Sore Spot

[Legislature] Leaders of Utah’s Senate are balking at suggestions they want to make it harder for citizens to change laws passed by the Legislature. (The subject of a recent snarky City Weekly commentary.

Recent posts on the The Senate Site the “unofficial voice of the Utah Senate majority”
finds the unofficial voce steamed about the idea GOP leaders would ever consider changing the citizens referendum process--even if citizens did use the law to overturn school vouchers last year.

“We're not inclined to change the law. We feel the current balance is about right -- referendums and initiatives are tough, but doable,” writes the voice. “Any push on our part to change the process is news to us.”

Rep. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, goes further on his own blog, writing the Deseret News, which reported GOP moves afoot to monkey with citizens referendums, “fabricates more news” and “made up a story.”

We’ll put that down as decided then: No changes to Utah’s referendum law. (Unless, of course, someone wants change the referendum law by referendum.) (Ted McDonough)

An Oddfellows Preview?

[Landmarks on the Move] This is what happened to New York's Peekskill Centennial Firehouse, built in 1890, when workers attempted to move it this week. Crumbled like a cheap cupcake. SLC's Odd Fellows Hall will be on the move soon. Just sayin': Look out below ...



(Bill Frost)

Earthquake Benefit Concert

[Charity] The University of Utah's School of Music and the Utah Symphony are teaming up to put together a unique blend of Eastern and Western traditions in a concert to help benefit victims of the devastating Sichuan earthquake in China.

The concert to be held tomorrow, Saturday August 30 at the Libby Gardner Hall, School of Music from 7:30 -9 pm will help out the Sichuan University's relief fund. The Sichuan university is a sister school with the U through its Confucius Institute and could use the all the help it can get.

The night's performance will vary from Chinese traditional music to Western classic's like "Butterfly Lovers," Mozart's Sonata in D Major. Tickets are only $10 and will go towards a relief fund for the earthquake victims. So go get some culture and do it for a good cause! (Eric S. Peterson)

Drama at the Trib: No "Easy Button"

[Nervous Media Moguls] Over the past five years, MediaNews Group owner and Salt Lake Tribune publisher Dean Singleton has snapped up newspapers like a brown trout leaping for a nymph hatch. Unfortunately, the economy is tanking in tandem with dramatic drops in daily newspaper readership.

So, the guy owns a chain of newspapers and a boatload of debt. And Singleton is nervous.

The following two-page memo (click images for full size) to MediaNews staffs around the country dated Aug. 8, recently found its way to the City Weekly newsroom. But no way is anyone in Denver pushing the panic button. Or the Easy Button. (Holly Mullen)

Old Polygamists (and the Many, Many Women Who Love Them)

[Science!] Turns out those embattled plygs may be onto a good thing after all: A British study suggests that men with multiple wives live longer than monogamists.

The article suggests a behavioral explanation--they stay alive longer because they have to, with so many children to support. I imagine the kids and wives simply won't let the poor old dude enter senescence and kick off like a normal person.

Still, as we've learned from TV ads about spry octogenarians endlessly waterskiing and canoodling, men are biologically capable of fathering children well past the age when they should probably stop. So, in cultures that have practiced monogamy since prehistoric times, it seems there could be some natural selection at work here, as well: Over the millenia, men who carry genes contributing to longevity have more time to create greater numbers of offspring--but only if they are given access throughout their long, long lives to women of childbearing age.

A man in a monogamous culture, of course, loses that evolutionary opportunity since, once the mother of his children advances past childbearing age, his only opportunities for reproduction are illicit (and, come to think of it, probably life-shortening, if his wife finds out about it).

