May 18: Loveline Reunion at the Uptown Theater

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May 18: Loveline Reunion at the Uptown Theater

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Though they may be better known for hosting Celebrity Rehab and for making sexist comments about women comedians respectively, Dr. Drew Pinsky and Adam Carolla had their start as a duo on “Loveline,” a syndicated radio show they hosted from 1995-2005. The two dished out advice on relationships and sex, covering everything from masturbation to infidelity, and lots of other topics that would only freak out sensitive ears. Personally, I stopped listening to the show back in 1993, when Jim Trenton (also known as “Poorman,” radio DJ on Los Angeles station KROQ) ended his hosting duties and was replaced by Riki Rachtman (no thanks). The Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew Reunion Tour happens on Saturday, May 18, at the Uptown Theater. 1350 Third St., Napa. 707.259.0123. $40. 7pm. 707.259.0123.

May 18: Alpha Bitch Soup at the Redwood Cafe

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May 18: Alpha Bitch Soup at the Redwood Cafe

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John Cougar Concentration Camp. Brian Jonestown Massacre. Kathleen Turner Overdrive (well, this one might be fake). Reo Speeddealer. Hillbilly Idol. Furious George. Pabst Smear. And introducing Alpha Bitch Soup, who join a long line of bands that make naming the band into a game of puns. Hailing from Sonoma County, the project features Artemis de Cello (formerly of the Lemon Lime Lights) and Robin Pfefer, former owner of the now-defunct Black Cat bar in Cotati. Bringing their particular mix of cello, guitar and tap dancing to the stage, Alpha Bitch Soup play with Mark Growden Duo on Saturday, May 18, at the Redwood Café. 8240 Old Redwood Hwy., Cotati. 9pm. $6—$10. 707.795.7868.

May 16: Walter Mosley at Book Passage

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In 1990, the first Easy Rawlins mystery novel Devil in a Blue Dress joined a long line of books that take Los Angeles as its muse and antagonist. Written by Walter Mosley, the book was set in Watts, and introduced Rawlins, an African-American veteran who ends up broke and unable to find work. Eventually, Rawlins finds himself taking up detective work, and Mosley found himself with a thriving detective series. Little Green is the latest installment. It finds Rawlins navigating a new sociopolitical landscape in 1967 L.A., one permanently altered by the Watts riots and the rise of hippie culture. The book promises to be yet another clever exploration of the intersection of race, class and mystery in California’s most intriguing city. Walter Mosley appears on Thursday, May 16, at Book Passage. 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. 7pm. 415.927.0960.

May 15: Ash Reiter at Lagunitas Tap Room

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May 15: Ash Reiter at Lagunitas Tap Room

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Back in the days when cassettes ruled the world, if I really liked a song, I would record it over and over in order so that I could listen to it on repeat without rewinding. “I’ve Got Something I Can Laugh About,” by Bay Area indie pop band Ash Reiter, is a song that bears repeating, and would have definitely had a cassette entirely to itself back in 1986. Led by Sebastopol-bred Ash Reiter, the Berkeley-based band has exited the singer-songwriter ghetto and entered the sweet spot with their latest album, Hola, which showcases the frontwoman’s lush, swoon-worthy vocals all wrapped up in effervescent pop melodies. It might be a cliché, but this truly is a band that you want to see now, so when they hit the big time, you can say, “I knew them way back when . . .” Ash Reiter puts the pop in pop on Wednesday, May 15, at Lagunitas Tap Room. 1280 N. McDowell Ave., Petaluma. 707.778.8776.

News Agencies Fight Back

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News Agencies Fight Back

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It’s hard enough to get someone to pick up the phone when you’re a regular reporter. But what will happen now that the Associated Press has announced the Department of Justice has subpoenaed phone records from its reporters?

A lot of people are very concerned this will create a space where people are even less likely to talk to the press, effectively making whistleblowers scared to tip off reporters to important information.

