Cap Audio. His 2015 album Bladadah was recorded there, too, and in the time since its release, it has blown up. Rolling Stone, for example, ranked it No. 22 on its 2015 list of best hip-hop albums. The record, Rodriguez says, recorded at the same furious pace as this latest session. Still, while Mozzy’s gotten big attention for Bladadah, it’s Rodriguez who many would argue is its secret weapon. And, many would probably agree, he’s also the secret weapon for Sacramento’s hip-hop scene, working with a diversity of artists across subgenres,

including gangster rap, conscious hip-hop, horrorcore and alt-rap. Rodriguez says he doesn’t rule out any style— rather, it’s all about the artist. “If someone’s excited enough to come in here, then it must be pretty damn important,” he says. “We treat this shit like this could possibly be the last damn thing we ever record.” In the studio, he and Ghostsweb approach the project through the lens of their collaborators, he adds. “We try to absorb their vision. We want them to feel like they got out what they wanted, maybe even a little more vividly.” While most hip-hop fans are probably unaware of Rodriguez’s work, Bladadah’s success means that many Sacramento rappers—and beyond—are starting to understand his importance. “He’s one of the unsung, great talents of Sacramento,” says local producer Styles1001. “Pete’s opened up my ears to a lot of new music, and got me out of my bubble.” Rodriguez and Ghostsweb adjust their approach depending on the artist. Some rappers, like Mozzy, require them to simply keep up with their swift pace. Less experienced artists call on the pair to produce beats and guide them along the entire process. “We’re not here just to hit a damn button and then that’s it,” Rodriguez says. “At the end of the day—if your vision is strong—if you can think it, we feel like we can do it.”

A delicAte nostAlgiA

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“We’re not here just to hit a damn button and then that’s it. At the end of the day, if your vision is strong—if you can think it—we feel like we can do it.” Producer Pete Rodriguez (left) —a.k.a. Pete Space— with his Sound Cap Audio partner Ghostsweb.

Pete Rodriguez /// hip-hop producer

Photo BY DARIN BRADFoRD

The studio, which opened in 2009, is located in the bottom floor of an unassuming brick building at E and 20th streets. Rodriguez’s career goes back even further: He first got involved with hip-hop in the ’90s while living in Fresno. There, he rapped in and produced beats in a group called the HGL Crew. Later, he took it upon himself to record and mix their work because no one else seemed to know how. That led him to recording other groups in Fresno like Planet Asia, Living Legend, Skhool Yard and Ariginal Trendsettas. Rodriguez moved to Sacramento in 2003, working at Apple and recording rappers on the side. One of the first people he met here was MC QBall, who was working hard to bust up what he saw as hip-hop’s tendency toward cliques, throwing shows with every kind of rapper in town. For Rodriguez, MC Q Ball’s philosophy and approach influenced him to want to work with any and every rapper in town. By 2009, he was working with many of the town’s major players and by 2010 he’d teamed up with Ghostsweb. At the time, Ghostsweb had no producing experience, having spent two decades custom-painting cars. He started coming into Sound Cap Audio because his cousin was recording there and, after he expressed an interest in producing, Rodriguez brought him into the studio and taught him the basics. The two have operated as a partnership ever since. In the studio, Ghostsweb is the serious one—much more technical in his approach than Rodriguez.

The pair takes responsibility for every task and, together, say they’ve streamlined the process. For example, they do much of the mixing while the artists lays down tracks. It’s a matter of saving time—and also giving the final cuts that human element. “It’s not just the technology. We try to get the emotional performance more than anything. If we didn’t have any of this gear, we’d still get a great performance,” Ghostsweb says. “We’re not relying on [program] plug-ins. We’re just relying on emotional performances.” Mozzy’s Bladadah exemplifies this perfectly. The rapper had been coming into Sound Cap weekly to record when, one day, he announced he needed to release a record right away. He had an album cover ready and had narrowed down the list of songs he wanted to include on it. The tracks aren’t super-produced, but rather convey a raw, emotive vibe. Many, in fact, are in what Rodriguez refers to as a “version one state.” meaning that they weren’t mixed post-production, but rather taken from the mixing process. “I’m not going to lie to you right now, our ‘version ones’ are pretty hot. We cared so much about Bladadah while it was happening, that’s why it ended sounding pretty good,” Rodriguez says in a rare moment of self-praise. “I can’t go nowhere without hearing Mozzy everywhere, which is crazy—just to hear your own work like that all the time.” Ω

Sound Cap Audio is located at 417 20th Street; (916) 690-4505. Learn more at www.soundcap audio.com or www.facebook. com/sound capaudio.

oH, bRotHeR see Ask JoeY

#Findingthebern Can you count, suckas? Statistics and studies have shown Sacramento as one of this country’s most diverse cities— and it’s clear senator bernie sanders is very much aware of our vast demographics. It’s just one of the points emphasized during his rally speech here on Monday. While numbers have varied, the running estimation for those in attendance at Bonney Field currently falls somewhere between 15,000 and 21,000 people chanting his name. People who made it inside by 5 p.m. said they had waited two hours. And nearly double that for those who didn’t get in until the 8 p.m. curtain call—even as the line wrapped around Cal Expo and passed the main entrance. When sanders did finally take the stage to a fever pitch, shortly before 8:30 p.m., he let supporters know their presence was effective. “The corporate establishment is getting nervous. The political establishment is getting nervous. And when they see 15,000 people in Sacramento come out they are getting Does Sanders nervous.” risk losing because Attending one of the senator’s rallies puts into perthe 74-year-old spective why Sanders refers candidate possibly to his campaign as a political skews revolution. On Monday, the crowd illustrated the spectoo young? trum of Sacramentans. Diverse folks with radiant hair colors, families with children frolicking in the artificial grass, women holding hands with women, men holding hands with men, Midtowners, East Sacramentans and even farm folk with sun-dried skin. Feeling the Bern is often typecast as a youth movement. That typecast, at least in Sacramento, appeared false. Attendees spanned from voters who punched the ballot in the year Jimmy carter was elected to voters who will be participating in their first primary. Still, the huge number of first-time voters does raise a curious question: Does Sanders risk losing because the 74-year-old candidate possibly skews too young? Maybe not. Jacob Michael Cambra, 20, said he likes Sanders because of his message of unity. Cambra was skateboarding through the event with a sign that read “Make America Skate Again.” It’s a pun he knows marginalizes him as a misunderstood misfit. But he said he feels welcome among the Berners. “He runs a campaign that preaches accepting everyone like family,” Cambra said. Sanders’ message to the youth has been one of free college education. During Monday’s rally he cited the numerous universities that once offered such, claiming that if we could do it then we can do it today. Vanessa Michel, 39, who lives near Sacramento State, brought her infant to the rally and said the “education for everybody” issue stands out to her. “As he said, California used to have education for everybody and now it’s difficult to pay for it,” she said. Michel looked out into the crowd as if to indicate her opinion of the thousands there in the bleachers and on the field. “The way he talks about unity—that’s the other thing I really like,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re gay, a single mom … there’s diversity. That’s what I like and what I’m looking for.”

—Blake Gillespie

05.12.16 | SN&R | 21

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22 | SN&R | 05.12.16 3964_T3_10x10.5_Ad_SacNews_V2.indd 1

5/5/16 2:16 PM

may pickS by Shoka

90 is awesome Roland Petersen makes being 90 years old look good. The painter is commemorating paintingS his ninth decade on Earth with a solo show at Elliott Fouts Gallery. The artist’s signature aerial perspective of picnic scenes are geometric rainbows, making moments of mundanity smile with his punchy saturated palette.

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

Second Saturday reception: May 14, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Through June 2.

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

“Picnic Seen From Above” by Roland Petersen, acrylic on canvas, 2016.

Fantastical Higby Dolls, puppets, dance. Sha Sha Higby globe-hopped to study these art forms in Japan, Indonesia and India, among other places. The Sculpture artist is based in California now, but her work still carries influences from abroad. Figures wearing intricate, elaborate costumes, plain face masks and bare feet with dirty souls come from a fantastical place in Higby’s mind that Burning Man-goers should try to snatch a ticket for. Mysterious Theater Forms: The Work of Sha Sha Higby at Arthouse on R is a good place to start—it will include Higby’s costumes, sculptures, jewelry, working drawings and masks—plus, admission costs considerably less than a ticket to La Playa (it’s free).

Where: Arthouse on R, 1021 R Street; (916) 212-4988; www.arthouseonr.com.

Second Saturday reception: May 14, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Through June 10.

Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“Winter Reveal” by Benjamin Hunt, acrylic and cast aluminum, 2016.

Fragileness of memory Benjamin Hunt’s sculptures breathe the “fragileness of memory.” Familiar shapes—credenzas, chairs, ladders—are constructed with translucent acrylic, white and ghostly, and old parts of selves—moments trapped in photographs or antlers—are coupled with the furniture. His use of Sculpture reclaimed and recycled materials loads nostalgia into his delicate and exacting pieces. Hunt, who is a museum preparator at the Crocker Art Museum and a lecturer at Sacramento State, received a $10,000 grant from the Leff-Davis Fund for Visual Artists last year. In an October 2015 interview on Capital Public Radio’s Insight, Hunt said he would use the grant to fund projects that he didn’t have the means to before. His new work in his solo show Narrative Fragments is on view at Shimo Center for the Arts through June 4.

Where: Shimo Center for the Arts, 2117 28th Street; (916) 706-1162; http://shimogallery.com. Second Saturday reception: May 14, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Through June 4. “Glass Jungle” by Sha Sha Higby, sculpture, 2016.

Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; or by appointment.

05.12.16 | SN&R | 23

22ND ST.