(Brandon Burt)

Obligatory Drag Queen Pun Here

[Locals on Reality TV] SLC's Keith Bryce was up last week; Wednesday night, he nearly got himself cut from Bravo's Project Runway by sorta-designing a goth pinata outfit for a drag queen. Fortunately, Heidi Klum & Co. kissed off the emotional rollercoaster known as Daniel. Super double-recap action:





(Bill Frost)

Online Exclusive: City Weekly interviews Lewis Black

To anyone fed up with the rampant absurdity in our world, Lewis Black’s rants are as soothing as they are scathing. On The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and his own The Root of All Evil, the curmudgeonly comedian and playwright spits the truth like he has Tourette’s, or a really nasty hemorrhoid; we bask in it like a cool shower in the Sahara. He, like Lenny Bruce and Bill Hicks and George Carlin, isn’t just a stand-up shecky; he’s a truth-teller, the kind of guy who’s good for a belly laugh and as well as food for thought. When he talks, we listen for days after he’s done. And when his wisdom sinks in, it helps society progress. Lewis Black manifests hope in spitting, finger-pointing rage.

In his new book, Me of Little Faith (Riverhead), Black focuses on religion, making observations about a variety of faiths. Since Black spent several months in Utah shooting Unaccompanied Minors, Mormonism gets plenty of space in the book. He’s also mentioned the visit in his act; just search YouTube for his Opie and Anthony Traveling Virus tour performance (part one) and you’ll hear him pop off about gingham dresses and a “12-foot animatronic Jesus!” City Weekly caught up with Black days before his Kingsbury Hall stop on Saturday to talk Salt Lake City and Mormons.

CW: You’re coming back to SLC. How’d you get caught in our tractor beam again?

LB: Uh… just luck. Just pure luck. [laughs] I like playin’ Salt Lake. You know, the 10 weeks there was an interesting experience, but I like performing there.

CW: You say the same thing about visiting SLC as you do about writing your latest book.

LB: Yeah. Especially with writing. Writing’s like being married to a bitch— but you can’t let her go because she’s hell on wheels. It’s like some weird mistress. But really mean [laughs]… But you just forget. I really enjoy the process of writing. It’s when you finish and you look and you say, “Really… is this good?” It’s just a lot of self-torture because you’re alone all the time.

CW: Mormons get some time in your latest book. Wanna hear more about 'em?

LB: Sure. Well, the thing was ... [Jon] Krakauer wrote a book [Under the Banner of Heaven] about the Mormons. That’s the other [influence]: My being there, and the book. He wrote a very remarkable history of the Mormon religion, very succinctly. In the book, with credit to him, I just said look, this guy really does it better in his book.

We did this episode of The Root of All Evil on Scientology, which I knew very little about, and didn’t even write about in the book. Everything I tried to write about was personal. And those people, what they believe, makes Mormons look like scientists. ... But go ahead: please tell me.

CW: For one, Mormons are said to believe that God lives on the Planet Kolob with his wives cranking out spirit babies. So technically you and I are two of those spirit babies.

LB: Come on! Is that true?

CW: Well, it’s the subject of debate. The Mormon PR machine is famously competent. ... Have you heard of baptisms for the dead, or baptisms by proxy?

LB: Oh, yeah. That I knew about. And also marrying for eternity, which is just… [famous Lewis Black roiling pause]… as brutal as it gets, I think.

CW: The Disinformation Book of Lists has a list of famous people the Mormons baptized by proxy. ... Albert Einstein… Anne Frank…

LB: Oh, he’d be thrilled. He wasn’t even that Jewish. Anne Frank? You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me. That’s unbelievable, seriously [laughs]. Anne Frank?

CW: Genghis Khan…

LB: Genghis Khan? Why? What would possess them to want Ghengis Khan?

CW: I have no idea. Hitler’s on the list, too.

LB: Yeah, that’s a great idea. Real good marketing when you’re tryin’ to convert a Jew.

CW: Maybe you already knew about this, but the list says that they baptized 20,000 to 380,000 Jews who died in the Holocaust.

LB: And the others…? Five million…

CW: Maybe they’re just runnin’ behind.

LB: They’re hand-pickin’ ‘em [laughs].