In a letter to Eric Holder signed by 50 news organizations, from NPR to the Bay Area News Group to Politico, Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press wrote:

The scope of this action calls into question the very integrity of Department of Justice policies toward the press and its ability to balance, on its own, its police powers against the First Amendment rights of the news media and the public’s interest in reporting on all manner of government conduct, including matters touching on national security which lie at the heart of this case.

The letter goes on to say that by subpoenaing two months of records from 20 phone lines, the DoJ has gone against all guidelines set forth about phone records. It goes on to call for a shield law:

The Department’s actions demonstrate that a strong federal shield law is needed to protect reporters and their newsgathering materials in a court of law where the adversarial process ensures a fair weighing of the issues. While Congress should provide that remedial legislation, there is still much that this Department can do to mitigate the damage it has caused.

Right here in Sonoma County, in Rohnert Park, someone started a petition calling for legislation against this practice.

Paradise Loss

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Paradise Loss

I spent two weeks this past month vacationing and riding my road bike around the stunningly beautiful, rugged country of western Sonoma County. Levi Leipheimer wasn’t exaggerating when he described your home as world-class cycling country.

A local cyclist told me that the number of road cyclists has really increased in the last five years, and it’s no wonder why. The climate, terrain and amenities are superb; great food, beer, wine and accommodations all attract healthy, vigorous, affluent cyclists. This demographic group is great for local businesses, the kind of visitors you really should encourage.

However, a couple of serious flaws exist in your cycling paradise. First, your county roads are in terrible shape, potholed and badly patched when patched at all. They are worse than our Idaho county roads! Bad roads can be dangerous for cyclists. Flat tires, broken wheels and, worse, crashes causing injury can all result from an unexpected smash into a pothole. Your roads are also typically narrow, with no shoulders.

Second, some drivers are very inconsiderate and even dangerously aggressive about passing. Cyclists have a right to be on the roads; we pay gas and property taxes, too.

Cyclists almost always will stay as far to the right as possible, but if there are no shoulders, and the road edge is littered with gravel, debris, broken glass and trash, cyclists must ride in the travel lane. It really isn’t much fun to fear for your life from speeding cars and trucks while riding up a steep hill at your limit, hugging the white line, trying not to wobble at all.

Cyclists also need to be more considerate of drivers. I saw a number of riders in large groups backing up traffic or riding in the middle of the travel lane for no reason. Inconsiderate behavior like this is unsafe and guaranteed to make some drivers annoyed.

I truly hope that drivers and cyclists will learn to co-exist with mutual respect and consideration, so no cyclists are killed or injured while doing what they love. All it takes is a little bump with your rearview mirror, and you’ll send a cyclist into a tree or a ditch, and on to the hospital, or the morgue.

John Borstelmann lives in Driggs, Idaho.

Open Mic is a weekly op/ed feature in the Bohemian. We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for publication, write op*****@******an.com.

Amista Vineyards

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Amista Vineyards

Anyway, like I was saying, Syrah is one versatile grape. You can press it, crush it, punch it down, co-ferment it, saignée it, méthode champenoise it. There’s red Syrah, Syrah rosé and even sparkling Syrah. That’s about it. Amista’s got them all.

Proprietors Vicky and Michael Farrow envisioned Amista—which loosely means “making friends,” although my translation widget suggests “fabricación de amigos,” a winery name one notch cooler, don’t you think?—as their retirement project. I’m guessing that they made fast friends with a viticultural adviser in thrall to the late-’90s “boom” in Syrah, because they ended up planting a good deal of it. So what if people come to Dry Creek Valley mainly for the Zinfandel? The Farrows made “sparkling Syrah”—and it made them a lot of friends.