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

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

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

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

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

10 FLOPPY’S DIGITAL COPIES AND PRINTING 2031 J St., (916) 446-3475, www.floppysdigital.com

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11 THE INSIDEOUT 2100 I St., www.the-insideout.org

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

13 THE IRON MONKEY TATTOO STUDIO AND FINE ART GALLERY 1723 I St., (916) 476-5701, www.facebook.com/ theironmonkeytattooandartgallery

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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26 VIEWPOINT PHOTOGRAPHIC ART CENTER

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37 WAL PUBLIC MARKET 1108 R St., (916) 498-9033, www.rstreetwal.com

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38 ARCHIVAL FRAMING 3223 Folsom Blvd.,

28 ARTHOUSE ON R 1021 R St., second floor;

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

(916) 455-4988; www.arthouseonr.com

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

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

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

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

33 LATINO CENTER OF ART AND CULTURE 2700 Front St., (916) 446-5133, www.lrpg.org

34 NIDO 1409 R St., Ste. 102; (916) 668-7594; www.hellonido.com

35 SMITH GALLERY 1020 11th St., Ste. 100; (916) 446-4444; www.smithgallery.com

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

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

39 CAPITAL PUBLIC RADIO 7055 Folsom Blvd., 40 CAPITOL FOLK GALLERY 887 57th St., Ste. 1; (916) 996-8411

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

42 GALLERY 14 3960 60th St., (916) 456-1058, www.gallery14.net

43 JAYJAY 5520 Elvas Ave., (916) 453-2999, www.jayjayart.com

44 WHITE BUFFALO GALLERY 3671 J St., (916) 752-3014, www.white-buffalo-gallery.com

II ARTSPACE1616 1616 Del Paso Blvd.,(916) 849-1127, www.facebook.com/artspace1616

III BLUE LINE GALLERY 405 Vernon St., Ste. 100 in Roseville; (916) 783-4117; www.bluelinearts.org

IV BON VIDA ART GALLERY 4429 Franklin Blvd., (916) 400-3008

V THE BRICKHOUSE ART GALLERY 2837 36th St., (916) 457-1240, www.thebrickhouseartgallery.com

VI CG GALLERY 2900 Franklin Blvd., (916) 912-5058, www.facebook.com/CgGallery

VII DEL PASO WORKS BUILDING GALLERIES 1001 Del Paso Blvd.

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

IX GALLERY 625 625 Court St. in Woodland, (530) 406-4844, www.yoloarts.org

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

off map

XI PATRIS STUDIO AND FINE ART GALLERY

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3460 Second Ave., (916) 397-8958, www.artist-patris.com. 5330 Gibbons Blvd., Ste. B, in Carmichael; (916) 971-3713; www.sacfinearts.org

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FOR tHE WEEk OF MAY 12

Enter the Dragon FRIDAY, MAY 13 When the film hit America in 1973, there weren’t many people cooler than Bruce Lee, and more than 40 years later, that’s probably still the case. Relive the martial arts master’s final film, which he helped write. It was released six days after he FILM passed away at age 32. Keep an eye out for a young Jackie Chan, too, who plays a henchman. $8-$10; 7:30 p.m. at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K Street; (916) 476-3356; www.crestsacramento.com.

National Beer Mile

—DeenA DRewIs

sATURDAY, MAY 14 National Beer Mile is a physical challenge for you competitive types out there. Well, OK, not really—it’s only one mile, and you drink four beers throughout (which is probably the biggest challenge). And then there’s an after party, which is even FUN RUN more drinking. Really, it’s a thinly veiled excuse to consume massive amounts of alcohol. But guess what? The whole thing sounds like a lot of fun. $35-$60; 11 a.m. at Raley Field, 400 Ballpark Drive in West Sacramento; (916) 376-4676; www.nationalbeer mile.com.

River City Marketplace

—AARon CARnes

sATURDAY, MAY 14 A new outdoor marketplace enters the scene this week; take in wares from more than 100 local vendors and craftspeople at the River City Marketplace in addition to live music, food vendors and a play area for the kids. The second RCM won’t take place until October, so take this opportunity to check out this hyperlocal market SHOPPING while you can. Free; 11 a.m. at Fremont Park, 1515 Q Street; http://rivercitymarketplace. squarespace.com.

you’re born a rockefeller,

Vanderbilt or Guggenheim, being a highbrow supporter of the arts is just what you’re supposed to do as a rich person (see also: using finger bowls; having a psychiatrist for your baby; being obsessed with coffee enemas). But what about the rest of us? As a society, we have a collective responsibility to support the creative class, because it gives life meaning (or something). The good news is that this can take many forms, and you don’t have to have a lot of money (or any, even) to do so. Here are a few opportunities around the city this week, moneyed snobbery not necessarily required: On Friday, May 13, scout the work of the next generation of local artists at Sacramento State University’s annual Art Ball. There will be refreshments and live performances, and exhibits will take place at various galleries and libraries on campus at 6000 J Street from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visit www.al.csus.edu/art/artball.php for more information. On Saturday, May 14, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., support the city’s budding music virtuosos at the Sac Prep Music Academy Extravaganza, which will take

place at its brand-new digs at the E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts Auditorium (2420 N Street). Students and teachers will be playing the Beatles’ iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band in its entirety, plus there will be refreshments and a silent auction. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Call (916) 382-2770 or visit http://sacprepmusic.com for more info. Kickstart your art collection on Thursday, May 19, at the Crocker Art Museum’s Big Names, Small Art event, where big-name artists will have work no larger than 12 inches by 12 inches up for auction starting at $25. Admission to the event is $10-$20 and it will take place at 216 O Street from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Visit www.crockerartmuseum.org or call (916) 808-7000 to find out more. Also on Thursday, the trueStory: Non-fiction Reading Series & Open Mic moves to its new home at the Warehouse Artist Lofts (1108 R Street). Three featured readers will share their work before the floor is turned over to the audience; the event kicks off at 7 p.m. and tickets are $6 in advance and $10 at the door. Check out www.tellatruestory.com for additional details.

—DeenA DRewIs

Wine & Brew at the Zoo

—eDDIe JoRgensen

sATURDAY, MAY 14 There may be no better way to connect with nature than to be a little wild yourself. Partake in friendly libations with your fellow wildlife enthusiasts at this exclusive after-hours party, hosted by the Sacramento Zoo. Enjoy refreshing samples from dozens of local wineries and breweries and participate in a silent auction. Proceeds benefit ANIMALS animal care and maintenance at the zoo. $55; 5:50 p.m. at the Sacramento Zoo, 3930 Land Park Drive; (916) 808 5888; www.saczoo.org/wineandbrew.

Alive Inside

—LoRY gIL

THURsDAY, MAY 19 Science is only just beginning to understand the power music has on activating parts of the brain that no other stimuli can access. This documentary examines the effect of music on patients with FILM deteriorating memories, temporarily reviving aspects of their personalities that have seemingly disappeared due to dementia and Alzheimer’s with tools as simple as an iPod. The film’s director, Michael Rossato-Bennett, will introduce the film. $10 suggested donation; 5:30 p.m. at Tower Theatre, 2508 Land Park Drive; (916) 817-2338; www.aliveinside.us.

—AARon CARnes

05.12.16 | SN&R | 27

IllustratIons by JonatHan buCk

Get buzzed beez nuts, vibe health baR Acai bowls are super-trendy, with the deconstructed smoothies often touted as antioxidant-rich body fuel. The folks at the recently opened Vibe Health Bar have upped the ante with a bowl they say just might be useful in fighting allergies. The Beez Nuts option ($12) layers a frozen acai berry blend with almond butter, crunchy granola and strawberries, plus bee pollen and local honey. Whether the bowl will help sufferers survive Sacramento’s notorious sneezing season remains to be seen, but the results are delicious, with the nuttiness of the almond butter balancing out the acai’s tartness and the honey’s thick sweetness. 3515 Broadway, www.vibehealthbar.com.

—RaChel leibRoCk

Heavy duty RiveR City RansoM, bottle & baRlow

IllustratIon by Mark stIvers

Trendy tacos by Janelle BiTker

Bring it, Bay Area: An upscale taqueria opened in Oak Park last week, in the same two-block radius as other hip businesses like Vibe Health Bar, Old Soul and Oak Park Brewing. The spacious La Venadita (3501 3rd Avenue) features exposed brick walls, vibrant colors, plenty of seating, vintage light fixtures and a cocktail menu. Concept-wise, there isn’t anything in Sacramento quite like it. It feels trendy, but not fancy. Service is casual, counter-style. Prices fall below Mayahuel, Zocalo and Cielito Lindo Gastronomy, as does the ambition of the menu. There’s no steak dinner to be had here. Instead, there are a few tacos ($3.50), including carnitas, cheese and pico de gallo in a crispy shell; and fried fish with arbol aioli and the 28

SN&R

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

usual fixings. An intriguing vegetarian option: a quesadilla ($7.50) with criminis, asparagus, goat cheese and poblano cream. Mole fans should take note of the dinner-only enchilada ($12) with chicken, mole coloradito, black beans and rice. La Venadita comes from Tom Schnetz, a Sacramento native who owns a few popular restaurants in the Bay Area. Last year, he helped open the Cinders, a bar on Auburn Boulevard with craft cocktails. He has a reputation for opening concepts in still-developing neighborhoods on the cusp of their explosion. If his expansion through the Bay Area is an indication, expect more. Curry time: We got a few new Indian restaurants in the past few weeks. I’m particularly excited about

05.12.16

Sahej India Grill (3025 West Capitol Avenue in West Sacramento), for one of those it’s-a-small-world reasons. I went to their restaurant in a suburb of Atlanta multiple times and always walked away impressed. Here, the family will also serve pizza, some loaded with curry sauces and other Indian ingredients. There’s also Kabab N Tikka (7622 Greenback Lane in Citrus Heights), which replaced Bamiyan Afghan Restaurant. The space looks more upscale now, specializing in Pakistani-Indian cuisine. Kabab King (4740 Natomas Boulevard in Natomas) is also new and also specializes in PakistaniIndian food. In addition to the expected curries and tandoori dishes, it serves a few naan wraps. Lifetime supply of doughnuts: You could win daily free sugar rushes in exchange for getting a tattoo of the Donut Madness (2648 Watt Avenue) logo. Enter the contest in the shop through Friday, May 20. Read more on SN&R’s blog, Page Burner, at www.newsreview.com/sacramento/ pageburner/blogs. Ω

In the old Nintendo game River City Ransom, enemies occasionally respond to your punches with an all-caps “BARF.” This made me pause before ordering the seasonal River City Ransom ($9) at Bottle & Barlow. It’s a heavier cocktail, with scotch, coffee, tonic, orange bitters, cinnamon, apricot and brown sugar all blending together to make for a syrupy drink that stays on the lower, thicker end of the spectrum, almost like an herbal tea. No need to barf here, unless you have too many. 1120 R Street, http://bottleandbarlow.com.

—anthony siino

Pie time RhubaRb Rhubarb is one of those things you wonder why anyone ever thought they should eat. It’s kind of stringy and tart straight from the market, but legions of people love it paired with strawberries to balance their sweetness in pies. You’ll recognize it at the market by its bright red stems. Don’t eat the leaves, though, as they contain oxalic acid, which can be toxic. Instead, thinly slice the stems and pair them with sweet fruits in fillings and sauces. You might also try using them to make a berry-rhubarb shrub or drinking vinegar for refreshing summer drinks.