(Randy Harward)

Taxes at work (in Sandy)

[theater wars] Sandy doesn't want tax money, just tax money.
After a conversation with Sandy City officials, City Weekly came away with the impression that the theater wars between Sandy and Salt Lake City wouldn’t turn into a repeat of the Real stadium tussle—at least not financially. We reported that Sandy City planned to finance its Broadway-style theater complex entirely with money from the developer and local, Sandy City taxes generated by the project. Sandy wouldn’t be competing with Salt Lake City for county tax money or state subsidies. Silly us.
Yesterday, during a meeting of the Salt Lake County Council, Sandy’s business partner in the theater project confirmed developers wouldn’t be seeking county tax money for the theater—but said they might be asking for county tax help to build for several smaller theaters and an arts school planed for the same complex.
In defense of City Weekly (and Sandy), our story—published one month ago—included a caveat that Sandy was not seeking outside tax help “at this time.” (Ted McDonough)

Why You Aren't Reading 'The Paper'

[Media] This Ted Rall strip ran in last week's City Weekly, but it's too perfect to resist a rerun (plus, ironically, it didn't print all that clearly; click for full size):

(Bill Frost)

R.I.P. Craig Froehlich

I was out of town last week and just read the news today, oh boy. I worked with Craig at RED Magazine and always imagined he would move on to bigger and broader things. Witty and outrageous, hilarious and cantakerous, he never backed down and never failed to elicit some kind of heated reaction out of me. My former co-worker Jeremy Mathews wrote a poignant piece on Craig and posted several of Craig's articles. If you have the time, read them. Laugh. He deserved as much.
(Jamie Gadette)

Jackson Hole Music Festival: Review

About once a year it's imperative to go out of town and see a concert. While we get a good many shows in Salt Lake City, some bands have a tendency to skip over us and I end up feeling like an abandoned child. Wilco included an August 18 Red Butte date this year, but tickets sold out before I could get in on the action.They were sold out so fast I wasn’t even aware that they were on sale. Bummer! Wilco is by far one of the best live bands I've ever seen...five times, and only once in Utah. I guess I'm kind of a ... Wilhead? A Willy? Willies are probably what they get when they know that you're practically stalking them. Each time they come out with a new album, they manage to bring a new element of awesomeness to their awesome sound--and it comes across impeccably on stage.
Down and nearly out at the missed Red Butte opportunity, I wiped my tears and looked into Wilco's gig at The Jackson Hole Music Festival (August 16-17). I found a friend who is just as directionally challenged as me and she agreed to come on the make-it-there-alive adventure.
We left on Saturday at the very unreasonable, hostile hour of 5:30 in the morning. I printed out a map all nice and pretty out on the Internet with step by step instructions and felt pretty confident that there would be no getting lost this time. Of course, some of the directions on include such things as “take a slight left” on a road that looks like some sort of junkyard dog or better yet, one on which a serial killer may come chasing out after you.

Once in Jackson Hole, I saw more pedestrians crossing than a morning at SLC's Downtown Farmers Market. That paired with no grid system and only a street name for the hotel, panic mode kicked in. I was ready for the best shower of my life and to catch the show. Upon arriving, and knowing that the first act would be going on at 3 p.m. --same time as check-in. Turns out Jackson Hole is on a pretty strange hotel room schedule. The clerk was very accommodating to my whining and let us in early.
There is a shuttle that you can take to the festival site in Teton Village. Bonus! The drive to Jackson is a very scenic one, but only if you aren’t scared of driving your car off of a lush green mountain road that winds and curves enough to think it's curtains for the driver. The one down side to the shuttle is that at each stop they did not announce stops. This immediately prompted me to think that each stop had to have been the one where we needed to get off.

Fortunately, you can always spot a boy going to a Wilco show thanks to his faded plaid shirt, and the bus was full of that boy. Once I saw them head toward the front, I followed and there we were.

After the chill of downtown Jackson, I had put pants on thinking it would be colder in the Teton Village. But by the time I made it uphill, I felt like I was on fire. Apparently the number one festival rule was "shirt-free is the way to be!" Oh, the sweaty topless men dancing in the heat!

