Vaginals in the Crux Basement

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I’ve had “For Reverend Green” by Animal Collective stuck in my head all day, and it wasn’t until I got off work and started pedaling towards the Crux House that I figured out why I like that song so much. It’s essentially a bunch of totally strange, disparate sonic elements, but they’ve been identified and recast as new ingredients of a cohesive composition with structure, melody, and form. It combines just the right amount of adventure in creating a familiar end result, which is how all good songs that get stuck in your head should be.
I was still thinking about this when I made my way down to the basement at the Crux House tonight to watch a band from San Diego, whom I knew nothing about, called Vaginals. Three girls, one guy, and in devout subscription to the hipster code, no “the.”
The band started playing, and I was immediately intrigued at how off the wall they were. Weird singing! Discordant guitar solos! Everyone playing unusual instruments in different keys!
But as their set plodded on, the potential faded along with any initial thrill. Vaginals seem to view adventure as both the means and the end, with no solidified result other than ingratiation. The totally strange, disparate sonic elements were all there—lots of cool shit like delayed vocals, thumb piano, modified synthesizer, harmonica, cello, maracas, haphazardly-played drums—but none of them ever came together to resemble what’s commonly referred to as a song.
Okay, okay, there were two things that sounded like songs. One of them started with the line “I’m not waiting around for your review” (which I hope is actually the case, because they’re not likely to appreciate this one very much) and ended with the hopelessly steamrolled-into-the-ground doll reference: “I’m not one of those perfect Barbie girls.” The other one rhymed “Slim” with “Jim” and “Gin” and “Him” over and over again in a screeching fake Southern accent. You get the picture.
Near the end, during a Residents cover, just for a quick second, I saw their singer crack a rare smile, and it was then that I realized what had been missing. Where was the fun?! It’s fine to be art-school charlatans who make crappy noise that makes no sense, but damn, at least have some fun while you’re doing it. Realistically, that’s the only way anyone’s gonna take you seriously, unless it’s 1965 and you’re John Tchicai.

Becoming Independent takes over the A Street Gallery

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It’s official. Beginning March 1, Becoming Independent, the nonprofit that serves some 1,110 developmentally disabled adults in the North Bay, is the proud new owner of what has been the A Street Gallery in Santa Rosa. A Street owner, artist Andrea Hibbard, has run her innovative gallery for a miraculous eight years and is ready to do something for herself for a change. “The thought was that I could retire and go back to my art studio and do some traveling and I wanted to take the momentum that we built here and shift it to something that was really important to me,” Hibbard says. “This will be a fusion gallery of artists in the main community coupled with artists in the mainstream working together.”

A Street has long made it a tradition to host an annual exhibit by the BI artists, who have an extensive art facility at the nonprofit’s home campus and an innovative Art Works program there that Hibbard helped to launch and which is coordinated by former Arts Council executive director Barbara Harris. Hibbard feels assured that this will be a postive step for the entire community. “I’ll still be on the advisory board and advise them on installation. We don’t want to drop our aesthetic ball. We will make sure that this continues to be a great space to visit.”“Outsider art,” that which is created by artists with no formal training, is enjoying a vogue. Viewers find themselves captivated by the honesty portrayed in work done by the developmentally disabled. The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art last year held a superb exhibit of such work. Having a permanent public outlet for BI is a dream come true for Hibbard. “We do a lot of editing in our lives,” she says. “They’re more able to be free of critics and desires—for critics, for fame, for attention—even thought the artists really enjoy when they sell. They’re not trapped. There is a kind of a freedom, and in some ways, they’re mentors.”

The gallery is yet unnamed and will open to the public on April 19. As for Hibbard, it’s the best of both worlds. “People think that it’s generous, but it’s really quite selfish,” she laughs happily. “This is the bomb for me.”