—ann MaRtin Rolke

Farm-to-disappointment By Ann MArtin rolkE

EastSMF

HH 3260 J Street, (916) 228-4735, http://eastsmf.info Dinner for one: $20 - $25 Good for: hyperlocal, organic ingredients Notable dishes: trout sandwich, flatbread

There’s nothing more disappointing than biting into a gorgeously decorated cake to find it’s nothing but sugar. The baker worked hard to make it pretty, yet not enough to deliver on flavor. Do you eat it anyway? Sure, why not? But you may not go back for seconds. Unfortunately, EastSMF restaurant is like that cake. It’s all promise and hope at first glance, then underwhelming in reality. The small space, originally home to the first Formoli’s Bistro, glows with pretty paint and a more open floor. A new patio space out front practically doubles the seating. It’s much more inviting than before. Co-owner Rhonda Gruska radiates good cheer and idealism as she glides about the space, while her husband, Tony, and Rachel Kelley (most recently of Brasserie Capitale) lead the kitchen. The Gruskas bring plenty of experience, running Monticello Seasonal Cuisine in Davis for four years until it closed amidst legal drama last summer. So, it’s confusing that the food at EastSMF is such a letdown. The entire premise of the restaurant is built on all-organic, hyperlocal produce—within 50 miles of Sacramento—with plenty of vegan and gluten-free menu options. It ticks all the farm-tofork boxes, with the exception of flavor. A special French onion soup ($9) delivered neither the tangle of sweet onions you might expect nor a rich, fragrant broth. There was no gooey cheese or crunchy bread for texture. We added salt and pepper, yet fared no better.

On another day, the house-brewed iced tea ($3) was so cloudy and tannic it was unpleasant. It sat sadly in a glass with no ice or lemon. The menu changes frequently, depending on the produce brought in from farmers like Jim Eldon from Fiddlers Green Farm in Brooks, so vegetables abound. Dishes are limited in number, though, and tend to use the same ingredients repeatedly. One night, the suppliers must have delivered a lot of asparagus. We received it in the daily pasta ($19), flatbread ($12) and vegetarian entree ($17), with varied levels of success. With pappardelle, walnut-arugula pesto and caramelized onions, the asparagus added freshness, although the grainy pesto slid off the wide noodles in chunks. The flatbread featured a cracker-thin base spread with ricotta, thinly sliced asparagus, greens and red onion. The bread lacked discernible flavor on its own, but it was an attractive vehicle for the al dente vegetables and creamy cheese. On the other hand, the asparagus and its compatriots in the veggie main were so undercooked, they were practically raw. Paired with underseasoned polenta and no identifiable sauce, we lost interest quickly. Slightly more successful was the salad of red beets and butter lettuce with goat cheese ($10). It could have used some nuts or a hint of bitter greens to offset the mound of sweet and soft, though. Lunchtime may be a better bet, as the sandwiches seem to be well-executed. For example, the rainbow trout sandwich ($15) matched a semi-spicy, Cajun aioli, tucked inside a sourdough roll. Gorgeously colorful side salads tasted like spring; but oddly, one was too salty, while the other lacked seasoning. Service, too, is uneven in a too-casual, absentminded way. Even though our server only had three tables one night, she auctioned off the plates as if she couldn’t remember who ordered what. Perhaps it’s the space. It cycled through several concepts since Formoli’s went on to a bigger and better location. Though the interior seems much improved, the newest tenants haven’t yet found the depth of flavors to match. Ω

It ticks all the farm-tofork boxes, with the exception of flavor.

All about that farm life Soil Born Farms is the urban farm that started it all. And for nearly 10 years, the nonprofit’s annual Day on the Farm has united families with its produce and ethos directly on its American River Ranch (2140 Chase Drive in Rancho Cordova). Sure, Soil Born’s historic 55-acre farm is technically open to the public every week, but this spring fundraiser doubles as a party. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, there will be an organic plant sale, a produce stand, cooking classes, workshops, farm tours, garden activities for kids, lunch, snacks and more. In exchange for all the learning, eating and fun, Soil Born requests a $5 donation per person at the door. For more on Day on the Farm, call (916) 363-9685. Learn more about Soil Born and all that it does at http://soilborn.org.

—Janelle Bitker

IlluStratIon by JonatHan buCK

Here’s the beef By Shoka Heard the recent online kerfuffle between the owners of the vegan restaurant chain Café Gratitude and Gracias Madre versus the vegan community? The abbreviated version: The latter realized the former, Matthew and Terces Engelhart, have been eating cattle raised on their Vacaville farm, and some members of the vegan community have responded with a boycott, one-star Yelp reviews and alleged death threats. Or maybe it’s residual anger from years of Café Gratitude waitstaff

cajoling diners to recite the entire mantra-like names of the dishes when ordering: “I am Abundant.” What is not abundant, however, is the presence of the eatery in Northern California. The Bay Area cafes closed a while ago, but there are several locations in Southern California, plus Gracias Madre, their vegan, organic Mexican food spot still stands in San Francisco (2211 Mission Street). Go there, don’t go there, whatever, but death threats? Online bullying is so 2014.

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ReviewS

Now playiNg

Alice in Wonderland

Life, under pressure by Bev SykeS

This is a zany adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic by B Street playwright Greg Alexander. This time around, Alice is a whiny teenager lost without her internet connection. Good performances in a weird script, suited for ages 5 and up. Sa, Su 1pm and 4pm. Through 5/22. $15$20. B Street Theatre, 2711 B Street; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. B.S.

8pm, Sa 2pm and 8pm, Su 2pm, W 6:30pm. Through 5/15. Sac-

The Dresser

“Cheers to social awkwardness!”

Disgraced

Disgraced ; 8 p.m. thursday and friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. saturday, 2 p.m. sunday, 7 p.m. Wednesday; $23-$35. capital stage, 2215 J street; (916) 995-5464; www.capstage.org. through June 5.

Despite someone’s ideals and best intentions, the remnants of his or her deeply ingrained cultural upbringing may surface during times of stress. This is clear in Disgraced, a powerful play by Ayad Akhtar, now at Capital Stage, under the direction of Michael Stevenson. Akhtar’s work won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This 90-minute one-act play features four scenes, with the production’s most pivotal one taking place at a dinner party where tempers grow hot and lifechanging revelations are made. Amir Kapoor (Adam El-Sharkawi) is a successful Pakistani-American lawyer, climbing the corporate ladder and expecting to be made partner very soon. He has rejected Islam and all that the Quran teaches. El-Sharkawi plays Amir with barely concealed rage from the beginning, so the actions later in the evening come as no surprise. His wife, Emily (Jennifer LeBlanc), is an up-andcoming artist whose work is finally starting to earn recognition. She takes inspiration from Islamic imagery and is much more intensely passionate about Islam than her husband. LeBlanc gives an almost luminous performance, calmly passionate and fiercely loyal to her husband. Benjamin T. Ismail is riveting and powerful as Abe, Amir’s young nephew, filled with zeal for Islam and angry with the treatment he and his family have received. Isaac (Michael Patrick Wiles) is a Jewish art dealer interested in Emily’s paintings. His wife Jory (Atim Udoffia) is an African-American colleague of Amir’s. Through the course of the evening, we see how easy it is for friendly conversation to become heated

This production features spellbinding performances by two amazing actors who tell the story of an ailing thespian at the end of his career trying to make it through one more performance of King Lear and his dedicated stage dresser. F, Sa 8pm. Through 5/18. $20. Resurrection Theatre, 1723 25th Street; (916) 491-0940; www.resurrection theatre.com. B.S.

Photo courtesy of caPital stage

and angry when identity politics takes over. The play exposes racial and ethnic prejudices that persist just below the surface of the everyday conversation. Ugliness comes out and ultimately everyone suffers from reproach and disrespect. Ω

—Jim Carnes latin Nights; 7 p.m. thursday, friday and saturday, 1 p.m. sunday, 6 p.m. Wednesday; $57. e. claire raley studios for the Performing arts, 2420 N street; (916) 552-5800; www.sacballet.org. through May 25.

Mud Blue Sky

So much talent and preparation have gone into the B Street Theatre’s production of Mud Blue Sky that it’s a shame it isn’t in service of a better play. While the set design and costumes are excellent, it’s Marisa Wegryn’s play that’s weak. What starts out as a sharp, snarky comedy about a reunion of three flight attendants in a motel room during a layover too soon loses focus. The playwright wants to make a serious comment on these disparate lives, but can’t make it work. Aiming for

Playwrights R. Hamilton Wright and David Pichette have adapted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most popular tale, keeping the basic mystery intact while

foul

Every picture tells a story, and in Septime Webre’s beautiful dance, Juanita y Alicia, it’s the story of an old photograph taken in Cuba before the choreographer was born. His dance, somewhat wistfully performed by the Sacramento Ballet as part of its Latin Nights program, is of family, friendship and a way of life that once flourished in pre-revolutionary Havana. Stefan Calka, Christopher Nachtrab, Jonathan Harris, Maggie Rupp and Hunter Finnegan are standouts in this authentic, bittersweet reverie. The program opens with dance vignettes from Act 1 of Don Quixote, with its visions of Spain in the time of author Miguel de Cervantes. The port city of Barcelona bustles with citizens, fishermen, matadors and courtesans. Lauryn Winterhalder, Dylan Keane, Lauren Breen, Ava Chatterson and Alexander Biber, among others, perform quite well. Don Quixote (danced—or rather, marched—by Richard Smith in windmill-tilting armor) and Sancho Panza (Anthony Cannarella, in a sweetly comic role) complete the series of scenes. In between the two ballets there’s a lively performance by Ballet Folklorico de Sacramento. The colorful troupe performs to music that is bright, energetic and inspiring.

ramento Theatre Company, 1419 H Street; (916) 443-6722; www.sactheatre.org. P.R.

The Hound of Baskervilles

5 Latin Nights

pumping up the chemistry and humor between Holmes and Watson and adding some plot and character twists along the way. Under the careful directing of Michael Laun, William Elsman (Sherlock) and Michael RJ Campbell (Dr. Watson) play off each other perfectly, and the rest of the cast members are equally entertaining. The production also benefits from an imaginative set, colorful costumes and captivating lighting and sound elements. Th 6:30pm, F

fair

gooD

wistful and maybe hopeful,

it just ends up sad. Th, F 8pm; Sa 5pm and 9pm; Su 2pm; W 6:30pm. Through 6/5. $23-$35. B Street Theatre, 2711 B Street; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. J.C.