I got into the festival just in time to watch Brian Wilson’s set start. Every time I say this people want to hang me, but I am not a fan of the Beach Boys and yes I have listened to Pet Sounds so leave me alone. I am, however, pleasantly surprised by his solo music. The only songs that I didn't like were when the ones with the word "surf" in them. Other than that, the man has really held the integrity of his voice quite well over the years and put on a good first solo impression for me.
After his set, I headed over to my favorite place to hole away from the sun, the tent, and found probably the nicest of group of people in there. Everyone in Wyoming was just so friendly and interesting. Could have been all the free beer. That's always a sure bet to get my warm fuzzies flowing, but either way we did end up meeting some of the most wonderful people that were willing to sneak off and smoke cigarettes with me.

Wilco arrived on stage and played an amazing set, starting with numbers off their most recent album Sky Blue Sky. The crowd was as enthralled as I was. Guitarist Nels Cline does the most amazing, gorgeous things that help Wilco's live material sound just as clean and concise as their studio recordings. Most people don’t seem to know this about Jeff Tweedy either, but when he performs his sense of humor comes through between songs and he playfully toys with the crowd. No signs of his notorious migraine-related pain.

Pre-encore, Wilco ended their set with the epic “Spiders Kidsmoke," followed by an additional, equally epic encore of older material.
Their show essentially made the whole trip worth the drive, but then I realized that there was still a whole extra day’s worth of festival left on Sunday! I would like to admit that I turned in all early in order to prepare for that, but there are still a lot of things you can do when a festival ends at 8 p.m. in Jackson. We went out and explored and I was still up bright and early for Son Volt, who came on around 12:30 p.m.

I had never seen them live and was obviously really excited since they're one degree of separation away from Wilco. Jay Farrar has the sad country twang down along with a touch of the blues that makes his music sound breathtaking and not at all like that pesky kind of CMT music that makes your ears cry. He played a lot of his original music and tossed in a couple of Uncle Tupelo songs for nostalgia's sake. Farrar's snagged himself an amazing crew, including guitarist Chris Masterson who wowed me with his obscure German guitar that I can’t remember the name of because it had more than two syllables in it.
Later, I walked uphill both ways again to watch The Black Crowes. I have a serious thing for the type of straight-up dirty rock and roll that this band's known for. Chris Robinson, front man for the band came out on stage and immediately started working the crowd with his showboating moves. It was a perfect end to the festival--one I'll definitely return to next year. It’s not that far of a drive, and the location, lineup, and hospitality of the people made this easily one of the best concerts/festivals in recent memory.
Ironically enough, what led me out there to begin with (a sold out show) got me to that sold out show.

After speaking with Wilco's ineffable Pat Sansone and John Stirrat, I let them know what had brought me out to the area, and they completely took care of the Red Butte ticket, enabling me to get home on the 18th and run down to that concert.

Initially, I was a bit perplexed at the Red Butte show. It was a beautiful night, but the crowd appeared to be half asleep in comparison to the one I had just seen. After being warmed up few songs into it, the place was up and excited and everyone started to party like it was a Monday in Utah. The band said with sincerity, that thus far the Salt Lake City one ended up being the best show they have played on this tour thus far.

So, go to Wyoming. Good things will happen.

(Dominique LaJeunesse)

Local Band Tour Diary: Day 5

Sacramento was A-OK. We played at Luna's Cafe to a crowd featuring the door girl, the waitress, and a chick doing her homework, but they all seemed to really enjoy it. After our show our friends in Alak Alas Alaska helped us get into this show a few blocks over that stole the crowd. Ha! Rightfully so though, it was in a this superb art space and the show was rad as ever, bands like Hexlove and Thee Oh Sees (super percussive experimental) it ended with this band named The Z's (you guys should check out all of them).

We went back to their house and just kicked it--too hot to really do anything but take it easy. The morning winds however, brought great change.