Amista’s just off Dry Creek Road, at the end of a long, purely functional gravel driveway separating two vineyard blocks. Conveniently close to the Dry Creek General Store, Amista’s shaded patio is a popular bring-your-own-picnic spot. Wine club members often make reservations for a small patio party. Inside, clues abound that the tasting room was intended to be a 10,000-case working cellar—the center drain, the roll-ups, the ventilation—but, well, retirement isn’t supposed to be a full-time job. Staff are friendly, and I didn’t overhear any heavy wine-club pitches. All wines are from the estate’s Morningsong Vineyards, Dry Creek Valley, unless noted.

First up, there’s a bonus bubbly, the NV Blanc de Blancs ($34). Made up of estate-grown Chardonnay, and fizzed up at Hopland’s Rack and Riddle, this solid sparkler smells of dried apple wafers and sour apple candy—bright, green Granny Smith flavor and just half a teaspoon of sweetness on the finish.

Amista gets its Zin grapes from down the road. The 2008 Saini Farms Zinfandel ($34) is toasty and sweet, raspberry jam on graham cracker, with malted carob ball—I’m just grazing from the bulk bins today—and a warm, well-knit finish.

I’m told that the NV Sparkling Syrah ($32) makes a really good mimosa. But not a sunrise mimosa: this isn’t that blood-red sparkling Shiraz; it’s pink, creamy and vaguely aromatic of seashell or oysters—or maybe that’s just the food pairing. The 2011 Rosé of Syrah ($20) is sound, crisp and dry; unusual for Dry Creek Valley the 2006 Syrah ($30) displays the wild, smoky, animal-fur and old-lawn-clipping aromas of a cool-climate Syrah, with substantial tannin, in comparison to the 2007 Syrah’s ($30) juicy, claret-like berry liqueur with vanilla highlights. But that’s how it is with vintage years. You never know what you’re going to get.

Amista Vineyards, 3320 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg. Daily, 11am–4:30pm. Tasting fee, $10. 707.431.9200.

Letters to the Editor: May 15, 2013

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Letters to the Editor: May 15, 2013

BottleRock Blues

Napa has indeed changed (“Start of Something Big,” May 8).

It’s the Monday after the BottleRock festival. I watched from a distance the effect this gathering (for profit) has had on the Napa Expo neighborhood. And I purposely did not attend, and avoided the area to keep out of traffic jams.

The reason why I did not attend, and I’m not alone in this reason: I could not afford the ticket price. I quickly dismissed the offer to volunteer after finding out on the website that there would be a $15 processing fee to apply to volunteer. That gave me a sign of what the promoters were all about.

The ultimate comment should really be coming from the many residents of the Juarez Street to East Avenue to Fairview Drive neighborhoods, who were subjected to the crowds that saturated the Expo area. I wonder what percentage of them look forward to BottleRock 2014, for which, in the spirit of promotion, tickets are already on sale?

Don’t know about the 2014 volunteer application process.

—John Flynn

Napa

Top Chefs

I’m certain that chefs Kronmark and Doppelfeld were able to offer top-notch training for our returning veteran warriors (“Kitchen Call,” May 8). Both have the professional demeanor that lends itself to proper guidance and direction rather than the idiotic, stereotypical shouting matches that are popularized by some current TV shows. These men have what it takes to provide the necessary ingredient for our wounded recovering veterans—and that ingredient is heart.

—Christopher Sullivan

Calistoga

Beautifully Played

I just wanted to say thank you to the Healdsburg Jazz Festival for the Marcus Shelby Orchestra with Faye Carol and the HJF Freedom Jazz Choir show at the Community Baptist Church in Santa Rosa last Saturday night. The atmosphere was great, and the performance of “a musical suite . . . inspired by the civil rights movement” was absolutely fantastic, emotional and beautifully played. The jazz big band was scorching, and to see a hundred local people in the choir was a thrill.