The Rover

This comedy by England’s first professional female playwright (a contemporary of William Shakespeare) is both timely and timeless in ways that are surprising. As ribald as anything by the Bard, it gives a new—or old—take on the idea that “girls just wanna have fun.” Gail Dartez directs an outstanding cast that features two remarkable characterizations, that of Ian Hopps as the charming rogue Wilmore and that of self-effacing Paj Crank as the hilarious Ned Blunt. Th, F and Sa 8pm. Through 5/28. $10-$20. Big Idea Theatre, 1616 Del Paso Boulevard; (916) 960-3036; www.bigidea theatre.org. J.C.

short reviews by Jim carnes, Patti roberts and Bev sykes.

4 Well-DoNe

5 suBliMe– DoN’t Miss

Sacramento Choral Society conductor Donald kendrick will lead european Masterworks. Photo courtesy of the sacraMeNto choral society

Go big The big choir sings in the big hall as the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra performs European Masterworks, which includes pieces such as F.J. Haydn’s Harmoniemesse (his last major work, from 1802); Antonin Dvorák’s setting of Psalm 149 (from 1879), and a nostalgic, slightly melancholy piece by Ralph Vaughan Williams, An Oxford Elegy (this one from the late 1940s, just after World War II). Donald Kendrick conducts; the concert also marks the release of a new CD. $35-$55; 8 p.m. Saturday, May 14, at Sacramento Community Center Theatre, 1301 L Street; (916) 808-5181; www.sacramentochoral.com.

—Jeff Hudson

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it never manages to shake off. Brown carefully establishes to the audience that the film will actually tell the story of rich, uptight, old white guys who grow an inch instead of delving too deep into Dev Patel stars in this stodgy biopic of Srinivasa the life and mind of an Indian mathematician, and Ramanujan, a sparsely educated Indian mathematician only then feels comfortable enough to sketch in from a dirt-poor background who was admitted to the barest details of Ramanujan’s backstory. Cambridge University on the eve of World War I, where Born and raised in Madras without much formal he made some of the most important breakthroughs in training, Ramanujan nevertheless excelled at the history of his field. It’s a fascinating life story, tragic advanced mathematics, but the film would rather and inspirational in equal measures, but writer-director assume a Neo-like, chosen-one precocity than Matthew Brown’s adaptation of Robert Kanigel’s attempt to understand his long struggle, so it biography walks the most doddering and opens on the eve of his “discovery” by insulting paths wherever possible. westerners. Penniless and desperate, Instead of focusing entirely on Ramanujan scores an entry-level Ramanujan and his life and work, the accounting job, and it’s not long The only thing to narrative is inexplicably framed as a before his skills and tenacity recommend about flashback-memoir of Jeremy Irons’ attract the attention of Hardy twinkly-eyed professor G.H. Hardy, and Cambridge, and Ramanujan the film is the effectively turning Ramanujan’s is forced to abandon his wife location scouting. story into one of those simpering, (who was actually 11 or 12 years pseudo-inspirational, I-tried-to-tameold at this time, but that’s neither the-savage-beast-but-really-I-was-theheartwarming nor inspirational, so beast-and-he-tamed-me-whaaaaa cinematic get it out). aspirin tablets. Brown clearly identifies with As in the recent Havana-set Papa Hardy the rogue imperialist rather than with the meager Hemingway in Cuba, the only thing to recomand rigorous Ramanujan, which is a problem. mend about the film is the location scouting. Obviously, The Man Who Knew Infinity would The Man Who Knew Infinity was shot inside of never get made without the familiar, art-house friendly Cambridge University, so it’s got that going for it. faces of “By Jove!” monocle-twirlers like Irons, Toby Unfortunately, the film also holds the same insipid Jones, Stephen Fry and Jeremy Northam (playing view of Ramanujan’s work that The Theory of Bertrand Russell), but ownership of Ramanujan’s Everything held of Stephen Hawking’s, in that his story is fully ceded to his British benefactors and herculean scientific achievements are valuable and colleagues. Can you imagine if Good Will Hunting were understandable only in their ability to prove the told entirely as the flashback of an incidental Indian existence of God. Highly respected contemporary co-worker? I can imagine it, and it’s a vast improvement. mathematicians associate produced, so presumably Bad example. The point is that it would never happen. they got the math right, if little else. Ω As though slowly rising after a long afternoon nap, The Man Who Knew Infinity blearily stumbles in a cobweb of hackneyed and over-reductive ideas that

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Your Downtown Service Shop SMOG CHECK

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The latest attempt by Amazon Studios to poop in Netflix’s yard, Liza Johnson’s Elvis & Nixon boasts credibility-boosting above-theline talent in Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey, but it also feels strangely pointless. It concerns the King of Rock’s hazily motivated and unannounced visit to the White House in December 1970, where he met with pre-Watergate, firstterm President Richard Nixon, and posed for one of the most baffling and widely reproduced photographs of the 20th century. To its credit, the film doesn’t try to psychoanalyze Elvis, and it doesn’t try to turn this sociocultural footnote into an all-encompassing commentary on the era. To its shame, the film doesn’t really try to do anything at all, except maybe score some cheap laughs and roll its eyes at Elvis’ wardrobe. D.B.

A Hologram for a King

Ah, white people—there truly is no personal issue so crushingly banal or microscopically inconsequential that they can’t tell a soggy, quasi-inspirational story about heroically overcoming it. Tom Hanks plays disgraced American businessman Alan Clay, who tries to find redemption in the unlikeliest of places: himself (cue AM rock staples). More concretely, Hanks’ IT salesman is trying to find personal and economic redemption in Saudi Arabia, where he has been sent to pitch the monarchy on a hologram conferencing system. That’s what the movie is about, I swear to God—Tom Hanks looking for Wi-Fi in the desert. And yet for all of the arms-crossed ill will that the premise engenders, writer-director Tom Tykwer has enough conviction and verve to hold your interest. Hanks can do this sort of crumpled decency in his sleep, but he gives his all to Alan Clay, a show of faith in fairly shoddy material. D.B.

The Huntsman: Winter’s War

Writers Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin and director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan concoct a combination prequel and sequel to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, with fairly dismal results. Like its predecessor, it’s too dark and doomy to be any fun, and this time any link to the Brothers Grimm is tenuous indeed—it amounts to dropping the name of Snow White every half-hour or so, like a no-talent ham bragging about the famous stars he’s worked with. The convoluted script has none of the emotional resonance that makes fairy tales live for centuries, and director Nicolas-Troyan (prematurely promoted from visual effects work) shows no understanding of the difference between wall-to-wall CGI and real storytelling magic. A good cast tries hard: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain. J.L.

Keanu

The TV comedy team of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele make their bigscreen debut as two nerds who go undercover (and over their heads) infiltrating an L.A. gang by pretending to be two out-of-town badasses—all to retrieve a beloved kitten stolen during a home invasion robbery. The movie isn’t to all tastes, and not for the prudish or easily offended; Key & Peele (abetted by director Peter Atencio and

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Green Room

Writer-director Jeremy Saulnier follows up his energizing breakthrough Blue Ruin with this intense but generally unimaginative thriller. Anton Yelchin stars as the guitarist and reluctant leader of a bleary-eyed D.C. hardcore band on a disastrous cross-country tour that dead-ends in the Pacific Northwest. The band takes one last paying gig at a bar in the woods before heading home, but when they stumble upon a dead body in the green room, they are forced to defend themselves against neo-Nazi bar owner Patrick Stewart (playing against type, just not very well) and his hatchet-wielding minions. Saulnier excels at awkwardly violent and shocking set pieces but his comfort with intricate plotting and distinctive dialogue is still in the developmental stages. When it comes to suspense, he’s like a musician who knows all the notes but can’t find the rhythm, and Green Room is surprisingly plodding for a terse, largely single-set potboiler. D.B.

Peele’s co-writer Alex Rubens) trade in outlandish gender and racial stereotypes in a spirit of extravagant ridicule, and the violence (like the comedy) is way over the top, including the murder of Anna Faris (guest-starring as herself). But their anything-for-a-laugh method benefits from good comic instincts, and the gags come so fast that the duds are swamped by the frequent laugh-out-loud moments. J.L.

Mother’s Day

A hodgepodge of loosely connected characters (played by the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, Jason Sudeikis, Timothy Olyphant, Margo Martindale, Sarah Chalke and various lesser lights of the acting firmament) brace themselves for the inevitable pressure of the approaching eponymous holiday. Director Garry Marshall’s latest “holiday” movie sports a story (thrown together by him and writers Lily Hollander, Matt Walker, Tom Hines and Anya Kochoff Romano) undisturbed by any hint of the real world— does anyone but Hallmark really stress out at Mother’s Day? Has any place on Earth besides the set of this movie ever staged a parade for it, or a party with clowns and inflatable slides? It’s smug, cloying, shameless, false and sickly-sweet enough to make Billy Graham want to vomit. J.L.

Papa Hemingway in Cuba

Celebrity suck-up biopics, stories of famous people told through the eyes of their bottom-feeding sycophants, has become a subgenre in the world of independent film. Just in the last year, we’ve seen Elvis & Nixon, Miles Ahead, The End of the Tour and Life, all told from the point of view of a person tangentially related to the film’s ostensible subject. It’s an easy way to offer an awards-baiting role to a slumming actor while also avoiding paying for the rights to a life story that anyone cares about. In the plodding and perfunctory Papa Hemingway in Cuba, the story of the great writer’s final days takes a back seat to Giovanni Ribisi as Ed Myers, a real-

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Captain America: Civil War

When the U.N. cracks down on the “renegade” superheroes of the Avengers, one faction, led by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), agrees that oversight is in order, while Captain America (Chris Evans) and others distrust government and stand up for individual super-freedom. Thus the stage is set for a showdown, with all the CGI mayhem $250 million can buy. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley and directors Anthony and Joe Russo make a cheerful show of it, giving their gee-whiz comic book audience all they could wish for— and more. But that’s the problem—it’s still just 90 minutes worth of story stretched out to two-and-a-half hours. Still, lovers of the Marvel universe can never get too much, while the rest of us grumble about the Bach we could be listening to, the Tolstoy we could be reading. J.L.

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life journalist/fanboy who conned and cajoled his way into Hemingway’s favor. It was shot in Cuba at Hemingway’s actual house and haunts, but that’s all there is to recommend about this tired film. D.B.

Ratchet & Clank

An adorable little catlike creature (voice by James Arnold Taylor) and his equally adorable robot sidekick (David Kaye) join the peacekeeping Galactic Rangers to thwart the evil plans of a mad villain (Paul Giamatti) who is running around destroying planets. Once you get tired of counting off the ripoffs from Star Wars, Power Rangers and so forth, questions inevitably pop into your head while watching this bubble-gum movie: When are the geniuses in Hollywood going to learn that no movie based on a video game has ever made a dime at the box office? Did Paul Giamatti lose a bet, or owe somebody a favor? How did this junk ever escape from the Cartoon Network? The original 2002 game was developed by a company called, ironically, Insomniac Games—a condition that this movie is guaranteed to remedy. J.L.