We said goodbye to our dear friend Hannah (okay.okay). I drove her to the airport way early and it was a somber farewell, we miss you MC SILENT. R.I.P.

Have no fear though, we're playing with her in Boise on the way home, and she lent me her sleeping bag. 'Till this point I've only had a blanket and a really nice pillow. Cold as a mother fucker.

We got asked to play the second night with Agent Ribbons, Alak Alas Alaska & Wummin (chicago). It went pretty well, then Garrick and I split for Nevada City.

At this point it was one in the morning. Nevada City is on 1-80 no more than an hour away, maybe an hour and a half. As we drove on, something happened. We started getting eerie vibes and our conversation bleed into the paranormal. Reflective street signs became very animated (waiver: we had taken no substances, so don't get your hopes us). When we came to (so it seemed) we were only 30 minutes out of Sacramento on an entire different freeway than which we had started and made sure we were on.

Mind you, we had lost 2 hours somewhere.

We camped as usual, tarp and blanket, sneaking into campsites and getting out freely has become our fortae, we finally made it to Nevada City. It was quaint, as well as Grass Valley, quaint. Kinda Park City(ish). We found a lake that day to camp at again and spent the day playing music, swimming, fishing by bag and stick, nature bathing, and slept under a nearly full moon with our ever so proud hand-made-no-paper added fire keeping us warm. It was so refreshing to be out there, it's so nice to be with someone whose into camping rather than finding a place to crash. I mean, it's like we have the option of sleeping in nature under the stars, soaking pu healthy god air, clearing your lungs, purifying your soul. Take note touring bands, camping only makes you better musicians. I'm way glad Garrick is here.

Chico is also way too fucking hot. Global Warming is becoming a reality for us, were burnt to crisps, skin peeling, gettting skinny and buff, and our beards and getting big. The show in Chico was really good for us, we finally made some money. FINALLY. We played with Aubrey Debauchery (chico) and come old friends from last time I was here came out and out we went for the night. This is what we've dubbed the Garrick Leg of the tour, I can't wait to play again. We kicked it off right, sold some merch (finally) and made some door cash and are good to go. 8 more days you guys. Miss you all.

Shameless Plug: August 30th @ Kilby court w. Jana Hunter, Mothers of Songs, Lesser Gonzalez.

SHAKING OUR PEACE TILL OUR PEACE GETS SORE.



(chaz prymek)

Dead Zephyr: Week 249

(Bill Frost)

City Weekly Explained Dutcher for You

[Ex-Mormon Filmmakers] Of course it simply isn't a story until the Los Angeles Times says it is, but City Weekly's film critic Scott Renshaw plowed this ground about Utah filmmaker Richard Dutcher nearly a year ago with this cover feature. In the interim, Dutcher's obviously been interviewed a few times, as evidenced by the similarity of quotes (as in, "What if it isn't true?") in first, CW, and then the Times. (Holly Mullen)

Tough Love

[Humor] Sick and tired of your infant acting like a big baby? The Onion can help.

I particularly like the color scheme of the product packaging.

(Brandon Burt)

Roller Derby Report: Housewives Deal It to Ninjas 97-88

[Alt-Sports] We now know one team that will be competing in the Salt City Derby Girls' 2008 championship bout next month: The Leave It to Cleavers, the red-clad housewives from hell, edged past the purple-ninja Death Dealers Saturday night in a hard-fought roller battle at the Olympic Oval that came down to all of 9 points: 97-88. (Victory lap photo above by Will Bill Hill.)

The Cleavers outpaced the Dealers in the first half, as jammers Scarlicious and (everybody say it, it's fun) Dirty Pirate Hooker racked up points in rapid succession. But the Dealers retaliated hard in the second, with jammer Moonraker scoring impossible numbers to close the gap. Wasn't quite enough; the Cleavers will go onto face either the Bomber Babes or the Sisters of No Mercy to decide the SCDG champions of 2008.

