Musical Charmer: Good Tunes, Great Performances and Lots of Love Make 'Hearts Beat Loud' a Summer Success

Jun 18, 2018 10:30  |  Bob Grimm

Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons are a winning, inspiring father-daughter team in Hearts Beat Loud , a musically infused cinematic gem that will stand as one of this summer’s under-the-radar greats.

Frank (Offerman), a record-store owner (he sells mostly vinyl) with a gruff attitude, is dealing with t...

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Scares Supreme: 'Hereditary' Is an Instant Horror Classic—With Surprising Depth

Jun 14, 2018 09:30  |  Bob Grimm

A family gets its proverbial ass viciously kicked in Hereditary , writer-director Ari Aster’s more-than-impressive feature debut. This is a horror movie that will bruise your brain, make your blood run cold, and stay in your system well after you’ve left the theater.

Annie (an incredible Toni Collette)...

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Home Video Review: The Fifth Season of 'Arrested Development' Proves It’s Still One of TV's Funniest Shows

Jun 11, 2018 13:30  |  Bob Grimm

The Bluths are back together again—with more simultaneous screen time than in Season 4—in the latest Arrested Development reunion on Netflix.

The plotting of this season involves a little too much crazy stuff regarding Lucille 2 (Liza Minnelli) and the shared girlfriend (Isla Fisher) of Michael (Jason ...

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Imposing 'Morals': As Attorneys Fight in Court Over the Fate of California's End of Life Option Act, Terminally Ill People Face Legal Limbo

Jun 20, 2018 14:00  |  Kevin Fitzgerald

During the short and unsettled lifespan of California’s End of Life Option Act—signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in October 2015, and taking effect on June 9, 2016—terminally ill patients diagnosed as having no more than six months left to live have become the targets of repeated legal challenges,...

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Cannabis in the CV: Thanks to Support From Mitch McConnell, Hemp May Soon Be Industrially Grown Again in the U.S.

Jun 19, 2018 11:00  |  Charles Drabkin

For about 162 years, marijuana and hemp were commonly and legally grown in the United States.

Hemp fiber, although derived from a cannabis varietal, contains little to no THC—0.3 percent or less in both the European Union and Canada—and it cannot get a person high. It has been used for centuries to m...

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Reining in the Cost of Care: California Is Expanding Options for People With Dementia—but Falling Short of the Need

Jun 14, 2018 14:45  |  David Gorn, CALmatters

Rob Lyman of didn’t know what to do.

The Redwood City resident was helping his aunt, Sharron Evans, who had early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and needed constant supervision. A former teacher, she had run out of money and had no income. She qualified for government health-care assistance, but it appear...

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Savage Love: I'm a Straight Guy Being Serviced by a Gay Friend, and I'm Not Reciprocating; Is This Unfair?

Jun 20, 2018 11:00  |  Dan Savage

I am a 24-year-old straight guy who recently broke up with my girlfriend of more than four years. One of the reasons we broke up was a general lack of sexual compatibility. She had a particular aversion to oral sex—both giving and receiving. I didn’t get a blowjob the whole time we were together. Wh...

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The Weekly Independent Comics Page for June 14, 2018!

Jun 14, 2018 07:00  |  Staff

On this week's summit-level weekly Independent comics page: The K Chronicles pays tribute to the late Anthony Bourdain; This Modern World quizzes Rudy Giuliani on constitutional law; Jen Sorenson looks at the New World Order; Red Meat deals with some cattle problems; and Apoca Clips heads for Mars.

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Know Your Neighbors: Meet John Phillips, a Vision-Impaired Professional Chef Who Shares His Skills at the Braille Institute

Jun 13, 2018 14:30  |  Anita Rufus

I don’t cook. It’s not that I can’t; I just don’t enjoy it.

Still … I can’t imagine what it would be like to learn to cook if I couldn’t see.

At the Braille Institute in Rancho Mirage , Chef John Phillips teaches people with limited vision how to develop what he calls “the basic skills a food handler w...