—Barry Lazarus,Red Devil Records

San Rafael

Oyster Myopia

I am shocked to see the misleading signs regarding Drakes Bay Oyster Company popping up around Sonoma and Marin counties. These signs should say “Save Pt. Reyes Wilderness.” I strongly support organic, sustainable agriculture and I love oysters, but the attempt by Drakes Bay Oyster Company and their corporate allies to deny wilderness status to Drakes Estero has nothing to do with farming and everything to do with opening publicly owned wilderness lands to development.

Pt. Reyes National Seashore is a wonderful example of cooperation between agriculture, the national park system and wilderness. My family, friends and thousands of other people worked for years to protect this national treasure. The current owners bought the oyster company in 2005 with seven years remaining on their permit, knowing that the Estero is a designated wilderness area. They should honor their lease agreement and contracts, follow the rules and policies and respect the 1976 wilderness designation.

This is not an issue of “farmer” vs. big government. The real issue here is that private development and industry interests have been working for years to overturn environmental laws and allow natural-resource extraction and commercial development in the wilderness areas, national parks, oceans, estuaries and other publicly owned and protected lands. As a member of the public, one of the millions of owners of the Point Reyes National Seashore, I urge all Americans to protect Drakes Estero wilderness and stop the attempt to privatize and commercialize our national park and wilderness systems.

American taxpayers have waited 40 years for wilderness designation for Drakes Bay Marine Estuary in our beloved Point Reyes National Seashore. Please let any restaurant or business displaying one of these signs or serving Drakes Bay oysters know that you support our National Parks, the law and wilderness designation for Drakes Estero in Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

—Lynn Hamilton,Former Mayor, Sebastopol

Occidental

Write to us at le*****@******an.com.

Best of the Fest

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Best of the Fest

Perry Farrell, shitfaced and horny, hitting on girls in the front row. Huge clouds of dust swirling above the pit during Bad Religion. A bleach-blonde from Lake County in non-ironic mom jeans boot-scootin’ to Dwight Yoakam.

Baby boomers packed like sardines singing “Take It Easy” with Jackson Browne. Patrick Carney from the Black Keys Instagramming a photo with Guy Fieri. John Popper from Blues Traveler on a golf cart, blowing kisses to nobody who cared. Levi Leipheimer watching Primus. A dominatrix in a rubber dress signing people up for a sex-toy raffle.

Trash cans overflowing hourly. Planter boxes of fresh herbs on tables inside the Whole Foods artisan food court. A framed portrait of chef Morimoto. No actual chef Morimoto.

Drunk guy on Third Street offering $20 to ride your bike. Drunk woman passed out and shuttled to the medical tent. Drunk guy giving away free fourth beer because he can only hold three at a time. Drunk fans chanting shuttle driver’s name when he gives everyone free water for being 30 minutes late. Nighttime sign at wine-pouch booth: “You Drank It All!”

Couple sucking face for five minutes during Wyatt Cenac’s comedy set. Couple waltzing, finishing with a dip to Iron & Wine. Couple fighting near the local band stage, girl yelling, “You’re a fucking liar!” and dropping pulled-pork sandwich into the dirt. Guy picking up pulled-pork sandwich and eating it.

Festival cofounder Gabe Meyers in front of the Black Keys stage, motioning to the band, “How about that?!” Festival cofounder Bob Vogt, watching Macklemore, plotting to increase staff at ID checks. Cop telling girl in line for free water, “Just get some water from the spigot over there.” Different cop chewing out same girl for using the spigot. Spigot removed the next day. Lots of mud where spigot once was.

Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips, cuddling a baby doll connected to huge laser umbilical cords. Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite, trading licks, creating eerie ambiance. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros leading a new Jim Jones–type revival. Only 26 people waiting to see Sharon Van Etten at 1pm. The Shins trying to follow Alabama Shakes. Macklemore telling everybody: “There’s nothing wrong with Playstation and jacking off.”

