BOTTOMS UP… It’s been at least since college that Squid went out and got belligerently boozy. Something about tequila shots and Shark Week? Squid doesn’t even remember. In any case, some places just seem to invite alcohol-induced trouble. Salinas restaurant and bar El Callejon has had its liquor license suspended for operating a “disorderly house,” according to the state Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control. The license is suspended for 30 days and the business is on probation for two years. There have been numerous calls for police services there since Oct. 2011, ABC spokesman John Carr says, and adds, “It became a drain on law enforcement services.”
That got Squid reminiscing about another Oldtown establishment: XL Grindhouse, the restaurant owned by two brothers involved in beating a homeless man last year. In April the Weekly reported the ABC was investigating the establishment, since business owners face disciplinary action if convicted of a crime – one owner was convicted of assault, the other pleaded no contest to being an accessory to the crime. Turns out that ABC has decided to suspend XL’s license too – though a date hasn’t been set. The suspension will last 30 days, and could be extended to six months while the owners find someone to transfer the license to, according to Carr. If that doesn’t happen, the license will be revoked.
UNDER WATER… Squid was nomming away on popcorn Saturday night at the Golden State Theatre, where Squid could lean back comfortably and watch Squid’s deep-sea kindred on the big screen. The Monterey Underwater Film Festival featured whales, whale sharks and even a squid cameo. In an audience of amateur filmmakers willing to shell out hundreds – even thousands – of dollars to gear up to shoot a few minutes of footage, it was hard to imagine feeling anything other than glamorous and exciting. But former Golden State Manager/Booker Scott Grover also made an unfortunate cameo appearance, in a fleeting mention by festival producer/emcee Berkeley White, who complained to the audience about Grover’s underwater status. White says he’s out about $1,000 (a deposit that vanished) and theater owner Warren Dewey narrowly helped keep the festival on the calendar – it, too, had vanished.
Grover’s had some ambitious and creative ideas, and one of them now is to pay everyone back – ticket holders for cancelled shows are at the top of the list. “I’m doing my best to keep things right,” he says.
Some, though, are not optimistic about getting anything. “I’m not even trying,” Dewey says of an undisclosed amount. “How can you squeeze a stone and get anything? There’s just nothing there.”