Sing Street

In 1980s Dublin, a teenage boy (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), tired of being bullied— from both ends, as it were, by priests and other students at his school—and eager to impress a mysterious girl he meets (Lucy Boynton), impulsively decides to form a band. Writer-director John Carney’s flippantly cheeky movie-musical echoes tales of the 1960s rise of bands like the Beatles and Rolling Stones: idle knockabout teens forming bands to pick up “birds,” then gradually, hit-or-miss, evolving a sound all their own. And there’s more than a hint of the anarchic, freewheeling spirit (and contagiously joyous music) of A Hard Day’s Night. The only drawback for American ears is the mumbled, almost impenetrable Irish accents (subtitles might help); otherwise, great fun, with a terrific Euro-grunge soundtrack. J.L.

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“He was laughing at me because it wasn’t apparent. The idea that we fit a category was funny,” Cassels says. This low-pressure attitude helped the group develop its sound and speaks to how its members approach the entire songwriting process. Gray writes most of the music at first, but he sees the group effort as the most important aspect of how the songs ultimately come together. “If I have a certain way of playing something, I’ll mention it, Lookin’ chill, boys. but I won’t expect them to play it exactly how I wrote it. They have their own personalities. That’s the 50-Watt Heavy sound,” Gray says. “I was in a band in the early The members of 50-Watt Heavy are laid-back 2000s, and I would always have a bug up my ass if dudes. Sure, they gig around town frequently, but someone didn’t play a part as I explained it to them. they don’t really concern themselves with things Obviously, I had to grow out of that.” like taking press photos, designing websites or even Of course, none of this talk of general chillness putting much effort into self-promotion. cancels out the fact that everyone in 50-Watt Heavy “I just want to play guitar and write songs,” says singer-guitarist Joseph Kojima Gray. “Putting on my works really hard on the songs themselves. Even their recordings have been oddly meticulous. It boots and walking to town and trying to get everytook them over a year to record their first album. one to notice us—it’s not second-nature to me.” They already have a follow-up, but they haven’t had A quick rundown of 50-Watt Heavy’s lineup the time or money to mix and master it right. speaks to its lax band policy. There could be They don’t want a half-ass recording. anywhere between four and six people on Unfortunately for them, they plan stage at any given show, depending to fund the album by selling on who can make it and who can’t. T-shirts, which they aren’t The original four-piece was very good at doing. Gray, Brian Guido (drums), The music is what Christopher Cassels (bass) and matters, anyway. Jay Shaner (guitar) in 2010. “We’re at that age now Eric Affonso (keyboards) where it’s like, you’re not joined in 2011, and Josh dreaming of being a rock Lacey (guitar) joined in 2015. star or dreaming of being Combined, these guys create Joseph Kojima Gray popular. You’re playing a sound somewhere between singer-guitarist, music because you have to rock ’n’ roll and Americana. 50-Watt Heavy play music,” Gray says. “If I Gorgeous country harmonies, roots stopped playing music, I would be melodies and rock ’n’ roll energy the most miserable person on Earth. meld quite naturally with other elements I’d probably be that guy that’s taking off of punk, metal and pop. These influences stem his shirt in the street: ‘I have no hair, nobody likes from their past local bands, such as the Regulars, me and I can’t talk to ladies.’” Ω Forever Goldrush, the Regards and Grub Dog & the Photo by luke fitz

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“You’re playing music because you have to play music.”

Amazing Sweethearts. Cassels remembers when 50-Watt Heavy first got nominated for a Sammie. His son asked, “What category?”

Check out 50-Watt heavy at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 14, at the fox & Goose, 1001 R Street. tickets are $10. listen at www.50wattheavy.bandcamp.com.

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Foothills fresh Something in the water: For those who rarely catch local bands unless they happen to be opening for a national act, make Nevada City’s Pinnacles an exception. Regular concertgoers know there’s already something special in this region and its surrounding areas: Dan Elkan from Broken Bells once played in the now-defunct Them Hills; Zach Hill from Death Grips started Legs On Earth; Joanna Newsom got her start playing tiny cafes and local venues; and let’s not forget about power trio E V Kain and Jonathan Hischke. And while there are countless other lesser-known examples we could cite without referencing Wikipedia, the best way to find out about them is to get out more often. Pinnacles are a professionalsounding yet unsigned quartet who have practiced and perfected their craft well before ever stepping onto a stage. Now with multiple albums under their collective belt, they’re a huge draw in Nevada City and its immediate area. Still, they’re assigned the early slots in Sacramento. Led by vocalistguitarist Justin Hunt, the band played a short but sweet opening set on Sunday at Starlight Lounge, ending with a track called “Better than the Enemy.” Aided by the rhythm section of bassist Jesse Kinseth and drummer Zach Peach, Pinnacles’ post-rock and progressive sound works wonders in a live setting. They displayed a keen sense of dynamics and musical fortitude without sounding dated—like an early Police before that band became a stadium-sized phenomenon. —EddiE JorgEnsEn

Old-school swagger: A tuba and a banjo? Count me in. I caught Crescent Katz’s first set Friday night at Shady Lady Saloon, where the Sacramento-based jazz band plays every month. It wasn’t just tuba and banjo, though. The full lineup included trombone, trumpet and saxophone. Oh, and a washboard. Bonus points for that.

Crescent Katz is an old-timey jazz band—“pizza jazz,” as the band calls it. Down to the spiffy attire, the ensemble makes a good match for the venue’s saloon feel. This was my first time seeing the band, and I really liked what I heard. Like a flashback in a television show, Crescent Katz takes you back to a time that I’m frankly too young to have ever known, when music like this actually did fill up bars. Early in the night at Shady Lady, it was mostly a light bar crowd, with nobody up and dancing. If the goofy “pizza jazz” label sounds familiar, you might be thinking of the Freebadge Serenaders and its “discount jazz.” Freebadge’s Greg Sabin and Patrick Skiffington are in Katz as well. This is their bigger band, which released the album From Scratch last summer and is set to play the Sacramento Music Festival over Memorial Day weekend. As much as the band’s style was a prime fit for Shady Lady, the band’s sound proved to be a little more than the saloon could handle. The band was just a bit too loud, despite the fact that most of the instruments weren’t directly microphoned. Not much you can do there. On the flip side, the vocals actually needed to be brought up. It seemed to get better as the show went on, but the balance was consistently off between the rest of the band and the vocals. It was the same for the banjo, actually.

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The poor, plucky stringed instrument couldn’t compete with the volume of

the brass and woodwinds around it, and probably could have benefited from being plugged in directly. The set was full of solos—even some tuba solos and the rare whistle solo. The band ended with a jazzy rendition of The Muppet Show theme, probably my favorite song of the night and I was humming the theme as I left. I’d like to see Crescent Katz perform at a concert hall better suited for live music, but keep an eye on these guys, because they could go places. Here be some cool cats. —WilliE Clark

05.12.16 | SN&R | 35

14 SAT

15 S UN

Bellygunner

Daniel Bachman

Odesza

Fire Retarded

Shine, 8 p.m., $7

gold lion ARtS, 8 p.m., $10-$15

It’s pop-driven indie rock perfect for summertime backyard-barbecue listening. Bellygunner’s album Machine Gun Built for Two combines toe-tapping rhythms, groovy keys and an overall fuzz-pop feel that’s sometimes studded with lively horns, just to add another layer to the party. During live performances, the INDIE track “Medicine,” with its catchy, key and bass-driven melodies, perfectly sums up the easygoing vibes Bellygunner creates between its five band members. The song also instantly reminds one of warm Northern California sunny afternoons. 1400 E Street, www.facebook.com/ bellygunnermusic.

mcclellAn pARk, 8 p.m., $40-$45

Daniel Bachman is in his mid-20s, a guitar virtuoso and a virtual encyclopedia of American roots music. None of these facts are what make him such a compelling musician to listen to, though. He meanders through traditional American acoustic music and often manages to make a single guitar sound like an orchestra of strings. He’s an emotional player as well, taking these raw ingredients and pouring his soul into the old-timey-influenced music. His impressive techAmERIcANA nique makes him one of the most interesting solo-acoustic instrumentalists out there right now. 2733 Riverside Boulevard, http://danielbachman.com.

—Amy Bee

pReSS cluB, 5 p.m., $7

Although the duo of Harrison Mills (a.k.a. Catacomb Kid) and fellow electronic musician Clayton Knight (a.k.a. ELEcTRONIcA BeachesBeaches) has garnered the kind of fervent following other like-minded artists would kill for, don’t hold that against them. Since forming after college, this Seattle-based duo has released a steady stream of catchy electropop fare and with great effect. One listen to “Say My Name” or any of the other tracks on In Return, released in September 2015, should be more than ample reason to boogie on over to what will may be one of the oddest Sacramento venues of 2016. 5225 Luce Avenue, http://odesza.com.

—Steph RodRiguez

If there is a musical embodiment of having a fit and needlessly breaking everything in sight, it would be Madison, Wis., four-piece Fire Retarded. The group plays fast, loud and electric lo-fi garage-punk tunes. It borders on hardcore, with sprinkles of cowpunk. These songs aren’t GARAGE PUNk short and sweet; there are plenty of tricky complexities, ripping guitarshredding solos, and adrenaline-fueled jamout sections, all taking place as singer Tyler Fassnacht screams at the top of his lungs. It’s a lovely, beautiful mess, and ideal for the angst-ridden seeking release. 2030 P Street, www.facebook.com/FireRetarded.

—AARon cARneS

—eddie JoRgenSen

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

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

COMING SOON 5/14 9:30PM $12ADV

5/12 9PM $30ADV

SAVED BY THE 90S

DJ QUIK

5/13 5:30PM $18ADV

PORTLAND CELLO PROJECT

5/15 6PM $10ADV

50TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE TO THE BEACH BOYS “PET SOUNDS” (ALL AGES)

5/13 9:30PM $15ADV

5/18 6:30PM $10ADV

THE CHARMING BAND

LISA LOEB

(SMITHS AND MORRISSEY TRIBUTE)

5/14 5:30PM $15

CHRIS PUREKA

KELLY MCFARLING (ALL AGES)

36 | SN&R | 05.12.16

5/19 6PM $20ADV

B.O.B.