The Beach Boys, 1964

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The year was 1964, back when Santa Rosa was a completely different town than the city we know it as today. The population: 35,000. Hardly a considerable tour stop for a group with a huge hit on the charts.
The Beach Boys’ All Summer Long had just been released in July, and its big hit, “I Get Around,” was lighting up Top 40 radio. So it was a pretty big deal when KPLS 1150 AM radio announced that the Beach Boys were coming to perform at the Veterans’ Memorial Building in Santa Rosa. Tickets, priced at $2.50, went on sale at the station’s office in Coddingtown, and word spread throughout Santa Rosa’s drive-ins and high schools like wildfire.
On the night of the show, the capacity crowd filed into the auditorium and sat politely in rows of folding chairs. The curtain opened, and the Beach Boys, clad in their trademark vertical-striped shirts, launched immediately into their current smash hit: “I Get Around.” The set list included “409,” “Fun Fun Fun,” “Surfer Girl,” “Be True To Your School,” and “Surfin’ Safari,” among others, and the audience stayed in their seats the whole time—a matter of personal dignity that Beatlemania would soon render obsolete.
Of course, there’s no reason why I should know this, except that my dad, who bought tickets numbered #0006 and #0007, remembers it like it was yesterday. After all, at age 12, it was his first concert. I suppose it was a pretty big deal for my grandpa, too, who was cool enough to change out of his mailman uniform after work and go with his kid to the rock ‘ roll show.
Fast-forward to 2008: The Wells Fargo Center Luther Burbank Center has booked the Beach Boys for August 2, and it’s being advertised as the Beach Boys’ “First Time in Santa Rosa.”
It’s a nice thought and all—and tickets, against all sensible odds, appear to be selling well—but I know a few people who grew up around here who’d have a pretty good case with which to argue the claim.

Healdsburg Jazz: Off the F’n Heez for ’08

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The lineup for the 10th Annual Healdsburg Jazz Festival has just been announced, and it’s totally out of this world. Charlie Haden, Kenny Barron, and Joshua Redman together. The Bobby Hutcherson Quartet. Bennie Maupin and James Newton playing Eric Dolphy. The Cedar Walton Trio. Even Don Byron, in some configuration or another, makes an appearance.
It doesn’t stop there: also dropping in this year are Eddie Palmieri and Pete Escovedo, Fred Hersch and Kurt Elling, the Julian Lage Trio, the John Heard Trio, a Sunday morning concert of gospel spirituals, the awaited return of Marc Cantor’s killer jazz films, and an All-Star Alumni Band on the festival’s last day.
The looming question: who is the secret “beloved and internationally-acclaimed saxophonist” performing on May 31 whose name, for contractual reasons, cannot be unveiled until April 1?
(Pssst. . . be a flatfoot: Check SFJazz’s lineup and find the guy playing with Jason Moran, Eric Harland and Reuben Rogers, all of whom have been announced in Healdsburg without their headliner.)
So kudos to the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, and stay tuned to City Sound Inertia for further coverage.

Bad 13 Challenge Countdown

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Bad 13 Challenge Countdown

 The Bad 13 Challenge winner will, after WEEKS of anticipation, be announced in this Wednesday’s Bohemian. Yes, indeed: bigger than the Oscars.To hype things up, we’ll be posting the playlists of non-winners all week long. Everyone who sent us Bad 13 Challenge entry is, in their own way, a winner, and our hats go off to them all.Here’s the entry from Nielzine, a repeat offender who chipped in on the Hot 13 Challenge last year.Nielzine’s Bad 13 Anti-Metal I have spent two hours, one pack of Camel Lights, ten beers, two “magic” brownies and 30,000 brain cells on this Bad 13 tape.      I pride myself on many titles. One, of course, being “Bad.” I am here today to take the title of the worst Anti-Metal! I am the Lord of Bad Metal!          Be prepared to be electrified by my metal horns of pure doom. You will cry and scream for help. In the end your mind will sweat with remorse for daring to listen to these horrors I record for you. Please hold my cloak. They know my soul. I will be your guide. Hold tight my youth as we travel into the Anti-Metal abyss. Are you ready for the pain! I warned you! 

  1. Kiss the Bastard—Saints and Sinners
  2. Blueberry—Lita Ford
  3. Big Boys Don’t Cry—Extreme
  4. Colors—Saigon Kick
  5. Kiss It Goodbye—Helix
  6. She Wants More—Slaughter
  7. Just for You—Bango Tango

B-Side

  1. Hold the Dream—Firehouse
  2. Unskinny Bop—Poison
  3. Ceremony—The Cult
  4. Bang to the Bone—Every Mother’s Nightmare
  5. Word—Live Skull
  6. Since I Don’t Have You—Guns N’ Roses

 The sick part is I own all these tapes. Amazing what a dollar can buy. P.S.—Be glad I can’t record my albums! Nielzine’s Bad 13 entry had some bad songs (check out the lyrics to Lita Ford’s “Blueberry”, and everything single thing about Guns N’ Roses awful treatment of “Since I Don’t Have You”), yes, but overall it is way too fun to be a true contender. It was also our only cassette entry. “Unskinny Bop” is a total blast to sing karaoke to, by the way.