Next bout: The SCDG allstar Shakers take on Reno's Battle Born Derby Demons at the Olympic Oval on Saturday Aug. 30. In the meantime, Salt City celebrates three years as a league this Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Trapp Door. Be there. (Bill Frost)

Becker's Big Test

[Clash of the Liberals] Finally. It appears that a growing number of Salt Lake City policy makers are beginning to call out the emperor has no clothes! on the multi-million dollar mess that has become The Leonardo.

Earlier this month, Salt Lake City Councilman J.T. Martin expressed doubts that the project for a loosely defined science and humanities museum at Library Square would get the City Council's backing. From the start, The Leonardo has been built on oversize dreams and an exaggerated sense of self-importance. This led to repeated cost overruns and the collapse of expected donations--largely because The Leonardo's board and management staff could never quite define or explain what the museum was supposed to be or what it hoped to accomplish. City Weekly's Stephen Dark was all over last year, and was the first local reporter to nail all of the problems with getting the heavily taxpayer-subsidized museum off the ground.

Last weekend, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker finally jumped into the controversy. This is no small feat, and marks the most significant test yet of Becker's ability to stand up against the base that elected him last fall. Why? As Dark pointed out in his story, former Leonardo executive director Mary Tull (she recently left the post in the wake of growing controversy) is married to the Rev. Tom Goldsmith of Salt Lake's First Unitarian Church. Several of The Leonardo's financial backers--including liberal philanthropists Norman and Barbara Tanner (who coughed up $1 million)--are Unitarians or regular visitors to the church. Robert Newman, Dean of the University of Utah College of Humanities, has been a longtime supporter of the project.

Leonardo supporters make for a cozy group of Salt Lake City liberals and intellectuals--which also happened to make up the solid base behind Becker's election last fall. They gave him lots of money. They walked neighborhoods and knocked on doors for him. They proudly posted campaign signs for him in their xeriscaped yards.

Now--and wisely--Becker is acting like a mayor, questioning the strange expenditures of The Leonardo and projecting that even its board's latest plan to severely downscale the museum will not be enough to save the thing. Salt Lakers have put up with nearly a decade of fiddling around with notions for the best use of the old library. In 2003, city residents approved $10.2 million of their own money go toward rehabbing the building and putting The Leonardo in place. And still, there is nothing to show for it.

Rightly so, Becker is now wondering if there might be a better use for the space.

But the mayor surely isn't going to please those who brought him to the dance in the process.
(Holly Mullen)

Kill the Message and the Messenger

[Media Overkill] Why would The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board go to such lengths to try and debunk Orrin Hatch flunkie-shill's take on global warming? After all, newsprint is expensive and newshole in this tough economy is precious.
(Holly Mullen)

The Mudslinging of Angels

And you thought politics was the only field where denigrating your opposition was more important than promoting what you have to offer. In the Sunday arts sections of the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News, the forthcoming LDS missionary-themed drama The Errand of Angels ran an ad with a unique promotional angle.

"5 More Reasons to See The Errand of Angels This Friday!" trumpeted the headline ... which then proceeded to list the current and Aug. 22 releases Pineapple Express, Death Race, The House Bunny, Mirrors and Tropic Thunder along with the detailed MPAA ratings for each one. That information -- "Rated R for strong violence and language" for Death Race, for example -- was then supplemented by handwritten-style notes. "Sick & wrong" read the scrawl for Death Race; "trashy" went the commentary for The House Bunny. In conclusion, the copy read "See something virtuous, lovely, and of good report in theaters this Friday!"

No mention is made of whether the movie is actually any good (more on that later this week). Apparently it should be sufficient for its target audience that it is not "trashy" or "sick & wrong" like its competition. I'm The Errand of Angels, and I approved this message. (Scott Renshaw)

Headline of the Day

"Grocery store employee accused of having sex with teenage baggers"

Um, I believe the term is "double-baggers," D-News. And, really, is the attractiveness of the teenagers really worth reporting on?

Oh. Upon reading the story, never mind.

(Brandon Burt)