SCOTTY ATL, LONDON JAE

05/20 05/21 05/22 05/23 05/24 05/25 05/26 05/27 06/01 06/02 06/03 06/06 06/08 06/10 06/11 06/11 06/12 06/16 06/17 06/19

Kris Allen Foreverland (MJ Tribute) Musical Charis Caskey Father Ginuwine Antsy McClain and the Troubs Mike Love Islands Orgone Tim Heidecker Domo Genesis Del Tha Funky Homosapien Prince Birthday Tribute Mania: Beatles Experience The Gatlin Cherry Glazerr Pete Rock & CL Smooth Wonderbread 5 Chris Webster & Nina Gerber

5/19

UBER THURSDAY WITH DJ 2RAW

(FREE BEFORE 11 W/ COLLEGE ID) 21+ 5/13

DJ OASIS AND MATT CALI (HIP-HOP/R&B)

5/20

DJ JULIAN PIERCE HOP/R&B)

(HIP

5/14

DJ SERAFIN (LOS ANGELES) (OPEN FORMAT)

5/21

DJ OASIS AND THOMAS YOUNG (OPEN FORMAT)

DO yOUR fORMER BOOkISH 15-yEaR-OLD SELf a favOR.

18 W ED

19 T HU

Lisa Loeb

B.o.B.

Castle

Jody Wisternoff

Harlow’s restaurant & nigHtclub, 7:30 p.m., $20-$25 I don’t need to take this opportunity to go on and on about how undervalued Lisa Loeb is, do I? Because, you know, 20-plus years after the fact, she’s still the only artist to have a Billboard No. 1 single while not signed to a label. And that particular song, “Stay,” was made immortal by a little movie called Reality Bites. And also, she inspired approximately one whole generation of glasses-wearing SINGER-SONGWRITER girls. Do your former bookish 15-year-old self a favor and catch this queen as she plays through a deep catalog riddled with gems, her other hits “I Do” and “Do You Sleep?” among them. 2708 J Street, www.lisaloeb.com.

Harlow’s restaurant & nigHtclub, 7 p.m. $20-$25

starlite lounge, 8 p.m., $10

Bobby Ray Simmons Jr., better known as rapper B.o.B., thinks the earth is flat. He also learned very little from HIp-HOp Public Enemy’s Professor Griff regarding antisemitic views when he put out the Neil deGrasse Tyson diss song “Flatline.” Yes, in January of 2016, B.o.B. was a conspiracy nut job who probably believes in lizard people. Comical as it was to diss an astrophysicist, B.o.B. is the guy who wrote “Nothin’ On You,” “Airplanes” and “Headband.” As long as he doesn’t spend his set holding up Instagram prints of sunsets to prove his flat-earth theory, B.o.B. is still worth the price of admission. 2708 J Street, www.bobatl.com.

—Deena Drewis

baDlanDs, 9 p.m., $5-$15

Castle, a hard-driving heavy-metal band that seems to never stop touring, hits Starlite for the first time this year. The band’s tunes pulse with galloping bass lines and catchy-as-hell choruses—perfect for making you spill your beer HEavy METaL as you viciously headbang. Sharing the stage are two of the area’s most promising metal bands: Worship of Keres and Crimson Eye. The whole lineup leans toward classic metal, doom, thrash and sludge, but no matter the genre, if you worship the riff, here’s your next mass. 1517 21st Street, www.heavycastle.com.

—antHony siino

Jody Wisternoff is very much a product of his hometown, Bristol, England. For as long as dubstep has been a thing, Bristol has been known for it. With his duo Way Out West, Wisternoff merged Bristol’s dubstep with classic club beats, becoming one of the biggest progressive house names in the United Kingdom. Though ELECTRONIC the ’90s-born group is still active, Wisternoff regularly tours solo as one of the founders of electronica label Anjunadeep. Being a Requiem Events production, expect a feel-good dance party with impressive sound and light shows. And being Requiem at Badlands, expect Jell-O shots. 2003 K Street, www.jodywisternoff.com.

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05.12.16 | SN&R | 37

THURSDAY 5/12

FRIDAY 5/13

SATURDAY 5/14

BADLANDS

#TBT and 5 Card Stud, 8pm, call for cover

Fabulous and Gay Fridays, 9pm, call for cover

Spectacular Saturdays, 10pm, call for cover

Sunday Tea Dance and Beer Bust, 4pm, call for cover

Big Mondays happy hour all night, M; Karaoke, Tu; Trapicana, W

BAR 101

Thursday Comedy Open Mic, 7:30pm, call for cover

SCRATCHDOG STRING BAND, 9pm, call for cover

STILLWOOD SAGES, 9pm, call for cover

FOREST BAILEY, 2pm, call for cover

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

BLUE LAMP

1400 Alhambra, (916) 455-3400

SKIP-DOG, CASHTHAKIDD, ROYAL K, AMP, ACE BENJI; 7:30pm, $14

HAMMERSHOT, ROSWELL, STIGMURDER, SOVEREIGN; 8pm, $7

TUBE CIRCUS, 8pm, call for cover

JAMES MCCARTNEY, ALEX DORAME; 7pm, $15-$20

HAMELL ON TRIAL, MAGIC BULLETS; 8pm Tu, $7; B3 THE SHARK, 9pm W, $8

THE BOARDWALK

BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, FALLUAJH,

CENTER FOR THE ARTS

SEAN WATKINS, 7:30pm, $20-$24

2003 K St., (916) 448-8790

List your event!

Post your free online listing (up to 15 months early), and our editors will consider your submission for the printed calendar as well. Print listings are also free, but subject to space limitations. Online, you can include a full description of your event, a photo, and a link to your website. Go to www.newsreview.com/calendar and start posting events. Deadline for print listings is 10 days prior to the issue in which you wish the listing to appear.

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

COUNTRY CLUB SALOON

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

HONEY OF THE HEART, 8pm, $22-$27

Something Inside is Broken: A Native American Rock Opera, 8pm, $22

321 Sing! Third Tuesday Sing-along with Rod Baggett, 6:30pm Tu

KENNY FRYE, 9:15pm, no cover

8-TRACK MASSACRE, 9pm, no cover

Corn Hole Tourney, 6pm Tu, no cover

R3HAB, 10pm, call for cover

FACES

Everything Happens dancing and karaoke, 9pm, call for cover

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

Party Time dance party with Sequin Saturdays drag show at 9:30pm, $5-$12

FOX & GOOSE

STEVE MCLANE, 8pm, no cover

WHISKEY AND STITCHES, THE RATTLIN; BONES, STEPPING STONES; 9pm, $5

Sac Historical Society Benefit: 50-WATT HEAVY, THE DIRTY FEET; 8:30pm, $10

Open-mic, 7:30pm M; Pub quiz, 7pm Tu; All Vinyl Wednesdays, 6pm W, no cover

GOLDFIELD TRADING POST

Line dancing lessons, call for time and cover

TYLER RICH, 8pm, $10

Open-mic night, M

HALFTIME BAR & GRILL

Karaoke happy hour, 7pm, no cover

LOVEFOOL, 9pm, $5

INNERSOUL, 9pm, $5

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

HARLOW’S

DJ QUIK, 9pm, $30-$35

PORTLAND CELLO PROJECT, 7pm, $18$22; THIS CHARMING BAND, 10pm, $18

CHRIS PUREKA, KELLY MCFARLING; 7pm, $15; SAVED BY THE ’90s, 10pm, $15

LISA LOEB, 7:30pm W, $20-$25

THE HIDEAWAY BAR & GRILL

Punk and glam night with DJ Annimal, 9pm, no cover

LUNA’S CAFE & JUICE BAR

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

MIDTOWN BARFLY

Stilldreamin’ Two Year Anniversary with Yheti, Toadface; 9pm, $10

NAKED LOUNGE DOWNTOWN

SPK EXPERIENCE, WORKING MAN BLUES BAND; 8:30pm, $5

1016 K St., (916) 737-5770

1001 R St., (916) 443-8825

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.

DANGERKIDS, AVION ROE, WESTERN WOLVES; 6:30pm Tu; SOULFLY, 6pm W

DISTRICT 30

2000 K St., (916) 448-7798

Hey local bands!

1603 J St., (916) 476-5076

5681 Lonetree Blvd., Rocklin; (916) 626-6366 2708 J St., (916) 441-4693 2565 Franklin Blvd., (916) 455-1331 1414 16th St., (916) 441-3931 1119 21st St., (916) 549-2779 1111 H St., (916) 443-1927

Fight Club, live action sports hosted by Broseph Joe Brody; 10pm Tu, $5 Sunday Mass with heated pool, drag show, 2pm, no cover

BANJO BONES, SANDS HALL, BACHELOR PARADISE; 8pm, $5

MASON HOFFMAN, PIERCE AND THE GALS; 8:30pm, $5

BACKYARD BUZZARDS, TRIPLE HELIX, RUBY JAYE FRADKIN; 8pm, $5

Nebraska Mondays, 7:30pm M; Open-mic comedy, Tu

Midtown Moxies: Cover Songs Un-covered!, 8pm, $10

Salsa Wednesday, 7:30pm W, $5

ON HIGHER TIDES, AVERAGE LEAGUE; 8:30pm, $5

NAKED LOUNGE QUINTET, 8:30pm M; RAY MOULIN, 8:30pm W, $5

Fri 13th 9pm

Kenny Frye Band - Country Covers

Sat 14th 9pm

8 Track Massacre - 80's Cover Songs & Costume Contest! + 80's Themed cocktails

5/19 • FREE OPEN MIC 5/21 • 6 PM FREE CAFE COLONIAL ART SHOWCASE

5/22 • FREE CORY’S CULT CINEMA

Placer County Food Bank Drive w/ BBQ & Live Music from Way Out West! Come help us fill up 5 bins for the Placer County Food Bank! 21+ Venue 4007 Taylor Road Loomis, CA {EXIT I-80 TO SIERRA COLLEGE}

916-652-4007 countryclubsaloon.com

05.12.16

5/18 • 8 PM $5 MONDO DECO, VASAS, GIRLS IN LOVE

Tue May 16th 6pm

Fri May 20th 5-8pm

5/17 GAME NIGHT

Sun May 15th

Cornhole Tourney Cash & CC Gift Card Prizes

SN&R

EVENTS

8 PM $6 PARADE OF HORRIBLES, BLOODTYPE NEGATIVE, MORE TBA

Happy Hour All Day

EDM and karaoke, 9pm M, no cover; Latin night, 9pm Tu, $5

Cactus Pete’s 78 RPM Record Roundup, 8pm Tu; Twisted Trivia, W

40 beers on tap

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 5/16-5/18

THE ROCKET SUMMER, NATIONAL LINES; 7pm, $15-$17

9426 Greenback Ln., Orangevale; (916) 988-9247 DISENTOMB, UP IN SMOKE; 7pm, $22 314 W. Main St., Grass Valley; (530) 274-8384