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Hooray for Clay: Palm Springs' Silica Studios Offers Ceramic Artists a Place to Commune and Create

Jun 14, 2018 15:15  |  Stephen Berger

Do you remember what it was like to play in the mud? Well, Silica Studios in Palm Springs has elevated this cherished childhood memory into an artistic experience.

For 15 years, owners Daric Harvie, Dona Vanden Heuvel, and Tim McMullen have been providing professional studio space and supplies to Coa...

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Funny Business: Aspiring Standup Comic Jacob Cantu Hopes His Monthly Comedy Night at The Hood Is the Start of Something Big

Jun 12, 2018 18:10  |  Brian Blueskye

There’s not much of a standup comedy scene in the Coachella Valley—but The Hood Bar and Pizza and aspiring local comedian Jacob Cantu are hoping to change that.

Cantu has often made people laugh during the Wednesday-night open-mic at The Hood—and management has taken notice. As a result, Cantu is now...

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Western Lit: Memoir 'Narrow River, Wide Sky' Shows What It's Like to Be Poor in the Shadow of Luxury

Jun 07, 2018 15:15  |  Mary Slosson, High Country News

In her poignant memoir Narrow River, Wide Sky , Jenny Forrester unflinchingly shares the gritty details of what she calls her “American trailer trash Republican childhood” in rural Colorado, and the serpentine path she takes to escape the violence that defined her youth.

Most other books on rural pover...

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The Lucky 13: Tyler Ontiveros, Drummer for Mega Sun

Jun 19, 2018 18:20  |  Brian Blueskye

It's been a big year so far for local-band Mega Sun. The group played its first-ever show just after the new year—yet it took home Best New Band honors at the CV Music Awards, and drummer Tyler Ontiveros was named Best Drummer. For more information on Mega Sun, visit www.facebook.com/megasuntheband . ...

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Live: Yo La Tengo at Pappy and Harriet's, June 10

Jun 19, 2018 11:30  |  Guillermo Prieto

Yo La Tengo has been together nearly 35 years—and the band finally made it to Pappy and Harriet’s for a sold-out outdoor show on Sunday, June 10.

Yo La Tengo is often compared with the Velvet Underground—so much so that Yo La Tengo played the nameless band evocative of Velvet Underground in the movie...

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Live With Photos: Splash House, June 8-10

Jun 18, 2018 16:35  |  Guillermo Prieto

A sold-out Splash House officially got the summer season started in Palm Springs June 8-10. The celebration started at the Palm Springs Air Museum on a pleasant if windy summer night, before the daytime fun began at The Renaissance, The Riviera and The Saguaro.

I’ve been coming to Splash House for a ...

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Jameson Shots and Loser Birds: Raise a Glass to the Service Industry, and to the Troubled Souls Who Toil in It

Jun 20, 2018 07:00  |  Kevin Carlow

Find what you love and let it kill you.

This quote is often attributed to Charles Bukowski, but there’s no record of him ever saying or writing it; Kinky Friedman seems to be the actual source. I am now suspicious of every popular quote these days after being burned enough times.

Actually, I like this...

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Vine Social: 'Natural Wine' Is All the Rage Among Millennials—and They May Be Onto Something

Jun 14, 2018 13:15  |  Katie Finn

Oh, millennials. They’re so hard to keep up with, with all their abbreviated words and vegan, plant-based burgers.

Snark aside, millennials have an overwhelming amount of consumer power—so what they want, they get. The wine world is no exception, and right now, what millennials want is the wine equiv...

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The Indy Endorsement: The Tostada Especial at Mariscoco's Culiacan

Jun 14, 2018 12:40  |  Jimmy Boegle

What: The tostada especial

Where: Mariscoco’s Culiacan, 51683 Harrison (Cesar Chavez) St., Coachella

How much: $11.99

Contact: 760-398-5666; www.facebook.com/mariscocosymaristorresculiacan760

Why: The freshness and the impeccable flavor.

A while back, a friend told me about the most amazing Mexican seafood place...

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