There’s Gonna Be Other Wars

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HASH(0x1c7d428)

SSU: Art Gallery ‘Projected Image’

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SSU: Art Gallery ‘Projected Image’

What if you put on one of the most exciting art exhibits in the North Bay and no one came? Aside from a handful of students and some of the artists themselves, that’s exactly what happened with Sonoma State University Art Gallery’s compelling new show, “Projected Image,” which opened Feb. 21.

Continue

Playing the Game

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Playing the Game

There is, of course, an entity the broadcast/cable moguls never saw coming. They’re increasingly ill-at-ease with the Internet. Their fear is borne out in Republican FCC rulings designed to counter what they rightly perceive as a gathering threat to centralized media power. But their analysis is D.O.A. They hope to staunch the free flow of media formation by giving the moguls yet more access and ownership to the tattered remnants of an obsolete media paradigm. No matter the number of radio and television operations they may accrue, no matter the daily papers and magazines they add to their roster, unless they succeed in locking down the free-flow of media-matter over the Internet they’ll be eating their skid-marked undies for lunch.

Continue

Creating a Heritage

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02.20.08

Heritage Community Housing executive director Cesar Delgado knows the difference between a house and a home. One can be just shelter; the other, a spot to find refuge, make plans, look ahead and even dream. A home is also the basis for the next generation. “Just getting kids to bed at a regular time each night makes such a difference in a family,” he says during a visit to the Bohemian offices on a recent rainy morning.

Partnering with the city of Santa Rosa, Delgado’s nonprofit is set to open its newest civic collaboration in affordable housing on Feb. 28. Called the Crossings, this 48-unit complex offers two- and three-bedroom apartments to working families at rents ranging from $685 to $1,100, depending on income and family size.

Specializing in converting apartments to condo units for the elderly and for growing families, Heritage has established seven such communities already in California. The Crossings is its newest project, a complex that features a community room, a shared computer facility with four machines, a “tot spot” for outdoor play and even a picnic/barbecue area.

But Delgado is not content with merely providing houses for North Bay families; he really wants to help provide homes. To that end, the Crossings will offer educational seminars on everything from parenting techniques to family healthcare to nutrition to finance. Sporting events will be organized in the community room and a mentoring program will be established. All applicants must undergo a deep screening process and are on a month-to-month rental contract. There will be a reason to want to stay there and prompt response if tenants breach the rules.

Delgado himself lives in a two-bedroom condo with his wife and three sons. He knows firsthand what it’s like to have a growing family in tight environs. “A project like this gives a feeling of hope,” he says simply. “We’re giving families a chance to look forward to the future.”

The Crossings grand opening is slated for Thursday, Feb. 28, from 11am to 1pm. 820 Jennings Ave., at Armory Drive, near the Coddingtown Mall, Santa Rosa. For details, call 714.835.3955., ext. 120.

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Pinin’ for the Cone

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Pinin’ for the Cone

02.20.08

The Pine Cone Restaurant in downtown Sebastopol has its dial on the way-back machine set to 1950. Think chrome and Formica soda-fountain counter and stools, pink and green speckled linoleum floor, and mint green Naugahyde booths repaired with duct tape. This friendly, well-used atmosphere invites the seasoned regular or hungry tourist to sit down to a plate of Potatoes Delight or Bee’s Best breakfast.

 

All are tended to by Dee Franklin, the restaurant’s chief hostess and waitress for the past 16 years. She also cooks, busses and brusquely mothers the customers, which have included Chelsea Clinton, Tom Waits and members of the Grateful Dead. Many local regulars don’t even order, since Dee knows what they want and has it cooking by the time they’re seated. “Dee is the Pine Cone, with a capital ‘IS,'” says Carol Van Ness, who has come here almost daily for the past 12 years. “Dee is the heart and soul of the place.”

 

But for better or worse, communities change. Needing a break, the restaurant’s owners, Dino Julius and his sister, Stacey Royce, have sold the business and leased the building to two locals with restaurants of their own.

 

Riley Benedetti, of Willie Bird fame, and Dikendra Maskey, owner of Santa Rosa’s Annapurna Restaurant, envision an upgraded, healthier Pine Cone—one that’s a cafe. “Our aim is to be part of the community,” Maskey says. “We want to acknowledge and appreciate each other’s cultural heritage.” Some Nepalese dishes, more salads and tofu, and of course, more turkey will be integrated into the breakfast and lunch menu of the old Cone—minus the fryers. Items familiar in a greasy spoon may be baked instead.