SUNDAY 5/15

EVENTS 5/21 • 11-5 PM COLONY RUMMAGE SALE 8 PM $5 JKKFO, SYSTEM ASSAULT, INTERNAL, PUBLIC EXECUTION CHUMPXCHANGE Cafe Colonial - 3520 STOCKTON BLVD The Colony - 3512 STOCKTON BLVD 916.718.7055 /cafecolonialsacramento

THURSDAY 5/12

FRIDAY 5/13

SATURDAY 5/14

OLD IRONSIDES

SCREW LOOSE, MIDNIGHT THIEVES; 8pm, $7

ON/OFF, SOUTH LOT, CRIMINAL ROCK; 9pm, $8

THEY WENT GHOST, ZEN ARCADIA, MALCOM BLISS, HIGHWAY 12; 8pm, $10

ON THE Y

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

Cabaret from Beyond the Grave with burlesque, music, comedy; 9pm, $10

All Them Witches Art Show with ROADSIDE MEMORIAL, DJ DARK STAR; 7pm

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

SUNDAY 5/15

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 5/16-5/18 Karaoke, 9pm Tu, no cover; Open-mic, 9pm W, no cover

Open 8-ball pool tournament, 7:30pm, $5

Decades: 1920s-1940s Party, 8pm Tu, call for cover

THE PALMS PLAYHOUSE

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

PISTOL PETE’S

THE NICKEL SLOTS, GHOST TOWN REBELLION; 8pm, call for cover

POUR HOUSE

Second Saturday Dance Party with DJ Rue, 9pm, call for cover

140 Harrison Ave., Auburn; (530) 885-5093 1910 Q St., (916) 706-2465

Get Turnt & Learnt Trivia, 8pm M; Loveless, 9pm M; VIRGINIA, 9pm Tu

The Portland Cello Project Friday 7pm, $18-$22. Harlow’s Indie rock

POWERHOUSE PUB

WESTBOUND 50, call for time and cover

JAMES WESLEY, call for time and cover

GET LUCKY BAND, call for time and cover

ROY ROGERS, 3pm, call for cover

Live band karaoke, 8pm Tu, call for cover; 98 Rock Local Licks, 8pm W

THE PRESS CLUB

Milk: House, Breaks, Soul; 9pm, call for cover

Press Club Fridays with DJ Rue, call for time and cover

Pop 40 Dance Party, 9pm, $5

FIRE RETARDED, BLHANS; 5pm; DJ Larry’s Sunday Night Dance Party, 9pm

BOSS’ DAUGHTER, URBAN WOLVES, THY SAVIORS; 9pm W, $7

SHADY LADY SALOON

TYSON GRAF TRIO, 9pm, no cover

JULIE AND THE JUKES, 9pm, no cover

ELEMENTAL BRASS BAND, 9pm, no cover

ALEX JENKINS, 9pm, no cover

BLACKED, GARTH ALGAR, BEIRA; 8:30pm, $8

RADIO MOSCOW, LORDS OF BEACON HOUSE, PEACE KILLERS; 8pm, $15

614 Sutter St., Folsom; (916) 355-8586 2030 P St., (916) 444-7914 1409 R St., (916) 231-9121

STARLITE LOUNGE

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

ARABROT, HELEN MONEY, INSECT ARK; Tu, $10

STONEY’S ROCKIN RODEO

Country DJ dancing and live band karaoke, 9pm, no cover

Country DJ dancing and karaoke, 8pm, $5-$7

Country DJ dancing and karaoke, 8pm, $5

Country DJ dancing and karaoke, 9pm, call for cover

TORCH CLUB

Acoustic open-mic X-TRIO, 5pm; MERLE JAGGER; 9pm, $6

PAILER & FRATIS, 5:30pm, no cover; VOO DOO DOLLS, 9pm, $8

THE HUCKLEBUCKS, 5:30pm, no cover; DENNIS JONES, 9pm, $8

Blues jam, 4pm; Front the Band karaoke, MUSICAL CHARIS, 5:30pm Tu; MICHAEL 8pm, no cover RAY, 8pm Tu; JON EMERY, 9pm, $5

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

Country DJ dancing, 8:30pm W, $5-$10

All ages, all the time ACE OF SPADES

TECHN9NE, NO GENRE; 6pm, $38

1417 R St., (916) 448-3300

ADRIAN MARCEL, COMPLEX; 7pm, $20

SOMO, QUINN XCII; 7pm W, $25-$400

CAFE COLONIAL

Consolcade retro console gaming, 6pm Tu

3520 Stockton Blvd., (916) 736-3520

THE COLONY

YOUNG P THE GOD, TONY JUICE BOX, CASUAL D, SAUCY; 8pm, $5

3512 Stockton Blvd., (916) 718-7055

SHINE

1400 E St., (916) 551-1400

Radio Moscow with Lords of Beacon House and Peace Killers Saturday 8pm, $15. Starlite Lounge Psychedelic blues

Sac’s Coolest Open Jazz Jam, 8pm, no cover

STILLWATER SHINE, KNOWN TO COLLAPSE; 8pm, $6

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Brotherly burden I start high school in August and my parents want me to attend the same school my brother attends. I don’t want to. My brother always puts me down at the same time that he says something that seems nice. Some of his friends do it, too. My parents worship my brother, and say it’s great that he’s paving my way. How can I get them to take me seriously? You don’t want your parents to take you seriously, honey, you want them to agree with your preference. Understanding the difference can inspire you. Owning what you want will empower you. Be assured that your request is reasonable. By standing up for yourself, you are shaping your future. Since your parents aren’t listening, write them a letter. Explain that you don’t believe you will thrive at (the name of your brother’s high school here). Tell them you want to forge your own path, not follow tracks laid by your brother. Be clear that you feel your concerns have not been heard. Make a direct request to attend (name the school of your choice). Explain that existing tension in your relationship with your brother can subside more easily if you are at different schools, with separate friend groups. Hand the letter to your parents. Wait quietly while they read it. If they still fail to agree to your request, enlist a family member or teacher who sees what your parents cannot see about your brother. It’s not uncommon for a parent to have a favorite. But the reason a parent chooses one child over another varies. Sometimes the favorite child exemplifies traits a parent wishes they had, and the less-favored child is most similar in personality to the parent who least likes that child. So don’t take your parent’s behavior personally. They haven’t yet learned to treat you and your brother as individuals. No matter. Let it be your work in this lifetime.

you,” and then you asked: “What secret do you need to tell, and to whom?” My uncle molested me, and his oldest daughter, for years. I was about 4 when it started, and it lasted until I was 12. I will never understand why. I now realize this abuse is behind my addictions, incarcerations and psychiatric hospital stays. Is the sexual abuse a secret I must address? If so, how do I do it? I haven’t spoken to my family since 2014. I don’t want to bring up the past, but I owe it to my inner child to be free. Advice? The secret you need to tell is to yourself. Here it is: You do understand why your uncle molested you and his daughter. It’s because he is mentally ill, and throughout his life anyone who might have seen signs of it chose to stay silent. You are not to blame for the abuse done to you. It does not define who you are. It is a heartbreaking tragedy that you experienced. You are learning to thrive. There is no need to contact your family. As you continue on the healing path, you will discover that your inner child becomes free when integrated into you. Does that make sense? The healing of one’s inner child means that there is no longer a separate identity to be called inner child. Instead, you are whole. Ω

It’s not uncommon for a parent to have a favorite.

A recent Meditation of the Week featured a Maya Angelou quote: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside

MedITATIon of THe Week “If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn’t be here. I guarantee you that,” said first lady Michelle Obama. Do you celebrate your uniqueness?

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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Is the Adult Use of Marijuana Act gonna be on the ballot or what? —Reggie Stird-Votairs Probably. Last week, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and a bunch of other movers, shakers and moneymakers stood on a stage and announced that they had gathered more than enough signatures to place AUMA on the 2016 ballot. (They have 600,000 and they only need 385,000, so even if 36 percent of the signatures are thrown out, they still have enough.) Let the yelling and name-calling begin. If AUMA passes, adults older than 21 will be allowed to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow six plants. That’s the cool part. The rest is kinda the same old, same old: The state will create a regulatory agency; counties and cities can still ban grows and collectives; people can still be fired for testing positive for marijuana without proof of impairment; yada yada. According to AUMA, the medical marijuana laws would remain unchanged, although AUMA’s public consumption rules (no public consumption) clash with the rules of Prop 215 (qualified patients may smoke wherever cigarette smoking is allowed, but not in moving motor vehicles). There are a bunch of People different things in the AUMA—it’s 62 pages forget how long, for crying out loud! Dale Gieringer from conservative most California NORML has a pretty good breakdown of the new rules here: http://tinyurl. of California com/AUMAbreakdown. If AUMA passes, really is. the Legislature and the courts will have to do a ton of work to create a harmonious recreationalmedical balance. Listen, AUMA has money and connections. The pro-AUMA coalition is broad, diverse and well-connected. Anytime you can get Reagan Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and Alice A. Huffman, president of the California NAACP, to support an initiative, you are doing something right. Many hardcore activists don’t like AUMA, but have come to a sort of grudging acceptance that money and power always win the day in politics. Omar Figueroa (he helped to write the California Craft Cannabis Initiative) sent me this text: “AUMA is to legalization as military music is to music.” However, he also sent me: “In the final analysis, AUMA is the lesser evil compared to current prohibition, and baby steps are better than no progress.” However people feel, I’m not sure this initiative will pass. All the growers I know hate this measure. Hate. (By the way, I didn’t see one grower or cannabis activist onstage at the press conference. Maybe they were hiding in the back.) This initiative has many of the same problems that Proposition 19 had: It does nothing to help the folks that need it most. I may be overstating a bit, but you get my point. There is no reason for a grower in Fresno or Calaveras or any city that has cannabis cultivation in place to support this measure. Without the support of the growers and the hardcore activists, AUMA proponents will have to appeal to the squares, and there is no guarantee that the squares, er, people who don’t use cannabis, will support a legalization initiative. People forget how conservative most of California really is. Whatever happens, this will be an interesting election season. Everyone stay calm and do your best to be civil. Smoke a bowl before you post that Facebook flame-screed. Don’t take anything personally. Get involved. Have fun. Ω Ngaio Bealum is a Sacramento comedian, activist and marijuana expert. Email him questions at ask420@newsreview.com.

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he Auntie Dolores line originated in San Francisco in 2008, and nearly a decade later, their savory snacks continue to fill a largely untapped niche in the world of medical cannabis edibles. Cookies and candies are still kings of the edibles, but as California (and the entire nation) inches closer to full legalization of marijuana, there will probably also be an increase in regulation and oversight.