Parking on Juarez Street, sign says: “$40.” Next day, sign changed: “$50.” Residents selling sodas, water, hot dogs. Residents on the porch, passing around a 40-ounce. Tourists calling neighborhood “crackhouses.” Oxbow nearly empty at 3pm. First Street a ghost town at 10pm. Crowds waiting for shuttles. Napa Pipe looking like the apocalypse.

Music wafting to be heard miles away. Cleanup crews working overtime. Tickets already on sale for next year.

Fists of Glory

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Fists of Glory

More than 40 years after John Carlos and Tommie Smith—the U.S. bronze and gold medal winners in the 200-meter sprint at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City—raised their fists in a black power salute on the Olympic podium, the iconic image still induces goose bumps. Carlos and Smith planned the statement in solidarity with the Civil Rights movement as a way to protest the racism and poverty afflicting so many African Americans in the United States, and they paid dearly for having a political conscience in a supposedly apolitical and commercialized sports world.

The two men were ordered suspended from the team by the International Olympic Committee and ultimately expelled from Mexico. On their return to America, ostracized from the professional sports world, Carlos and Smith received death threats and had a hard time finding jobs to support their families. In a television interview, Carlos stood by his actions, saying, “We were trying to wake the country up and wake the world up!”

Carlos tells his tale in The John Carlos Story, the 2011 book co-written with firebrand sports editor of The Nation Dave Zirin. An activist to this day, the champion track athlete is a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights and was elected to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2003.

Carlos is on a speaking tour coinciding with the book’s publication, and the SRJC Black Student Union and the NAACP of Sonoma County host an evening with John Carlos on Saturday, May 18, in the Bertolini Student Center, room 4608. 1501 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. 4pm. $50. 707.527.4647.

May 18: Loveline Reunion at the Uptown Theater

Though they may be better known for hosting Celebrity Rehab and for making sexist comments about women comedians respectively, Dr. Drew Pinsky and Adam Carolla had their start as a duo on “Loveline,” a syndicated radio show they hosted from 1995-2005. The two dished out advice on relationships and sex, covering everything from masturbation to infidelity, and lots of...
Read more

May 18: Alpha Bitch Soup at the Redwood Cafe

John Cougar Concentration Camp. Brian Jonestown Massacre. Kathleen Turner Overdrive (well, this one might be fake). Reo Speeddealer. Hillbilly Idol. Furious George. Pabst Smear. And introducing Alpha Bitch Soup, who join a long line of bands that make naming the band into a game of puns. Hailing from Sonoma County, the project features Artemis de Cello (formerly of the...
Read more

May 16: Walter Mosley at Book Passage

In 1990, the first Easy Rawlins mystery novel Devil in a Blue Dress joined a long line of books that take Los Angeles as its muse and antagonist. Written by Walter Mosley, the book was set in Watts, and introduced Rawlins, an African-American veteran who ends up broke and unable to find work. Eventually, Rawlins finds himself taking up...
Read more

May 15: Ash Reiter at Lagunitas Tap Room

Back in the days when cassettes ruled the world, if I really liked a song, I would record it over and over in order so that I could listen to it on repeat without rewinding. “I’ve Got Something I Can Laugh About,” by Bay Area indie pop band Ash Reiter, is a song that bears repeating, and would have...
Read more

News Agencies Fight Back

Reporters don't mince words in a letter to the Department of Justice
Read more

Paradise Loss

An Idaho visitor has some tips for our 'cycling mecca'
Read more

Amista Vineyards

Up Dry Creek Without a Zinfandel
Read more

Letters to the Editor: May 15, 2013

Letters to the Editor: May 15, 2013
Read more

Best of the Fest

Things we saw at BottleRock
Read more

Fists of Glory

More than 40 years after John Carlos and Tommie Smith—the U.S. bronze and gold medal winners in the 200-meter sprint at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City—raised their fists in a black power salute on the Olympic podium, the iconic image still induces goose bumps. Carlos and Smith planned the statement in solidarity with the Civil Rights movement as...
Read more
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