 

With a new interior, new menu items and possibly a different staff, what will become of the old Pine Cone community? “It’ll be a loss for the regulars,” Julius admits. “They help me out when I’m busy; they get their own menus. It’s like family.” The old-timers concur. “It’s a central place where people come who know each other and know Dee. Tourists don’t want yuppie places; they want to see what it’s really like here. They want to see the people,” says regular Anne Murany. Even the tourists agree. A couple from San Francisco wandered in after a weekend of winetasting, saying, “We chose this spot over the other places we saw. We loved the funky atmosphere.”

Maskey reassuringly says that the family-style environment will persist. He adds that the new place may offer live, acoustic and ethnic music to draw in people of all ages. “We want a place where kids can hang out at night and be safe. We’re excited to be here, and want to see what we can do for the community.”

 

Pine Cone Restaurant, 162 N. Main St., Sebastopol. 707.823.1375.

 

Quick dining snapshots by Bohemian staffers.

Winery news and reviews.

Food-related comings and goings, openings and closings, and other essays for those who love the kitchen and what it produces.

Recipes for food that you can actually make.

Vaginals in the Crux Basement

I've had "For Reverend Green" by Animal Collective stuck in my head all day, and it wasn't until I got off work and started pedaling towards the Crux House that I figured out why I like that song so much. It's essentially a bunch of totally strange, disparate sonic elements, but they've been identified and recast as new ingredients...
Read more

Becoming Independent takes over the A Street Gallery

It’s official. Beginning March 1, Becoming Independent, the nonprofit that serves some 1,110 developmentally disabled adults in the North Bay, is the proud new owner of what has been the A Street Gallery in Santa Rosa. A Street owner, artist Andrea Hibbard, has run her innovative gallery for a miraculous eight years and is ready to do something for...
Read more

The Beach Boys, 1964

The year was 1964, back when Santa Rosa was a completely different town than the city we know it as today. The population: 35,000. Hardly a considerable tour stop for a group with a huge hit on the charts. The Beach Boys' All Summer Long had just been released in July, and its big hit, "I Get Around," was lighting...
Read more

Healdsburg Jazz: Off the F’n Heez for ’08

The lineup for the 10th Annual Healdsburg Jazz Festival has just been announced, and it's totally out of this world. Charlie Haden, Kenny Barron, and Joshua Redman together. The Bobby Hutcherson Quartet. Bennie Maupin and James Newton playing Eric Dolphy. The Cedar Walton Trio. Even Don Byron, in some configuration or another, makes an appearance. It doesn't stop there: also...
Read more

Bad 13 Challenge Countdown

 The Bad 13 Challenge winner will, after WEEKS of anticipation, be announced in this Wednesday’s Bohemian. Yes, indeed: bigger than the Oscars.To hype things up, we’ll be posting the playlists of non-winners all week long. Everyone who sent us Bad 13 Challenge entry is, in their own way, a winner, and our hats go off to them all.Here’s the...
Read more

There’s Gonna Be Other Wars

HASH(0x1c7d428)
Read more

SSU: Art Gallery ‘Projected Image’

What if you put on one of the most exciting art exhibits in the North Bay and no one came? Aside from a handful of students and some of the artists themselves, that’s exactly what happened with Sonoma State University Art Gallery's compelling new show, "Projected Image," which opened Feb. 21.Closing off the gallery spaces to outside light using...
Read more

Playing the Game

There is, of course, an entity the broadcast/cable moguls never saw coming. They're increasingly ill-at-ease with the Internet. Their fear is borne out in Republican FCC rulings designed to counter what they rightly perceive as a gathering threat to centralized media power. But their analysis is D.O.A. They hope to staunch the free flow of media formation by giving...
Read more

Creating a Heritage

02.20.08Heritage Community Housing executive director Cesar Delgado knows the difference between a house and a home. One can be just shelter; the other, a spot to find refuge, make plans, look ahead and even dream. A home is also the basis for the next generation. "Just getting kids to bed at a regular time each night makes such a...
Read more

Pinin’ for the Cone

02.20.08The Pine Cone Restaurant in downtown Sebastopol has its dial on the way-back machine set to 1950. Think chrome and Formica soda-fountain counter and stools, pink and green speckled linoleum floor, and mint green Naugahyde booths repaired with duct tape. This friendly, well-used atmosphere invites the seasoned regular or hungry tourist to sit down to a plate of Potatoes...
Read more
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