[Legalization] could herald the dawn of the pretzels, peanuts and crackers era. When that happens, it will become incumbent upon the cannabis industry to prove that they’re not marketing the drug to children for

recreational use (medical use is an entirely different matter), in a manner similar to the tobacco or alcohol industries. That could spell the end of the gummy worms and peach rings era, but it could also herald the dawn of the pretzels, peanuts and crackers era. Luckily, Auntie Dolores already makes some pretty darn good pretzels, peanuts and crackers. Their Caramel Corn (priced around $12) has long been a low-dose favorite of mine, partially for the taste and texture and partially for the easy ability to modulate the dosage. The Cheese Biscuits ($16), little nickelsized, light-brown crackers, have a crumbly texture and a delicious mix of cheesy and dank flavors. Meanwhile, Auntie Dolores’ Savory Pretzels ($12) possess an earthy smell and a grainy and organic flavor, while the Chili Lime Peanuts ($8) offer a nice mix of citrus and spice without overwhelming the palate. All of their products provide low-dose servings, so you can increase the dosage one pretzel, peanut or kernel at a time without overdoing it.

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Free will astrology

by Anthony Siino

by Rob bRezSny

FOR THE WEEk OF MAy 12, 2016 ARIES (March 21-April 19): Russian writer Anton

Chekhov was renowned for the crisp, succinct style of his short stories and plays. As he evolved, his pithiness grew. “I now have a mania for shortness,” he wrote. “Whatever I read—my own work, or other people’s—it all seems to me not short enough.” I propose that we make Chekhov your patron saint for a while. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you are in a phase when your personal power feeds on terse efficiency. You thrive on being vigorously concise and deftly focused and cheerfully devoted to the crux of every matter.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Creativity is

intelligence having fun.” Approximately 30,000 sites on the Internet attribute that quote to iconic genius Albert Einstein. But my research strongly suggests that he did not actually say that. Who did? It doesn’t matter. For the purposes of this horoscope, there are just two essential points to concentrate on. First, for the foreseeable future, your supreme law of life should be “creativity is intelligence having fun.” Second, it’s not enough to cavort and play and improvise, and it’s not enough to be discerning and shrewd and observant. Be all those things.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In Western culture,

the peacock is a symbol of vanity. When we see the bird display its stunning array of iridescent feathers, we might think it’s lovely, but may also mutter, “What a showoff.” But other traditions have treated the peacock as a more purely positive emblem: an embodiment of hard-won and triumphant radiance. In Tibetan Buddhist myths, for example, its glorious plumage is said to be derived from its transmutation of the poisons it absorbs when it devours dangerous serpents. This version of the peacock is your power animal for now, Gemini. Take full advantage of your ability to convert noxious situations and fractious emotions into beautiful assets.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “Clear moments are

so short,” opines poet Adam Zagajewski. “There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.” Here’s what I have to say about that: Even if it does indeed describe the course of ordinary life for most people, it does not currently apply to you. On the contrary. You’re in a phase that will bring an unusually high percentage of lucidity. The light shining from your eyes and the thoughts coalescing in your brain will be extra pure and bright. In the world around you, there may be occasional patches of chaos and confusion, but your luminosity will guide you through them.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Dear Smart Operator: My

name is Captain Jonathan Orances. I presently serve in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. I am asking for your help with the safekeeping of a trunk containing funds in the amount of $7.9 million, which I secured during our team’s raid of a poppy farmer in Kandahar Province. The plan is to ship this box to Luxembourg, and from there a diplomat will deliver it to your designated location. When I return home on leave, I will take possession of the trunk. You will be rewarded handsomely for your assistance. If you can be trusted, send me your details. Best regards, Captain Jonathan Orances.” You may receive a tempting but risky offer like this in the near future, Leo. I suggest you turn it down. If you do, I bet a somewhat less interesting but far less risky offer will come your way.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Some things need

to be fixed, others to be left broken,” writes poet James Richardson. The coming weeks will be an ideal time for you to make final decisions about which are which in your own life. Are there relationships and dreams and structures that are either too damaged to salvage or undeserving of your hard labor? Consider the possibility that you will abandon them for good. Are there relationships and dreams and structures that are cracked, but possible to repair and worthy of your diligent love? Make a plan to revive or reinvent them.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Once every year, it

is healthy and wise to make an ultimate confession—to express everything you regret and bemoan in one cathartic swoop, and then be free of its subliminal nagging for another year.

The coming days will be a perfect time to do this. For inspiration, read an excerpt from Jeanann Verlee’s “Genetics of Regret”: “I’m sorry I lied. Sorry I drew the picture of the dead cat. I’m sorry about the stolen tampons and the nest of mice in the stove. I’m sorry about the slashed window screens. I’m sorry it took 36 years to say this. Sorry that all I can do is worry what happens next. Sorry for the weevils and the dead grass. Sorry I vomited in the wash drain. Sorry I left. Sorry I came back. I’m sorry it comes like this. Flood and undertow.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): According to the

British podcast series No Such Thing as a Fish, there were only a few satisfying connubial relationships in late 18th-century England. One publication at that time declared that of the country’s 872,564 married couples, just nine were truly happy. I wonder if the percentage is higher for modern twosomes. Whether it is or not, I have good news: My reading of the astrological omens suggests that you Scorpios will have an unusually good chance of cultivating vibrant intimacy in the coming weeks. Take advantage of this grace period, please!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Some days

I feel like playing it smooth,” says a character in Raymond Chandler’s short story “Trouble Is My Business,” “and some days I feel like playing it like a waffle iron.” I suspect that you Sagittarians will be in the latter phase until at least May 24. It won’t be prime time for silky strategies and glossy gambits and velvety victories. You’ll be better able to take advantage of fate’s fabulous farces if you’re geared up for edgy lessons and checkered challenges and intricate motifs.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Author Rebecca Solnit says that when she pictures herself as she was at age 15, “I see flames shooting up, see myself falling off the edge of the world, and am amazed I survived not the outside world but the inside one.” Let that serve as an inspiration, Capricorn. Now is an excellent time for you to celebrate the heroic, messy, improbable victories of your past. You are ready and ripe to honor the crazy intelligence and dumb luck that guided you as you fought to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. You have a right and a duty to congratulate yourself for the suffering you have escaped and inner demons you have vanquished.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “To regain

patience, learn to love the sour, the bitter, the salty, the clear.” The poet James Richardson wrote that wry advice, and now I’m passing it on to you. Why now? Because if you enhance your appreciation for the sour, the bitter, the salty, and the clear, you will not only regain patience, but also generate unexpected opportunities. You will tonify your mood, beautify your attitude, and deepen your gravitas. So I hope you will invite and welcome the lumpy and the dappled, my dear. I hope you’ll seek out the tangy, the smoldering, the soggy, the spunky, the chirpy, the gritty and an array of other experiences you may have previously kept at a distance.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “A thousand

half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home.” That’s from a Coleman Barks’ translation of a poem by the 13th-century Islamic scholar and mystic known as Rumi. I regard this epigram as a key theme for you during the next 12 months. You will be invited to shed a host of wishy-washy wishes so as to become strong and smart enough to go in quest of a very few burning, churning yearnings. Are you ready to sacrifice the mediocre in service to the sublime?

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 EVAN DURAN

For the love of art Art Luna is all about, well, art. Not Art, but art. As the longtime owner-operator of Luna’s Cafe & Juice Bar, Luna’s been putting up his restaurant’s wall space and stage to give all sorts of artists the chance to express themselves ever since he opened the place with his sister, Chris, in 1983. The California Lawyers for the Arts recently named him as a recipient of the 2016 Artistic License Award for his dedication, so what better time to chat about Sacramento art history, bad parking and the future of Luna’s with Luna himself?

Woah. How was that show received?

Is it worse than years past?

Well, really well. But I did have a young rock group from Grass Valley refuse to play. They came down, set up and looked at the artwork and they were talking about it like, “Hey, we don’t like this artwork,” and I said, “Well, what? I’m not gonna take it down.” So they refused to play and I announced to the audience that they weren’t going to play and everybody was booing the rock group. That was the only incident that I can recall for that particular show.

Yes. I feel that we have the least amount of parking on 16th Street of any business in Sacramento.

What about your neighbors? Everybody happy with a music venue there?

What is it about art that appeals to you?

What was it like when you first got going?

Artists and arts have always been important to me, because I feel like artists are the seers of society. They are the visionaries. They push the boundaries of society, of the norms, of the mores, of the values. They push society in that way, not in that their vision comes true, but they come up with new ideas and inseminate society that way.

Initially, we worked primarily with Chicano visual artists because galleries back in ’83 were looking at their art as folk art. Artists like Esteban Villa, José Montoya, Luis “The Foot” Gonzalez, Juanishi Orosco, were complaining that every time they approached the gallery, they were calling them folk artists and weren’t interested in their work. That was right about the time we came along and we said, “Oh gladly, we’ll work with you.” Our focus initially was featuring Chicano, Mexican and Native American artists on our wall.

What are you looking for when choosing what to display? I’m always trying to put up something that’s political or makes a statement. Art is political and should be political, should make a statement. … George Bush’s first year in office, we did an art show around that, and it just happened that 9/11 happened a few months before we were supposed to do his show. … The artists were kind of freaking out, like, “Oh my God, here we are being political and criticizing George Bush,” and it was critical of him, and I said, “Let’s do it! It kind of makes it even more important.”

There’s lots of new development on 16th Street. Will Luna’s be sticking it out there? I intend to stick around for the next couple years. One problem we’re having is that parking is horrendous in the neighborhood. I hear complaints every day about people not being able to get there because they can’t find the parking.

I have apartments upstairs, above the cafe, and always have, but our landlord lets them know when they’re moving in that the cafe has performances in the evening. So people are very accepting of that, never had an issue. And I’ve always let the tenants know when I meet them that they’re welcome to come to any of the shows for free because they’re hearing them anyway, so might as well come down and enjoy them in person.

How often are you onstage instead of behind the scenes? I’ve been up there, I’ve done poetry, I’ve spoken a number of times at the cafe. I’m more of the guy-behind-the-curtain kind of thing. I grew up playing guitar, and dabbled in piano and the trumpet a little bit, but you know, I enjoy being more of a presenter. … I’m a writer, I’m a photographer, I’ve showcased my work before and sold a number of pieces. I really enjoy this variety of things we do at the cafe. It’s exciting, it’s stimulating. If I were just to do one thing, personally, I might find that boring. … It’s an important concept in my life, striking that balance. Ω

Check out the cafe’s show schedules and more at www.lunascafe.com.

05.12.16

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